We live in an age where an individual has to keep learning in order to be able to survive. The fourth industrial revolution is upon us and it’s never been more important to be up-to-date with the various skills that come with it. The reality just keeps on changing, the only constant in this is the ability to absorb, learn, and adapt with the new knowledge that’s shaping the reality today & tomorrow. The speed and efficiency with which an individual is able to grasp complex subjects and learn them will prove to be the greatest differentiator.
However, having said that, there’s a huge challenge that’s glaring upon us with regards to our abilities to learn and grasp new things. We’re all different when it comes to our abilities, our capabilities. The physical, mental, geographical, emotional, cultural, exposure-led, gender, race differences are too broad. It’s impossible to have a one-size-fits-all module that will teach these individuals the latest in the field of whatever these individuals want to specialize in – be it machine learning, out of pure interest/curiosity, or data sciences, because your job demands you to up-skill yourself in that field.
The limitations of a one-size-fits-all course shouldn’t ideally stop the 14-year-old girl from a rural Indian hinterland from learning what coding actually is. It’ll be unfair. It’ll be a terrible thing for society as a whole. It’s something that will only keep benefiting the privileged, and the inequality will keep getting the boost that it’s been getting. Aren’t we in this so that we can help everyone move beyond by ensuring nobody stays behind? That’s exactly where gamification can play a huge role. It’s not just about inclusivity here, it’s about different learning triggers and motivators. It’s about creating unique learning experiences for individuals who understand, analyze, synthesize, and evaluate the knowledge that they receive through various mediums, in a way that suits them.
The language of games is universal. Games are successful because they encourage users by focusing on social, cognitive, and emotional results. Supportive experiments that are fun, engaging, and rewarding are worth incorporating into learning. When questions normally expected to be difficult are presented to the learner in a fun and exciting learning environment, the learner community benefits from the novel techniques. Gamification applications are justified as necessary for learners to think, create alternative atmospheres, and for creating a competitive environment. Incorporating gamification methods in the classroom and workspace effectively makes learners more ambitious, leading them to study and work harder. Learners have found it easier to remember information when it was presented in a gamified manner. Learners were generally more excited in the process of learning, were better skilled, were able to experience reduced response times to questions, after having their learning process gamified.
So, the long story short, here would be that we need to keep experimenting with gamification and gamified learning solutions to solve not just for inclusivity with regards to knowledge but also to ensure that we move into the future as one team and consciously not leave anyone behind.
