Nowadays, a new term called gamification is getting more and more popular. What is gamification? The application of learning by including games, if managed properly, will produce positive things in learning. Learning games, if used wisely, can get rid of serious obstacles, relieve stress in the learning environment, get people fully involved, and improve the learning process.
In order for game-based learning to have added value, it must meet several conditions, laid out below:
- Directly related to the world of work / the world of students,
- Continuously teaching students how to think, access information, react, understand, develop, and create real-world value for themselves and their organizations,
- Very fun and exciting, but not to the point of making students look stupid or superficial,
- Freeing students to work together,
- Challenging, but not to the point of making students disappointed and losing their minds,
- Provide sufficient time to reflect, provide feedback, dialogue, and integrate.
- Game-based learning has several advantages, namely;
- Provides attractive learning activities, because in play students feel happy and tend to be active,
- It is entertaining, meaning that learning is not carried out as usual so that students are more interested in doing it and
- Creating a fun and relaxed atmosphere can help students achieve the goals set. The right game at the right time and the right person can make learning fun and interesting, provide useful goals that can reinforce learning and can even become a kind of goal and measure for learners.
- However, if game-based learning is not properly managed and managed, several weaknesses will appear, namely:
- The existence of competition can have a counter-productive impact on students who do not like to compete or students who are weak in the mastery of the material or skills being trained,
- Students can be trapped only in the fun of playing and forget about their learning goals.
- Students only spend time on the game, so the learning objectives are not fully achieved.
- Games in learning are not goals, but a means to achieve goals, namely to improve learning. Sometimes games can be interesting, clever, fun, and very engaging, but they don’t pay off as important to learning. If so, it’s just a waste of time and should be left behind. So that game-based learning by the teacher can achieve the desired goals, it is necessary to pay attention to the following signs:
- Any game that is carried out must be a way/approach to achieving learning objectives
- Each game must be given clear and strict rules for all parties to comply with.
- In team games, efforts must be made to divide the groups equally.
- Games should involve as many students as possible (students who are spectators need to be given certain tasks, for example, managing time, adding grades, and others)
- Games must be adapted to the level of ability of students.
- As much as possible, the teacher acts as a game manager that can foster motivation to play for students (cheerful, lively but firm and impartial)
- We recommend that the game is stopped while the students are still immersed in the fun.
- Game-based learning is not implemented too often, but sometimes it is used for a variety of methods and maximizing the active role of students in learning, also aims to provide student entertainment so that learning is fun.
Great platforms integrating game elements are doing everything perfectly when it comes to teaching your children online. The concepts are being understood by the children with gamification.
