By Janet Menosky Smith
We all know that our online students love the practice and learning games we use with them, and we strongly suspect that it enhances their learning, but is there research backed evidence to support that?
Good news! The topic of using games to enhance learning has become a hot research topic in recent years and the findings so far strongly support that using games is a highly effective strategy for helping your students to learn.
A recent NIH-funded study on The Impact of Digital Educational Games on Student’s Motivation for Learning reported positive outcomes on the use of digital games. Researchers reported that, “personalized digital educational games improve students' learning outcomes, satisfaction, and overall enjoyment of the learning process.”
They went on to state that using games motivated students during teaching and helped students to be more engaged in the learning process. It makes sense. If students are more motivated and engaged during learning, they will have better learning outcomes and overall, enjoy learning more.
Neurologist turned teacher Judy Willis, MD., points out that playing games releases dopamine, which creates a powerful pleasure response.
Dr. Willis reports, “Games insert players at their achievable challenge level and reward player effort and practice with acknowledgement of incremental goal progress, not just final product. The fuel for this process is the pleasure experience related to the release of dopamine.”
As more tutors work online with students, more sites for finding or creating learning games have proliferated and we have more options than ever before to offer our students engaging practice. Sites such as Wordwall, Jeopardy Labs and Quizlet offer high-quality tools tutors can use to easily create games and activities.
Teachers have also become more adept at creating their own games and sharing or offering them to each other in online groups and marketplaces.
The takeaway? Keep adding and playing lesson-focused teaching and practice games. You’re not “wasting time.” In fact, you’re making the time spent even more productive, not to mention more fun, for both student and tutor!
Yours in reaching & teaching,
Janet
We all know that our online students love the practice and learning games we use with them, and we strongly suspect that it enhances their learning, but is there research backed evidence to support that?
Good news! The topic of using games to enhance learning has become a hot research topic in recent years and the findings so far strongly support that using games is a highly effective strategy for helping your students to learn.
A recent NIH-funded study on The Impact of Digital Educational Games on Student’s Motivation for Learning reported positive outcomes on the use of digital games. Researchers reported that, “personalized digital educational games improve students' learning outcomes, satisfaction, and overall enjoyment of the learning process.”
They went on to state that using games motivated students during teaching and helped students to be more engaged in the learning process. It makes sense. If students are more motivated and engaged during learning, they will have better learning outcomes and overall, enjoy learning more.
Neurologist turned teacher Judy Willis, MD., points out that playing games releases dopamine, which creates a powerful pleasure response.
Dr. Willis reports, “Games insert players at their achievable challenge level and reward player effort and practice with acknowledgement of incremental goal progress, not just final product. The fuel for this process is the pleasure experience related to the release of dopamine.”
As more tutors work online with students, more sites for finding or creating learning games have proliferated and we have more options than ever before to offer our students engaging practice. Sites such as Wordwall, Jeopardy Labs and Quizlet offer high-quality tools tutors can use to easily create games and activities.
Teachers have also become more adept at creating their own games and sharing or offering them to each other in online groups and marketplaces.
The takeaway? Keep adding and playing lesson-focused teaching and practice games. You’re not “wasting time.” In fact, you’re making the time spent even more productive, not to mention more fun, for both student and tutor!
Yours in reaching & teaching,
Janet
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