Reaching a high degree of classroom engagement through game-based learning

We strongly believe and all our participants agree with us that game-based learning is one of the best ways to learn. At the same time it is a really fun way of teaching!
The week from 6th to 12th of February we welcomed in Bologna our participants Manuel and Juan from IES El Doctoral, Stephen from Inicijativa za engleski jezik i kulturu, Gruia and Alexandra from Special School no.3, Cristina and Andreea from Scoala Gimnaziala Speciala SF.NICOLAE, Edyta, Paulina, Aneta and Gabriela from Publiczna Szkoła Podstawowa w Krzeszowie Górnym. Their training week was constructed like a game, following a sequence of levels from the very beginning. We started solving riddles and discovering the secrets of Bologna during the Sunday walking tour and we continued engaging in challenges and adventures throughout our “weekly game”. 

​As if we were starting to play a video game, we asked participants to create their own characters to join the game. Avatars, symbolic characters and new superheroes were thus used as a basis to get to know each other, including strengths and passions. It became even more noticeable how rich and diverse our group was, perfectly reflecting the reality of every class at school. 

​​During the first level we discussed the pedagogical value of playing and how games stimulate learning. We reflected and acknowledged that teachers are most of the time “digital immigrants” in an educational cosmos that is nowadays populated by digital natives only. 

Through a challenge on the differences between gamification and game-based learning, our “players” could better clarify that gamification applies game elements into a non-game environment while game-based learning is a teaching approach whereby learning happens through playing the game itself. 

As the main outcome of the second level, “players” defined the most common gamification framework as the process through which 8 major internal and external motivators influence human engagement. During one of the practical activities, players engaged in a role-play where they acted like the most common types of video games players, reaching a hands-on understanding of game-driven motivation.

The third level was dedicated to game-based tools and apps. We listed and actively explored several traditional games and we reframed them all together into more engaging learning tools. After all the challenges and battles, “players” had an opportunity to create their own tools both offline and online. 

In the penultimate level, “players” lived the most active and engaging experience. We went outside to enjoy a scavenger hunt game in the city center and later we were locked in a digital escape room trying to solve riddles and puzzles to escape. Participants finally tried to find the best way to gamify their own classrooms taking into account their students’ needs and charcateristics.

​Having overcome all the levels of our game, participants had the opportunity to learn new ways of making the most of the most traditional games to transform the learning process. They also got acquainted with modern online tools able to produce a significant improvement of students’ engagement and bring a spark in the classroom!

Discover more about the course on Gamification and Game-based Leraning on our website!