Utilizing Games as a Teaching Approach

Wise people state that” Game is our brain’s favourite way of learning and games give the children a chance to practice what they learn”. Considering this advice, the education system adopts the games in its teaching methodology. Games are not created for merely entertainment purposes but also to educate people. Let’s explore how we can utilize the games in our teaching to encourage the students and save them from laziness.

The Benefits of Game-Based Learning

1: Increased Engagement

Students are spontaneously attracted to the games as it is a human instinct. Humans love practicality by birth rather than theoretical work. It is in their nature that they are action-oriented. They like to participate in the games rather than in the classroom.

As a result, they collect and save more data or information in their brain memory through the games rather than through the books only. If we use the games in our teaching approach, they will be more likely to be the participants than being audience. They will heartily engage in every discussion that is happening in their educational institutes.

2: Motivation and Enthusiasm

These games offer rewards including trophies, badges, money prizes and many more. As a result, the students participate in the games eagerly and feel motivated. They are inspired by the reward system and try to compete with each other on the basis of academic tasks.

They can participate in these games individually or they can work as a team to compete with the opposite team in different tasks. In Pakistan, America and other countries, these academic task-based games are being played by students on both national and international levels. In response, they enhance their skills and abilities in their favourite fields effectively.

3: Enhanced Learning Experience

Games like science puzzles, Clash of Clans, The Rise of Kingdom etc create an educational but entertaining environment among the students. They play the Rise of Kingdom game to get information regarding the civilization and colonialism of different European nations. They play the Clash of Clans games to enhance their cognitive and management skills.

They play science games to sharpen their skills in science subjects like chemistry. The gaming industry developed the games according to real-world professionals and their professional lives. For maths students, you can find maths games. For language students, they develop Dolingo-like games and for the students of literature and current affairs, they launch games like Rise of Kingdom.

Types of Educational Games

Digital Games

Digital games include apps, video games, VR games and many more. Nowadays, these games are introduced even in the classrooms. Games like Duolingo are very popular all over the world. As it is an age of multilingualism, people love learning a new language to study abroad, live in a European country, or make foreign friends.

Many other games like Duolingo are developed for certain subjects at certain levels so that students of all levels can get benefits from these games. They use animation and narrative techniques to engage the students and to keep them motivated for the long term. They have launched such an incredible game in which the students listen to a tale and also can see the recitation of the words and dialogues.

The important words are highlighted so the student or a listener can feel curiosity and touch the word to know its meaning. Through this process, the student learns many words and builds his or her vocabulary. By using this type of game, the students can sharpen their communication, reading and listening skills productively.

Board Games

The gaming industry and the education system are collectively working on the modification of the games of the 21st century. They designed the games according to the specific educational activities. Games like Monopoly teach students about financial strategies.

The players develop their properties by buying the resources and they do the trading to become the elite person. The players build hotels, buildings, houses and much more on their property. The players then collect the rent from these built properties to become the wealthiest person. So, these kinds of games, teach the students about business, accounting and how to manage finance.

Role-Playing Games

Role-play games give an opportunity to the students to be involved in the game more deeply. These games may be based on the famous historical books and literary novels. They play the characters of famous personalities like in The Rise of the Kingdom, players can play the role of well-known political figures Mr. Gandhi, Cleopatra and many more to explore their ruling era and to get to know about their agenda and personalities more clearly.

Implementing Games in the Classroom

Balance Fun and Education

The boss and teachers of the school need to maintain the balance between entertainment and education. They need to outline the teaching methodology. They must add the games not for merely fun but to educate the students. The blend of fun and education in the games in a balanced way prefers to be more reliable than the imbalance combo of fun and knowledge in the game modification for educational institutes.

Use Games for Assessment

Nowadays, games are usually used in examination centres to conduct the exams of the students in a way that they don’t feel anxiety and stress even after listening to the names of the exams. As a result, they feel more relaxed rather than considering the exams threatening or have panic attacks which is not only harmful to the students’ health but also an alarming situation for the examination controller.

The teachers can use the games to test the student’s efficiency on certain levels like science puzzle games, maths games and language proficiency games. These methods reduce the anxiety and panic attacks in the students and make these tests more encouraging and involving.

Practical Tips for Educators

Start Small

As a teacher, if you are a newbie who is trying to make his teaching method more engaging and encouraging by using the games then you must start with the simple games and when you get familiar with the games then jump to the complex games. This will be easy for you and for a better understanding of the students. Plan your lessons and align them with the simple games and levels to make your students familiar with them. In response, you and your students will be ready to explore the controversial and ambiguous educational lessons more sophisticatedly while using the games.

Provide Clear Instructions

Make a list of the rules and policies for playing the games and give this list to the students that they must follow. As it doesn’t produce any hurdle in their effective learning progress. Guide them about the game, how it works, how to play it more productively and how to use it for educational purposes. Print the document where you mention the whole gaming process and rules and hand it over to the students. It will be more productive than just telling them verbally and they will never be confused.

Conclusion

The gameplay is the favourite way of learning for the human brain. As a human being, it is our nature to be more practical and action-oriented rather than being a reader or cramming the theory. However, utilizing the game in a balanced way will be the best teaching approach. Our ancestors used puzzles or riddles-like games to teach their children. The blend of these traditional methods and modern teaching methodologies work together to bring a productive change in the education system. It will not only be fun for the children but also educate them during this process.