Let’s be “selfish” for a moment and focus on us for a change by going down memory lane to the time when we were children. For the most part, we didn’t grow up with computer games (maybe some archaic game consoles and PC games depending on our generation) and for sure we grew up without iPads and apps. So what “sit-down-and-be-entertained” options did we have at our disposal when our own parents weren’t chasing us to do our homework, finish our homework or go to bed? TV series like “Knight Rider”, “the Dukes of Hazard”, or a timeless classic like “Little House on the Prairie.” Probably not so often, we got to watch films on TV or at the local movie theater which also captivated us; classics like Indiana Jones, and the original Star Wars Trilogy.
A Set Formula
Sure all that was (and still is) fun, but how does it relate to learning? Each of those TV series and films mentioned above, as well as all those others which became popular and successful, followed a particular story formula (or “rules”) they stayed true to. Take the first three Indiana Jones films for example; they’re essentially the same film, following the same rules, under different circumstances; and that’s where the fourth installment failed (it strayed from the formula); a simple example of how not staying true to the formula doesn’t work would be if say the Dukes of Hazard were chased by aliens; it would most likely look odd and inconsistent.
Interaction and Exploration
Back to us as kids again: We just had to have the toys for those series and films because given those set formulas in our minds (Indiana Jones looking for treasure), we craved the ability to try and discover for ourselves what that little miniature Indiana Jones might discover behind the sofa, and how we might react to it. In other words, we were craving exploration.
The Case for Gamification
Games of all sorts, not only video games, blend these two ingredients in one way or another: a formula made of a certain set of rules and exploration through an interactive outcome which depends on varying levels of skill and luck. Enter “Gamification” a term for what mentors and instructors have known from the dawn of humanity, to Ancient Greece, to today: the best way to teach is through structured play where young learners have the chance to explore and learn gradually step by step, stage by stage until they’ve reached the required level of mastery in a particular skill or the ability to think and analyze problems and challenges. “The first one to score three consecutive baskets gets a second ice-cream!” you’ve added gamification through rules allowing for competition and an uncertain outcome (i.e. serious fun!).
Children had it Right All Along
Children always did and always will crave games and play; it’s what makes them children! They crave what TV and films alone cannot provide: interaction (cooperation and interaction) and discovery through trial-and-error. That’s exactly what the field of Gamification aims to provide in education to make it more fun and effective, and it’s precisely at the core of what we do at Ellinopoula.
The Difference Gamification makes in Education
Remember trying to memorize something for school? If you do, it probably wasn’t fun. Add Gamification to the task and a child becomes more motivated to learn, as in the case of The Memory Game which teaches vocabulary in a fun, challenging way.
Learning shapes out of any fun context as in “this is a square”, “that is a circle”, is probably one of the least motivating and least effective ways of teaching shapes to a child in any language, including their own mother tongue; the Maze Game, on the other hand, teaches shapes by adding them into a fun context where children are eager to know “what that shape that just appeared in my path, is called.”
At the end of the day, there’s truth in that saying “there’s no such thing as a bad student”; children are hard-wired to learn and they want to learn; At Ellinopoula we recognize this and we use Gamification principles to create fun, rewarding, and effective activities for children to discover the treasure of Greek language just like we learned how to discover hidden treasures imagining we were Indiana Jones.
Find out more at Ellinopoula.com.
