Gamification of Education

To keep children ( and some adults ) engaged in learning can be a struggle. It can be even more of a struggle when you have to sit them down day after day and teach them. But education has come a long way since the classroom, teachers, and books. It has become extremely popular to “Gamify” education to make it enjoyable. Like playing a game.
Gamification is an approach to education based on a video game design. And it is to help children approach learning like they would a game. Games are about solving problems; regardless of what kind of game you play, there will always be that link to problem-solving. It has been shown that gamification helps people focus and retain more information than conventional teaching methods. And with the development of mobile phones and tablets, many children have the opportunity to play and learn anywhere.

In 2003 Famtamstick, a company based in Japan developed an app that would do just that, be able to play and learn anywhere. Starting with their Ninja multiplication app, followed by their addition and subtraction app, they now have over 4 million downloads and have become the #1 children’s app in 107 countries. They continued developing other ional apps, which are also extremely popular.

It all started around the time when the iPad first came out. Interested in the new tech, one of the developers bought one and had his children use it. They were only about 4 or 5 years old, but he noticed how the children interacted with the iPad. They were not taught how to use the device but could navigate within it without any problems. They could draw and use many of the functions; it was all easy and straightforward. The children were not held back by conventional writing tools and paper. They could press and see the results, which became instant gratification. After seeing this, Famtamstick started on a gamified educational app. They believe that children are all eager to learn; all they need is the starting point, the gateway into learning. And Fantamstick aims to produce apps and become that “gateway”. Gamification has a significant impact on developing themes for entertainment and education, and it moves towards utilizing games as an educational backdrop.

SuperOne has also taken on this gamification of education approach. We are not only gamifying education, but we are also gamifying fandom. Even a relatively straightforward app, such as a true or false quiz, can compel one to strive for their goals and trigger real emotions such as intrigue and accomplishment. It can also challenge one’s knowledge of a genre, such as a specific sport or international artwork, for example. Gamification is on a rapidly rising trajectory in terms of its applicability in an educational applications, and there will be more in the near future. And SuperOne has already incorporated it into our app. We have started with sports and entertainment quizzes and plan on expanding to other genres in the future.

So next time you want to test your knowledge on something or like to learn something new, why not try the SuperOne gamified approach?
And quiz yourself on an array of different topics.
There may be an opportunity to expand your knowledge or even find something new. It could be precisely what you were looking for.