Game Pedagogy and Gamification are in line with development where people try to incorporate gaming-based techniques and elements into the learning or other work contexts to enhance productivity and learning outcomes, promoting active participation by providing them with contexts and situations that force them to participate positively.
Game pedagogy:
The pedagogy is the “art, science or profession of teaching” – Merriam-Webster.
Pedagogy is a technique of teaching that differs a lot from traditional teaching. It involves the method of teaching which promises to engage the students or learners to the fullest. This can be achieved by adapting one of the famous gaming techniques into the art of teaching where the game-based approach has been undertaken.
The game Pedagogy or gamification is not only entertained in Education centers or institutes but also applied in various contexts like a business where it helps to improve employee efficiency, loyalty, and performance. (Barney, What is gamification? how it works and how to use it 2023)
Why to use Game Pedagogy:
In recent years various sectors have started using game pedagogy due to its immense benefits and its value to them. Some of the benefits of game pedagogy are:
1. Active Participation: The game pedagogy gathers the learner’s attention towards the subject rather than the traditional method of learning by rewarding and having fun with it. This allows people to have frequent and constant participation and a steady and long-lasting concentration.
2. Responsibility: The learners who try out the game-based approach to learning will automatically boost the sense of responsibility to win or lose the game. i.e. to learn or distract from them. This creates a scenario in the mind of people that it is their battlefield, thus they have the responsibility to win or lose it. This ownership attitude helps them to come out of their comfort zone and start exploring new values and fosters various skills like decision-making, creativity, etc.
3. Assessment: The traditional learning method takes a lot of time to value their skills and mistakes but the game pedagogy lets you identify the progress within a short time since it is easier to find the level of the skill once you finish the game. It helps to assess the mistakes, improve them, and devise new strategies for them instantly. This is an easy and instant assessment of the overall performance. Also, it shapes the learners to make an effort to improve them to crack the game, so it helps them to involve themselves in continuous practice and learning sessions
4. Communication: The learners always have different personalities. The game pedagogy helps people with stage fear and people who are introverted to be comfortable and open-minded with others. It also helps people to improve their communication and cognitive skills.
Constraints in Game Pedagogy:
The game pedagogy, being a trendsetter in recent years, has also had some constraints and challenges
1. Motto and game: The setting up of a game-based approach is very direct but the motto of the game must be in line with the curriculum of the subject or vision of the company. The arrangement of game pedagogy to this condition will need a lot of research on the context, lots of planning, and material selection.
2. Overboarding: Though the competitiveness is good in the game, it may lead to demoralization of the people who are a barrier to winning the game
3. False participation: Some may make themselves fool out of the game by deeply concentrating only on the game and forgetting the true motto of learning things
4. Poor design: The design of the game must be excellent to attract people, poor design may lose their opportunity to make the learners get their desired outcomes. (Barney, What is gamification? how it works and how to use it 2023)
Case studies of Game Pedagogy:
1. Marketing strategy: Companies like McDonald’s, Nike, and Starbucks use gamification methods to increase active participation and promote loyalty to the company. In an era of technology, companies conduct mobile app game interfaces and award their customers with badges, points, and rewards to earn their trust and make them engaged and loyal to the brand.
2. employee participation: Companies like IBM, and Deloitte provide online sessions and training programs for free which will help their career growth as well as the company’s growth
3. Fitness: Since there are health and fitness apps for free, one can look into the interesting UI and immerse oneself in learning more about them
4. Online Education: Being able to access everything online, people come up with interesting and different types of online game elements like streak maintenance, points, and rewards in the app. Learners tend to visit the app to maintain those and as a result, there is learning
5. Productivity: Online apps like Notion and Trello have interfaces like task lists and progress tables where people can assess their work and act accordingly. (Barney, What is gamification? how it works and how to use it 2023)
Thus game pedagogy is not only used in the education sector but also in other contexts in the form of rewards, points, progress, etc. The fast-evolving world needs a different and valuable approach to make people ready to face their challenges. This is being an effective tool for achieving the desired outcomes in work or study.
References:
- Barney, N. (2023) What is gamification? how it works and how to use it, HR Software. Available at: https://www.techtarget.com/searchhrsoftware/definition/gamification (Accessed: 18 February 2024).
