Do-and-Learn
Welcome to the world of game-based learning where all this and much more is at play. Now, it is all dependent on how videogame designers produce and refine highly motivating learning environments for their players to enjoy and learn, at the same time.
A good game-based learning application will draw a child into a virtual environment that looks and feel familiar and relevant; something like an augmented learning environment. According to Dr. Susan Ambrose, Director of Carnegie Mellon’s Eberly Center for Teaching Excellence “this is motivational because we can quickly see and understand the connection between the learning experience and our real-life work.”
Goal Oriented
An effective game-based learning environment should set up goals to achieve. Where choosing certain actions and experiencing the consequences of those actions along the way are all a part of achieving that goal. Here, risk taking is without any serious consequences, and can be undone as well. However, the great advantage is that ‘we actively learn and practice the right way to do things. This keeps us highly engaged in practicing behaviors and thought processes that we can easily transfer from the simulated environment to real life.’
Moral Values
Many game based learning platforms are actually parents cope with reiterate value systems in children. With the break in the joint family system of living and both parents working hectic schedules, this is becoming a preferred method of teaching, especially at home. Also, talking about social issues is another area of concern which is being met through customized game based learning modules. Back in Australia also, new aggregator platforms like Launch by innovator Wil Monte, the Our Secret Island is a smart gaming platform that engages young children in healthy eating and traditional foods through fun gameplay, music and culture.
India Ahoy!
In India itself, smart investors are developing gaming softwares which are encouraging smart learning for the new age learners. Piramal Enterprises Consumer Products Division for example recently launched an innovative, educational game for children between the ages of 7 and 11. Developed in their Piramal Innovation Laboratory, the gaming platform is a botany based and will encourage ‘practical learning for children that encourages them to explore, question and gain all-round development by focusing on India's geography and vegetation diversity,’ according to the company’s spokesperson with the media.
Statistics reveal that for a nation with some 40% of its 1.2 billion population around or younger than 18 who are glued to smartphones, gaming is clearly a good way to engage deeper.
In coming times, gaming is also going to be used a preferred way to assess and identify the ideal traits required for the job: social intelligence, reading emotions, not giving up, problem solving, and so on; something that the Indian Hotels Co. Ltd is already using to pick their young talent for the luxury hotel chain.
