Reading a book and mugging up a definition is the easiest way of obtaining good marks. But does that really help in the long run? Learning is not about how good your marks are, but about how well you have understood a concept. Right? While it is quite easy for teachers to make grown-ups understand a concept by reading a book or narrating a story, they require applying some better initiatives to make the lessons easy to acquire for kids. And this is where games are considered the best means of educating young minds.
You might have observed playgroups having different activities available to engage the little ones so that they understand the day-to-day concepts easily. However, recently, with social distancing norms to be strictly obeyed, the means of teaching through online games is in. According to a report published on Penn Today, the gaming industry has experienced a huge boost, thriving as a $120 billion sector. Built around entertainment, gaming is now preferred as one of the most effective tools for teaching in classrooms besides already being used in militaries for training exercises, etc.
Gaming not only makes the lessons interesting and memorable for students of different age groups but also inculcates and enhances the creativity and critical thinking abilities in them. From having online math games for kids to complex aptitude-based gaming designed for grown-up students, online gaming comes up with a number of options for learners to choose from.
You can download an online gaming app and start playing now for better and more effective learning.
How does gaming help in the process of learning?
Strong Concept Building
Gaming makes it easier for students to understand new concepts and ideas. This mode of teaching makes sure they never forget what they have learnt. As a teacher, you can start with making them understand why a particular course or program is important to pursue. For example, if a student is pursuing a language program, he needs to know the reason behind doing that. What you can do is use a card game with different teams given different instructions. Shuffle the team members every time. This way, the different rules followed by different teams will confuse them, making them think that the other teams are playing wrong.
However, when they know that the rules are different for different teams, they will realise they were not playing wrong but doing what was instructed and appropriate. As a result, they will understand that the shuffle symbolised the tours to different countries where language issues are prominent and might confuse them. Hence, knowing the rules or the language of that particular place is important to survive there. Being aware of the purpose will make the learning and concept-building process simpler for them.
Positive Memory Making
Have you ever observed that the ads that appear too frequently on TV reserve a significant space in your memory? However, the products that are advertised only once in a while are hardly memorable. You can assess how effective something that you frequently see could be, right? Now, imagine, something you are trying for yourself for a better understanding. It will surely inculcate a lifetime memory, not allowing you to forget the same even for a second. Hence, positive memory-making is yet another way in which gaming helps when used as an effective tool for learning. Using games as a means of learning establishes an emotional connection with the things you come across, which remains with you forever. Whether it is a game to enhance vocab or something that helps learn clues to win, it would offer multiple sensory experiences to students.
Active Engagement
As soon as a student engages in an online game, be it a card game or board game, or fantasy sport, he will know that he is there to win. As a result, he gets completely involved in the game. If the game is being used by teachers for them to learn a concept or step-wise solution, they can be assured that students will get the hang of it perfectly. After all, gaming facilitates a super active engagement in kids. Playing is something that kids and even adults enjoy. And when something that is enjoyed is used as a means of teaching, the process becomes more fruitful, leading to quick learning.
Practical Learning
Learning by doing is the best way of understanding the implementation of a concept. There are people who know the concepts well but they are hardly aware of the implementation part. As a result, whatever they have learnt becomes worthless. Hence, as teachers, one needs to ensure students are not only theoretically trained but also practically skilled. With the help of online gaming, you can ensure students get a platform where they not only understand the concepts and ideas well but also learn to use and implement the same whenever required.
Improved Cognitive Skills
Online games are designed and developed by technological aces. Hence, they can’t be simple. If someone is playing and winning, the efforts put in must be appreciated as winning an online game is not as easy as it seems. When one engages in gaming, he or she has to utilise all his understanding and cognitive skills to figure out the tactics to be applied to win. The more they think, the better they play. Hence, online gaming broadens their cognitive boundaries as well.
Enhanced Attention
There are games that are developed for kids who get easily distracted. If you are the one handling kids having attention issues or those suffering from ADHD, you can take the help of these games to make your sessions fruitful for such kids. The little ones or teens who aspire to win a game keep themselves fully involved and for complete involvement, attention is a must. Striving to play perfectly to win, they end up having an enhanced attention level.
Perfect for Learning Teamwork
When you play an online game, you play in a group or team. Since communication plays an important role in recording a win, the players have to interact with each other and decide the most relevant moves and steps for achieving top scores on the leaderboard. Hence, they try to play in sync with the other members of the team. This, in turn, makes them learn how to work in a team and as a team, which, later on, enables them to have a sound professional life.
The above-mentioned ways in which gaming can be used for learning might appear surprising, but then these are very true. Games, which are mostly considered as a mode of entertainment, are no more restricted to being so. In fact, they are gradually becoming one of the most effective learning tools for not only kids but individuals of different age groups.
Santosh Kumar is a Professional SEO and Blogger, With the help of this blog he is trying to share top 10 lists, facts, entertainment news from India and all around the world.