Global access to education has solved many problems associated with development and enhancement of skills and qualifications of citizens’ living in rural areas. Simultaneously, the wide access to distance education has also given rise to new problems that did not occur as frequently in the past. Some students lack the motivation required to push onto their next stage of education, and experience fatigue or boredom, which impede their studies.
Distance learning is nothing new. It has beginnings older than 100 years and enables students to experience education in many ways, like through games [1, 2]. Today, the digital generation experiences such learning more often than ever before, so gamification has become a popular tactic to increase students’ engagement and motivation and encourage them [3].
Based on the Kapp definition, gamification is a way of education: “using game-based mechanics, aesthetics and game thinking to engage people, motivate action, promote learning, and solve problems” [4]. Moreover, it enables tutors and mentors to measure students’ progress in each given learning program, at any stage. The learning rules are clear from the beginning, to ensure a fair study environment. Students may also get overall feedback about their progress [5]. Constant progress in the game development industry brought about many useful tools that do not require installation on the computer and can be used on the go [6].
This learning method makes it possible to easily learn almost anything that can be memorized, from languages and history, to anatomy and molecular biology. In comparison to the early beginnings of distance learning, gamification also impacts infants and social networking [7]. Figure presented below shows a schematic image of social networking. Gamification could also positively impact the medical curriculum [8].
Broad Internet access allows for communication between users of educational tools, impacting distance education, and gamification [9]. Mediated communication, lack of eye contact, and lack of exposure to teachers enhance interactions between people involved in educational tools like games [8].
Gamification as a tool for language acquisition and development:
Language acquisition is one of the fields that has perhaps seen the most widespread use of gamification. Historically, languages were mostly taught in-person with a face-to-face tutor. This method of learning persists up until today, as it is very good at practicing aspects of language such as pronunciation and fluency of speech. However, many aspects of language acquisition, in particular, at beginner’s stages, have benefited largely from a gamification approach.
There exist a multitude of game-styled applications that aim to develop students’ vocabulary. They usually offer various levels of language proficiency, starting from the most basic vocabulary, up to specialist words. An example of this can be the “Duolingo” application.
Duolingo was released in 2012, and since then, has been in use by millions of people. The app is a prime example of learning via gamification: it keeps a track of user’s performance, and it rewards the students with points for successful acquisition of new vocabulary, and application of this vocabulary in context, combined with grammar (e.g. in creating simple sentences using blocks). New vocabulary is obtained using flashcards, correlating the target language expressions with the student’s native language. It even offers a progression system based on levels: upon reaching an appropriate level, the user unlocks new, themed sets of vocabulary. Duolingo also trains the student’s receptive skills in listening exercises.
Naturally, such software is not capable of training every aspect of language, and by itself, it will never produce a near-native-speaker language proficiency. There are still elements of language that are best practiced in the real-world environment: pronunciation varies among various regions and accents, and aspects of speech such as natural confidence and fluency are best achieved by practicing with a face-to-face tutor.
Yet, that platform offers a very good introduction to vocabulary and basic grammar of various languages, while being very encouraging to the students. This increases the chance that a student will follow-up the Duolingo lessons with extra classes of a certain language. Should the student feel less motivated to continue learning, Duolingo utilizes push notifications, filled with witty and humorous reminders to keep on studying. This is used to remind the student of the need to revise and practice.
Another tool based on the principles of gamification, but applied to various learning opportunities (including language acquisition) is quiz-based software. Examples of this include Quizzlet, which offers flashcard-based learning, or Kahoot, which offers a platform where multiple students can test and revise their knowledge of a language. These tools have one crucial principle at their core: flexibility. They test for almost any kind of language skills, from comprehension, to grammar, vocabulary, and even pronunciation.
For instance, Kahoot, in its core, is a simple platform: it displays a question, and asks the students to answer it. However, the questions can be supplemented with multimedia, such as sounds, pictures, or videos. Therefore the teachers may create all sorts of quizzes on Kahoot, asking students to recap vocabulary, choose the correct definition of a certain word, or listen to different pronunciations of a word, and decide which one is the correct one. This versatility makes platforms such as Kahoot highly viable for learning.
And in the case of Kahoot, the learning is enhanced by the factor of competitiveness: multiple students can be asked to compete against each other on a quizz. Their score is calculated based on both how accurate and how quick their answers are, training the two crucial language skills necessary for proficient communication: the ability to rapidly receive, process, comprehend and respond to language stimuli, and the ability to do so correctly.
Summary
The origins of distance education are dated back to the 18th century. Remote learning can be handled in a multitude of ways, however, as of recently, gamification has become more and more popular as a tool for distance education. It appears to be a highly viable tool that can be used to enhance more classical techniques of education. Although it can not be a replacement for all other methods of acquisition of knowledge, it is definitely a very useful tool for supplementation of other means of learning. Gamification can make learning fun, enjoyable, and interactive, resulting in an absolutely great learning experience.
This article is a joint work of Karol Masztalerz (Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manchester), Agnieszka Pregowska (Institute of Fundamental Technological Research, Polish Academy of Sciences), and Magdalena Osial (Faculty of Chemistry, University of Warsaw) as a part of the Science Embassy project.
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