There are 5 million people who play an average of 45 hours per week; yet, 1.2 million kids fail to graduate high school every year. Can we harness this interest in video games to help make the education experience better?
Sam Wolfman, Mike Lipson, and Jamie Doiron think so. In their presentation titled “Education Gamification,” each of the presenters, all teachers, discussed how implementing games in the classroom can benefit students and teachers alike.
The audience, consisting of mostly teachers, learned what gamification is, easy ways to add games to any curriculum, and how to gamify an entire course. Similar to the presentation I attended on Friday, we discovered that games are a great way to engage students and make learning fun, amongst other benefits:
- Increased engagement and collaboration
- Flexibility
- Opportunity for replay and trial-and-error
- Flipped learning (students end up teaching themselves material)
Personally, there is little I remember about elementary school, but memories of playing Gizmos and Gadgets and Oregon Trail will stay with me forever. The more games in the classroom, the better.
Are you a teacher and interested in adding games to your curriculum? Today’s presenters recommend Quia and Sporcle to get your gamification started.
