The world we live in is constantly advancing and updating. That is why it is no surprise to anyone that technological advances are present in every area of life, including education. That is why today we are going to talk about gamification. If you are a tutor and have never heard of it before, stay and read on.
Let's start by defining this term. Gamification refers to teaching and learning techniques that use the mechanics of video games to achieve their objectives. In other words, by means of game-like activities, students are taught a wide variety of classroom subjects.
Games and video games have been on the rise for many years and are mainly played by young people. This means that it is very likely that most of the pupils you teach will be playing the latest video games on a regular basis.
As they are related to this kind of dynamics, they will be very interested when you start developing your classes with some games. Moreover, for you as a teacher it will be advantageous, since you will be able to develop the cognitive skills of your students at the same time as you teach them about new academic concepts.
Now, although at first glance it may not seem like it, the truth is that there are several advantages of implementing gamification with your students. So, if you are interested in applying this strategy, you should know that you will be able to obtain the following advantages:
- It will allow you to capture students' attention more effectively.
- You will make your students feel more motivated to study.
- Students will have a fresh perspective on teaching.
- Trial and error teaching methodology will be practised.
- You will encourage the use of new technologies in your students' lives.
- You will give them a means by which they can express themselves better.
- It will help you to improve social relations among your students.
Now, surely now more than ever you are interested in implementing gamification in your classroom. Therefore, to help you with this, we will talk about the various current platforms that you can use to apply this type of technology with your students. Each and every one of them is highly effective and customisable.
This is a mobile application that both you and your students can have on their mobile phones. Its focus is on micro-education. That is, with it, you can develop small daily activities that will increase the learning of your students and through which you will be able to make a detailed follow-up.
On the other hand, Socrative allows you to create interactive questionnaires that your students can answer from their mobile devices with ease. It has a free version with which you can serve up to 50 students and a wide variety of premium packages that you can pay for.
Another of the mobile Apps that you can use to implement gamification is iCuadernos. Through it, students will be able to carry out academic practices of all kinds. These can help them to reinforce their knowledge in mathematics, writing and many other areas.
This is a mobile application that is available for both Android and iOS. With it you can create digital flashcards that you can use as flashcard-style games. With this type of game you can significantly increase the cognitive skills of each and every one of your students.
Among the programmes most similar to the mechanics of video games, we find Classcraft. It is based on the structure of the game World of Warcraft. So your students will have to create their own characters and complete adventures to earn points and demonstrate the knowledge they have acquired.
Who hasn't heard of Minecraft before? This video game has joined the idea of gamification and has released an educational edition that will be of great help to all tutors who wish to use it. Without a doubt, it is one of the most entertaining tools you can find today to develop your classroom strategies.
As you can see, gamification is an excellent strategy that any teacher with the minimum technological devices can carry out. Even for developing strategies for private classes. If you want to start working as a private tutor, you should know that from WeSmartly you will be able to promote your services.
Our website works as a means of contact for tutors and students. Therefore, by promoting your services from there, you will surely find a large number of students interested in hiring you. With them, you will be able to implement strategies based on gamification in order to visualise better academic results for your students.
