Gamification of Learning: Making Education more Interactive for Students | Mrs. Neeti Bhalla Saini

Because true gamification is data-driven, businesses can monitor the performance of gamification initiatives amongst employees. However, not all gamification solutions are the same. Many vendors lack robust features. It’s critical to partner with a gamification vendor who has the expertise and experience of working with gamification in the workplace.  An innovative gamification platform – such as Bunchball Nitro – can capture relevant data and put the strategic insights into action. Gamification in education has been around for quite some time. Adding game elements to learning tasks makes them more fun and engaging for students of all ages. 

But you might be surprised to learn how easy it is to gamify the learning process, making lessons more fun for students and teachers alike. It can be as simple as adding scoring, competitive elements, or a little bit of EdTech.

Back in the early 1900s, if you were a Boy Scout you could obtain real badges and ranks, a tradition that is still carried out today. However as video games started to take off, we saw educational video games then become popular in the 1970s and 80s. You may remember such games as 'Where in the World is Carmen San Diego', ‘Reader Rabbit' and 'Math Blaster’. These games were forms of entertainment that were built for serious purposes, to educate players.

Foursquare is an example of social gamification. If you checked into a location, you would receive points. Check-in to a new location, you hadn't visited before and you would receive even more points. You could then compare the number of points you had on a leaderboard with friends and you could also receive badges for doing special things like checking-in on a boat or checking in with more than 50 people in one place. 

If you checked into a place more than anyone else, you became the “Foursquare mayor” of that location. This user experience felt like a game, and it was a lot of fun to use. Foursquare became a popular example of an app increasing user engagement through loyalty program gamification. 

What's interesting, though, was that the game elements they used started to appear in many different other applications and websites. This may have contributed to these game elements becoming a popular way to add gamification.

These days we’re seeing more and more serious games in gamification, partly because video games have become mainstream and, as well, smartphones have made it incredibly easy to play games anywhere at any time.

1. Computer Games: Minecraft - Education Edition 
Math Blaster and Treasure Mountain are some of the earliest examples of popular educational games, however, one of the best and most current examples of Game-based Learning is Minecraft: Education Edition. This game teaches students how to code through one of the most popular game formats in the world. If you're a teacher you already know a lot of your students love this game and the game mechanics that come with it.

2. Apps: Google's Read Along
Another app-based learning game is “Read Along” by Google. The app uses Google's voice technology to encourage kids to read and follow along with stories. It has great reviews and is used around the world. The only drawback at the moment is it only being compatible with Android at the moment.

3. Classroom: Kahoot
Kahoot allows you to create a multiple choice quiz through a quick website link share. This allows for students to use their phones in a productive manner, participating in selecting or typing their answers to in-class quizzes in real-time. Kahoot is one of the most straightforward and interactive examples of gamification motivating people in the classroom.

4. eLearning Platforms: Archy Learning
Archy Learning is a simple gamified eLearning platform. Teachers can cut and paste YouTube links and classroom notes into a learning pathway. Where it gets really fun is with the addition of gamification strategy in the form of class quizzes, educational video games, mixed media exams and awarded certificates upon completed courses for an all-around gamification learning experience.