When studying a Master's in Teaching, certain topics have the tendency to spring up again and again, across different subjects. In 2021, more than anything else, that topic would be Gamification. It's an idea that seems inescapable nowadays: the idea that structuring classroom learning within narrative-led game systems to take advantage of the motivational benefits for students.
In theory, it's a great idea. Who wouldn't prefer to learn through an engaging game than a dry textbook? But in practice, I'm a little more sceptical. Preparing my own gamification with my group for another module made me realise just how much work goes into a gamification - the sheer number of elements and instructions one has to consider is quite mind-boggling - can make it a daunting proposition for real-life classroom usage. And, if we're being honest, are the learning outcomes really worth it?
In my classroom experience - both as language assistant and as student - gamification often reduces the students' language work to its most basic level. Platforms like Kahoot may be classroom favourites, but they're often used for fairly basic gap-fill or multiple choice exercises. When we use a textbook, this would normally be only the first step, before moving on to freer, more creative and open-ended linguistic production. Gamification, at least in its most common usages, can run the risk of getting our students addicted to the rush of getting the right answer on what are in fact rather simple tasks, rather than taking chances and experimenting creatively with their English.
More and more, I'm realising quite how important structure and clarity are to students, whatever their age: we need to know the rules of our learning environment, what we have to do, and how we can do it, or else our entire learning experience runs the risk of seeming like a rather cruel trick being played on us. That's even more true in gamified experiences: explain something poorly, and the whole experience can easily descend into chaos. That means that, counterintuitively, gamification can sometimes result in experiences which are more constrained and limiting than more traditional classroom teaching. When I use a textbook, I can pick and choose what I want to use, take detours, improvise, open up conversation without any clear correct response in mind; for my students, that means an opportunity to try out language in a more experimental, free, way. That's possible in gamification, no doubt, but it can all too easily disappear.
So I guess, in some way, I'm coming out of the closet: I don't really believe in gamification. At the beginning of the semester, we talked about how innovation was only valid when it actively improved on what existed before. Sadly, I think that in many cases, gamification fails that test. It can be a great tool in the right hands, I'm sure, but far too often it can seem like reinventing the wheel: looking to create something newer and shinier, but which might, once the shine wears off, end up being rather less exciting than what we had before.
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