Gamification simply means to embed learning into a game that engages with pupils.
Why would gamification suit my classroom?
All children love to play games and most of them love to compete against one another. What is a better way to get children engaged? It’s a win-win situation! By spicing up the class with a little gamification, you can just about do wonders! It attracts their attention, it gets them involved and they will be eager to participate. What a great way to mix learning with fun.
How do I gamify my class?
Set goals
Firstly, choose a goal you want your pupils to achieve. Is there a topic your pupils are struggling to learn? Or is it a completely new topic you want to introduce? Decide what you feel is the right target for the classroom to accomplish. Let’s take angles as an example.
Competitions
Set regular competitions for everyone. This could include the fastest time someone can complete a certain level. Or a competition on who can find a new fact about the different angles they didn’t know about before. These can range from a right angle is 90 degrees to a triangle that has a pair of perpendicular lines is called an isosceles triangle.
Challenge individually
Now that everyone is clear with their goals you can start tailoring challenges to pupils. Remember to use SMART goals: specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and trackable. And choose software that enables pupils to progress from one level to another.
Rewards
Pupils will be even more motivated to learn with rewards! You can get a little creative here… customise your own stickers or certificates to get them intrinsically motivated without breaking the bank. You can take this forward and provide a scoreboard in the classroom so pupils can be recognised and want to challenge the scores. You could also provide weekly prizes this could be for individuals or for the whole class.
Multiplayer
Have you got a chatty classroom? Or perhaps a very shy classroom? Multiplayer games can solve both these problems. It will encourage children to talk to one another about topics that are beneficial to them. Playing in pairs can work well!
Tailor rules
Once everyone has the hang of the game you can implement little hurdles to make it harder. A shorter time in completing the game or a more difficult topic.
What software to gamify the class?
Emile is the latest learning resource that aids in maths for primary schools. It ranges from a variety of mathematics areas like geometry, statistics and more… in fact, it covers the whole UK curriculum. Emile offers competitions from who can collect the most points to the fastest time they complete. It has a great tracking system where teachers can then view the progress each child has made – perfect for a classroom scoreboard chart!
Emile can also be set for homework and has special features where parents could also review their child’s progress.
