Impact of game-based learning
It is through learning that a player makes a progress in a game. It is the ability of the human mind to grasp and understand a new system. The progress of comprehending a new concept through gaming makes an individual feel a sense of reward whether the game is meant for entertainment or seriousness. Well-designed games that can motivate players make them ideal for learning environments. An individual gets the opportunity to face real-world challenges more easily within a game containing efficient and interactive experiences which actively engage people in the learning process. Within a successful game-based learning environment, choosing actions, experiencing consequences, and moving towards objectives, permits players to make mistakes by experimentation in a risk-free environment. Games are interactive and provide outcomes and feedback, and have their rules and structure and goals that instill a sense of motivation. Majority of the games also have problem solving situations that glitter inventiveness.
Education games take into account of the immediate, in-depth data about each student’s performance and pave the way to completely new methods of progress measurement and achievement, in ways that reward and reinforce engagement. This is done by assessment of the performance at the same time. In addition, during games there is little likelihood of any sort of untrustworthy to be happening. Students can realize their day-by-day position, not just at test time, from the ongoing assessment and frequent feedback, and can learn where they exactly need to work (play) harder to take help. Rewards and awards program can provide a role to motivate students to keep trying when they might otherwise give up, and educators can adjust what and how to teach based on formative assessment of the individual and summative assessment by collective progress of their students.
Quite often games have a dream element for engagement of players in a learning activity through description or story lines. Educational video games can help to motivate children and permit them to develop an awareness of consequentiality. Children have the opportunity to express themselves as individuals during learning and engaging in social problems. Games of today tend to be more social, with most teens playing games with others at least for some time and can incorporate numerous aspects of civic and political life. Students participating in educational video games have the potential to provide a depth and more meaningful insights in all academic areas.
The persistent difficulty pertaining to the way of gaining students’ concentration in teaching has turned to be severe. Well-designed digital games which are complete with practical settings and convincing narratives seem to the present and future generations what adventure novels like Robinson Crusoe proved to the former generations. With the capability to be used for learning purposes, well-designed games have the potential to cut through distractions and employ the audience in a way similar to some other methods. Therefore, organizations are more and more looking how funding greatly employable game-based approaches will have the potential to bring considerable profits.
Technological advancement in game-based learning
There is no controversy in the fact that in the past, game-based learning environments proved to be prohibitively expensive for majority of the organizations. A few sectors, like aviation and military were able to give good reason for the cost, because the worth of training was no doubt a life-or-death concern. It is only very recently that health care organizations and medical schools have started to depend on games and simulations, and application on these tools is now expected or even compulsory.
Today, game-based learning gets an access in many different industries for four reasons:
- The achievement of game- and simulation-based learning in the aviation, military and healthcare industries provides an effective proof-of-concept, and a support of learning efficiency.
- Advances in natural processing authority with employee shrinkage in cost have been able to bring game-based learning within reach.
- The development of stable and flexible game engines and tool kits are responsible for lowering the cost of development and reducing the need for 100% tradition from-scratch application expansion.
- A rising group of designers and developers knowledgeable in the medium of games have combined a vital level of information relevant to what works and what does not.
Nevertheless, technology and games are expected to be used in replication environments for the purpose of imitation of real world problems in the long run. In the professional area, like flight training, simulations are already in usage with the endeavour for preparing pilots for training before actually going out into planes. These training sessions are meant for the usage of replication of real life stresses without the risk factor associated with flying. It is worthwhile to mention that Multiplayer role playing games (MMO’s) provide opportunities to the players for improvement of skills like multifaceted learning, thinking and social practices.
Conclusion
The model of interactive, greatly employable training and education is no doubt, a primitive one. A Chinese proverb says: “Tell me, and I’ll forget. Show me, and I may remember. Involve me, and I’ll understand.” However, the gap continues to grow between out of date, inactive training methods and a group that relies on increasingly interactive, multimedia, user-controlled way of life. Significantly, the advent of game-based learning tools with the objective to bridge that gap comes the oath of immensely more creative and occupied students and workforce, who aspire for learning rather than taking it as a troublesome load. Several teachers and educators throughout the world are giving emphasis to gamely the classroom. With the arrival of continual more innovations by vendors and adoption by students and teachers, game-based learning is likely to impart a good impact on education, even though there are still immense scopes for growth and development.
Reference:
http://www.newmedia.org/game-based-learning–what-it-is-why-it-works-and-where-its-going.html
http://edtechreview.in/news/news/trends-insights/insights/339-game-based-learning-impacting-education
http://www.guardian.co.uk/teacher-network/teacher-blog/2013/may/03/game-based-learning-science-bullying-research-in-brief
