How learning games can help in education

Educators face numerous challenges. They can be bound to strict curricula, be faced with oversized classes, encounter low student motivation, and be hamstrung by old, potentially out of date learning materials which can be hard to get kids to engage with.

In an increasingly online world where digital native classes are not well adapted to the classic educational setting of textbooks and blackboards, learning games are becoming an indispensable tool in educating children and allowing them to practise new skills.

What is a learning game?

A learning game, or educational game, is a serious game designed with explicit learning objectives. They are designed to help students learn by either reinforcing key points of study, broadening their understanding of a topic, or to reinforce learned skills, such as through a number game that might help with addition and subtraction.

The term gamification means to apply game-like mechanics to functions and areas of life which aren’t typically associated with fun. To gamify a difficult task, which in an educational setting could be a difficult topic within a subject, would be to try and tap into a student’s intrinsic motivations to promote better engagement. To gamify areas of education and create learning games is to use psychological levers like curiosity and appetite for challenge in order to make learning fun.

How to use gamification to enhance the learning process

Schools and education centres already have various game-like mechanisms built in. A student’s ability in subjects is marked or graded in tests and on hand-in projects, essentially incorporating a ranking or points system to measure achievement. Kids are rewarded for desired behaviour like good attendance and punished for less desirable behaviour. Initially in the US, and now around the world, mathletics competitions and spelling bees have been used with great success to introduce competitive elements to academic subjects.

However, despite this foundation of game-like elements that underpin education as we know it, the majority of schooling is delivered in the tried-and-tested method: being lectured to from the white board, making notes, answering questions, and working through textbooks. While this tends to be effective enough for the majority of students to learn what they need to, some kids are still suffering from a lack of interest, a lack of concentration, and not being engaged by the manner in which they are being educated. This can lead to skipping classes, potentially dropping out of school. And being deficient in numeracy and literacy skills.

It’s also worth considering that while most kids may pass a class being taught in this more traditional manner, passing, or even doing well, isn’t necessarily proof that they were taught in the most efficient or engaging way. This begs the question: how can more modern learning games for students – utilising elements of video games – enhance the learning process?

Remove the fear of failure through repeatability

Moving the learning process to the medium of a learning game removes certain pressures from the student. In a video game context, the player is encouraged to play, potentially fail, but ultimately repeat and learn from their mistakes. It’s a low-stakes, quick feedback cycle that encourages students to try.

Similarly, an online learning game has the added utility of allowing a student to play from home. This makes it not only a useful teaching tool, but also a useful revision tool, both to reinforce the memorization of facts, but also to practise numeracy and literacy skills.

Change a student’s relationship with learning

In some cases, where traditional methods of education haven’t been effective with a student, changing the format to something familiar, like a video game, puts them in a more comfortable position.

If a child is comfortable, and not immediately put into a situation which they may already consider a stressor – such as having to get up in front of their classmates – they will be far more likely to take in what’s being taught.

Increase attention levels and inject excitement into the classroom

The human mind craves variety and creativity. Introducing a new format of learning to a topic that’s proved challenging with an entire class, such as through an interactive online learning game, can prove to be a creative way to redirect their natural curiosity to the relevant topic.

For example, creating a Dynamic Path™ around a topic gives you access to all the games on Drimify’s platform, allowing you to create a learning path for your students that utilises multiple interactive quizzes and games. This can generate excitement through its novel approach, while also fostering engagement with the subject, as the kids are encouraged and motivated to participate and interact with it.

Make learning fun

A good gamification strategy using learning games doesn’t replace traditional forms of education, but can, when used thoughtfully and implemented correctly, be a useful tool to make learning fun.

If you are interested in using learning games to reignite attention levels in your classroom, get in touch with Drimify to discuss your project in more detail. Learning games offer educators an adaptable and effective option in the modern classroom environment. Utilising learning games within your curriculum allows you to appeal to different learning styles that aren’t as well served by traditional teaching methods, and gives you the opportunity to bring less obviously engaging subjects to life through interactive game mechanics.

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