Gamification in Education

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What is game-based learning?
The use of game design elements in non-game contexts/ using the mechanics of games to incentivise and reward in the real world.
It’s becoming ubiquitous. Examples: Foursquare (medals and badges awarded to encourage new/repeat business); hybrid cars (plant avatar on dashboard grows depending on how ecologically you drive, affecting driving behaviour); road safety (in Scandinavia, anyone who drives under the speed limit is entered into a lottery to win the money made from people who speed. Pure game think. Dropped speed by 20%); Weight Watchers (points and levelling system), and many, many more examples.
By 2015, 70% of Global 2000 will be applying game-based learning, and 50% of process of innovation will be gamified (Gartner, ‘Gartner Enterprise Architecture Summit’, 2011)
Gamification in Education
Game players regularly exhibit persistence, risk-taking, attention to detail, and problem solving, all behaviours that would ideally be regularly demonstrated in school” (MIT, ‘The Education Arcade’, 2014)
Gamification in education is predicted to grow from $4bn in 2012 to $9bn in 2017 globally (Ambient Insight, ‘The 2012-2017 Worldwide Game-based Learning and Simulation-based Markets’ 2013)
Gamified learning isn’t a new concept. Think gold stars. But with technology, learning experiences have proved to be vastly improved.
Non-profit companies like Khan Academy (gamified education with over 10m unique users per month) have already successfully introduced its platform into schools worldwide. They provide lessons, as well as a platform that includes dashboards, real time analytics, and progress bars for its lessons, providing valuable insights for both teachers and students. Recent 2 year study on Khan Academy reported increased participation, increased understanding, increased test scores, and high levels of teacher and student satisfaction (SRI, ‘Research on the Use of Khan Academy in Schools’, 2014).
Other reports of successful gamified learning pilots are starting to pop up across the globe (see: Jane McGonigal, ‘Reality is Broken’, 2011)

When teachers have face-to-face time with students, it’s more productive as they know what the problems areas are immediately. Constant, immediate feedback and encouragement. Platform to encourage regular ‘mini-failures’ to learn and improve. Iterative examination process where students keep ‘playing’ (learning) until they get the ‘score’ (grade) they want, just as games are played (keep playing/failing until you overcome the obstacle). Fun learning environment.
Why Schools Should Introduce Gamification Into Its Curriculum?
Bottom line: education is important for both the individual and society. In an increasingly game-centric generation, gamified learning techniques can help improve levels of motivation, participation, retention of information, and results.
Gamified learning techniques have been repeatedly proven to improve results.
Gooseberry Planet is a unique gaming app teaching children about the dangers of online safety.  It gives the child confident and the knowledge to respond in a correct manner.  Sign up for a 1 months free trail here 

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