Game - Based Learning.

Gamified learning is a teaching methodology that creates a game-like scenario around the course curriculum and the objectives of the curriculum 

The purpose of theses game systems is to promote student engagement and motivate students to participate in the course activities. The concept of gamified education had become extremely popular with a wide range of companies that have created game platforms for many different subjects.

1. Increases Student Engagement

 Students have shown that students are more likely to spend time playing a learning-based game if you are using a reward system. Badges and points help translate the work the student is completing into a tangible benefit. By increasing engagement you’ll also see a rise in learning retention as students will be able to relate to the content easier through practice than just reading or watching a lecture.

2. Creates Enthusiasm

Gamification can be used to foster feelings of enthusiasm towards the subject-matter, especially in subjects that students struggle with, like math. In my classes, I have struggled to try to get students excited about computer programming or concepts of computer science.  By creating a gamified system with rewards, I have been able to see a difference in my classes and students are becoming excited and competitive while learning.

3. Makes Social Connections

In higher education we often find that students have trouble creating social connections with other students in their courses. Gamified classrooms, seated and virtual,  help students who have trouble with social interaction and give them a reason to work together. This is especially true if you create team competitions that require students to collaborate on challenges.

4. Provides Instant Feedback

Most gamification systems allow for instantaneous fefeedback such as  dashboards which students can use to see where they stand among their peers. This information can push a student to try the quiz or activity again to get a higher placement and creates motivation for further lesson engagement.

Does gamification address the 21^st century skills?

Since it encourages collaboration, leads to learners gaining a skill of creativity, critical thinking and communication as result of the way it engages the learners, it addresses the 21^st century skills.

Under knowledge –building gamification is very important because it helps learners drive their learning and through playing the interactive games they keep on building the knowledge by themselves.

Is it more important for learners to create games rather than playing them because, when they create the games themselves they become responsible for their learning and hence become creators of knowledge rather than receivers of it.

Digital games can be incorporated into physics, by designing and allowing students also to design   games based on the topics in Physics. These games should be engaging and promote collaboration.