Playing Games Vs Gamification

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This post is brought to you by KidoCode, a community that provides computer programming, math, and digital art courses for students of all ages.
Playing Games and Games Addiction
One of the worries faced by parents today are kids on computer games. The challenge is how to get kids off computer games to focus on learning. When smart phones came into the scene, this issue became amplified as kids could easily get their hands on games on this portable, affordable device.

Traditional Education System
Part of the problem of not being able to get kids to focus on learning is the boredom they feel when studying. In the traditional education system, there is a lot of rote learning, memorizing and very little interaction. 
In the traditional education system, the teacher tries to get kids to listen as they talk. Kids go home to do their homework for the day's lessons and then they are tested by doing assessments or exams on chapters taught in school. There is very little interaction or input from the kids.

Obviously creative solutions are required to improve the learning system and that is where gamification in education helps.



What is Gamification?
Gamification is the application of gaming elements and mechanics to increase participation and engagement. Gamification can be used to enhance learning and inspire self-learning. It encourages the learner to be self-motivated to "level up" and "compete" as they learn

Gamification in 21st Century Learning
KidoCode uses gamification to teach young kids to build programs and games instead of playing them. Kids are naturally eager to learn about something that interests them. As they learn to code and develop games, they also learn other subjects like physics and maths as a matter of course. In fact they become curious about these subjects as it helps them with their coding tasks

Learning is task oriented, interactive and engrossing. Even advanced languages like Python are understood by kids when learning is gamified. By using rewards and recognition, kids are motivated to learn more.


Playing Games vs Gamification
Gaming is not all bad. They do allow kids to unleash their imaginations. When kids play games, you may be surprised that they use strategic and logical thinking skills to solve problems or goals set by the game. However, it can also easily lead to game addition as most games are designed in such a way to challenge the gamer to achieve more and more to get to a higher level. Excessive and unmonitored gaming can lead to addiction, isolation and withdrawal of interest from education.

Gamification in education taps on this desire to achieve by applying it to a learning environment. Goals, tasks, rewards and recognition helps kids learn better. It brings out the creativity in them and makes them curious to learn more

Which do you think is better? Kids addicted to games or kids addicted to learn how to build games

To find out more about how KidoCode uses gamification to  coach and guide kids to code and build games and apps, you can register your child up for a 3-hour trial class here

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