Education and games often intersect. What is perhaps the most significant proof of this combination is educational games and toys.
Ideally, when they do, students can enjoy the best aspects of both realms that are profound learning and rich delights.
When combined with education, games are a form of enlightening entertainment that can promote student engagement in learning. Therefore, engaging in suitable games while you study can help you enjoy your learning process. So, how can you combine education and games?
For creative classrooms and lecture halls, several selected strategies can reinforce improved learning without the taxing drills and drudgery as with traditional classroom activities.
Here is a list of four effective ways through which games and education can be combined and leveraged to boost the overall student learning experience.
4 Effective Ways to Combine Education and Games
- Physical Education (P.E) and School Sports
Sports have significant entertainment and educational value and can be an exciting way to promote learning. While the educational benefits of every game may vary depending on the activity, they create a conducive learning atmosphere where participants need not sit down, keep quiet, and listen attentively!
Contrastingly, participating students can move around, play, and shout, meaning they learn many skills and lessons in the most organic and engaging 3D gaming environment, the real world!
Sports provide different modes of engagement, especially for the tactile and social learners, as well as students who flourish in competition, work much better in team arrangements, or thrive in well-founded and clear rules and boundaries.
- Gamification
By using gamification, teachers can add the components of conventional video game design into the educational experience. Typically, they can add characters and a narrative to introduce various coursework subjects through introducing problem-solving and collaboration elements, through storytelling, or adding player progression with leadership boards, badges, and so on. With these methods, teachers can establish an all-inclusive learning experience that helps teach numerous things simultaneously, while keeping the lesson engaging and students interested.
Today, multiple education tools offer games to play while studying to improve learning. For instance, an app called Duolingo helps individuals learn new languages.
It is so effective that 34 hours of using it are considered as significant as one semester worth of language learning in a college. The app uses trophies, goals, and various other gamification features to motivate players.
This tool can be particularly useful for practicing another language, especially during the holidays or in your free time, as it keeps your language learning ongoing, whether or not you are in school.
- Role-Playing
Another exciting way that you can combine games with education is by introducing classroom roleplaying. This is an activity that places students in a distinct decision-making position connected to the given topic.
Besides being reasonably engaging, this study skills games also imparts a wide array of skills that are dependent on the given topic. For instance, when students assume influential political figure characters, the activity teaches the participants ethics, leadership, and ethics.
This is precisely when they make decisions that may potentially impact the well-being of a given supposed population.
Furthermore, role-playing may help in nurturing creativity in students while they think outside the box to find solutions for difficult scenarios or search for exclusive problem-solving approaches to use.
- Educational Video Games
Games offer students a unique degree of opportunities and interactivity for exploration, especially for the students who prefer demonstrative learning. Also, they provide a new form of knowledge that is otherwise not possible through coursework books or educational videos.
Besides this, research indicates that when combined with various metacognitive strategies, games may enhance a students’ cognition.
Educational video games to play while studying can help teach specific concepts like basic arithmetic, symbolic logic, and programming in significant ways that stick to your memory.
Educational video games mainly work well on smartphones (that virtually everyone owns), allowing students to train their brains regularly. Smartphones have proven an invaluable resource for learning as they help you access multiple educational websites and even writing assistance services.
If you are having trouble with your assignments, but still want to engage in productive educational games, you can free some time by paying professional writers to do your assignments. This way, you can ensure you do your assignments cheaper, faster, and more efficiently while finding time for your educational video games.
Also, there are certain video games that, while are not necessarily classified as educational, offer substantial value nonetheless like the Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey.
It introduces players into a remarkably recreated Ancient Greece, giving valuable insight into a certain historic period. Educational video games are most effective when students invest time in them and are a fantastic way to learn and gain more knowledge.
Benefits of Combining Education and Games
Combining games and education works well in improving the overall learning experience. Learning environments established around games and sports have a positive influence on the attitude of a student towards education. Competition nurtures interest, promotes focus, and results in better achievements.
What’s more, it can help instill crucial life skills in students. Educational games can help teach students numerous lessons and abilities, including goal-setting, teamwork, coordination, hard work, and communication, among many others.
Conclusion
Combining games and education works remarkably well. When properly mixed, they can establish instrumental learning models that promote active learning and instill necessary skills. There is virtually no universal technique for making learning experiences ‘interactive’ and ‘fun.’
More often than not, it will depend on the creativity of the teachers and allied stakeholders, and their dedication to bringing together education and games in a unique way that stimulates students into enduring learning.
Author’s Bio
Susan Wallace is a Professor at Nottingham Trent University. She is also a renowned author of several popular books including Managing Behavior in the Lifelong Learning Sector. She previously worked as an advisor in the local authority for post-16 education.
Produced in association with https://essayshark.com/
