Podcast Series: Innovations in Education

Explore the full series of eSchool News podcasts hosted by Kevin Hogan—created to keep you on the cutting edge of innovations in education.

The future of gamification

Key points:

In the past decade, students have been inundated with more and more distractions. The internet provides an infinite amount of said distractions: YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok to name a few. While the environment that grows children into students–and eventually young adults–has been changing, the education system has proved less dynamic. There are ways to embrace these changes as a means of benefit to a child’s education instead of a burden.

Engagement is the name of the game here, and educators are losing. According to a 2022 Gallup poll, engaged students are 2.5 times more likely to say that they get excellent grades and do well in school. This is massive, but even more impressive is that they are 4.5 times more likely to be hopeful about the future than their actively disengaged peers. Students who are happy to come to school and who see it as an opportunity are bound to feel more self-agency and to be better prepared for their post-educational lives.…Read More

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3 tools that foster gamification in my 4th grade classroom

Key points:

Gamification is one of the biggest in education trends right now in education. According to ISTE, “Gamification is about transforming the classroom environment and regular activities into a game” (Haiken, 2021). Many students want more than just good grades from school–they want something physical or immediate. “Gamification empowers students with the ultimate in choices when setting goals for what badges and achievements they want to complete, which leads to learners building skills for self-reliance and self-control” (McCarthy, 2021).

Embracing gamification in the classroom will lead to students taking responsibility for their learning while also enjoying their time in class.…Read More

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MDM solutions and gamification make perfect interactive learning partners

In the era of mobile devices and tablets, interactivity has become the norm for schoolchildren. To facilitate effective teaching and learning, modern schools must equip every classroom with interactive touchscreens and utilize gamification techniques. As these modern education tools require management and security, integrating MDM solutions has become imperative for every organization.

Understanding the Basics of Gamification in Education

Gamification means adding interactive gaming elements to processes such as learning. Everyone loves games, and competition motivates people to perform their best. So, by adding gamification elements during teaching sessions, schools can significantly increase their participation and engagement levels.

In addition, gamification can improve student skills such as active learning, problem-solving, and critical thinking. It also helps students enhance teamwork and collaboration.…Read More

35 edtech innovations we saw at FETC 2023

This year’s Future of Education Technology Conference landed in New Orleans, and the conference was abuzz with post-pandemic learning recovery tools, solutions to promote equity among students and parents, strategies for digital access, student mental health, social and emotional learning tools, and more.

Here’s just a glimpse of what we learned about during FETC 2023:

AVer Information Inc. USA, announced the launch of the A30, the world’s first All-in-One Camera with AI Audio for the Classroom. The A30 is a multi-functional classroom tool that enhances the teaching experience by combining a document camera, web camera, microphone, and speaker. With easy-to-use plug-n-play connectivity, the A30 speaker connects to computers, IFPs, and monitors to provide clear classroom audio up to 20 feet away. …Read More

How robotic gamification helped my elementary students love STEM

Coding is a necessary skill in today’s world, but it is relatively challenging to master, especially for kids. Its complexity is not necessarily because it is incomprehensible, but because it is a new concept for most students. This is especially the case for students in inner-city schools where technology is inevitably scarce due to systemic factors beyond the students’ control.

With numerous programming languages available, it can take time to pick a starting point. Educators have found a solution to this problem: gamification. Platforms like CoderZ offer virtual programming services where children can learn code through games. These games make learning code both fun and engaging for kids.

Through the CoderZ Robotics curriculum, kids learn to create, manage, and communicate with cyber robots in a virtual setting by inputting code. Block code is used because it is easier for children to understand and execute instead of complex text-based code. Learning is more accessible because virtual robots do not require hardware, space, or other associated costs.…Read More

The critical link between scholastic esports and career pathways education

When I first approached my administration back in August 2021 about implementing a scholastic esports program at school, I had imagined facing significant opposition to the idea, and, in preparation, had rehearsed my talking points and done my research in order to be persuasive.  I was prepared to talk about the connections to STEM learning, the opportunity to engage otherwise disengaged students, the inclusive nature of gaming, the research behind gamification and game-based learning, and more. 

None of that was necessary, however, as my school principal was extremely supportive in my effort to implement scholastic esports at the school and, more importantly, to use the program to teach students transferable skills while simultaneously encouraging them to explore related career pathways.

I began my esports program with a focus on social-emotional well-being using resources from NASEF to structure initial lessons.  Before jumping into the competitive aspects of esports and gaming, we spent three weeks discussing the importance of positive mental health and the negative effects associated with some online gaming cultures.  This included discussions of toxicity and online “trash talk” of opponents, as well as the impact on one’s emotional well-being and overall confidence as a result of being repeatedly subjected to such toxicity. …Read More

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Gamification tools that increase student engagement

Who out there doesn’t enjoy some form of game? Whether it be watching or playing a sport, a card game, a board game, or video games, most people would say they at least enjoy one.

Games are part of many people’s lives–so why not use them to benefit students when teaching?

From a 5th grade teacher lens, it is evident that students are more likely to engage in an educational activity when it is “gamified,” and even more so when it is gamified with technology. …Read More

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ISTELive 22 wrap-up!

In this episode of Innovations in Education, host Kevin Hogan explores:

  • How esports and gamification have advanced classroom instruction and homework
  • Has AR/VR finally come of age?
  • Will empathy for students AND teachers remain once normality returns?

Will gamification replace paper tests?

Nearly everyone remembers the stress of taking a test in school. In-class exams have the power to make even the most dedicated of students quake with fear, not to mention the damage they can do to the egos of struggling learners. For some students, the stress causes their minds to go blank, while others experience physical symptoms like headaches and nausea.

In fact, around 40 percent of students regularly report experiencing moderate to severe anxiety over tests. Unfortunately, that stress isn’t limited to students in higher grades. Even elementary school students can struggle with fear and performance anxiety on standardized tests. No surprise, then, that teachers and schools are increasingly rethinking their assessment methods, seeking ways to evaluate student performance without causing undue stress.

Fortunately, there are other methods of assessing students–methods that greatly reduce anxiety levels while simultaneously improving performance. One method getting a lot of attention is gamification, which involves incorporating elements of game playing, such as establishing ground rules, scorekeeping, and engaging in friendly competition with other students. Recent studies have shown that gamification in education can increase assessment scores by nearly 15 percent.…Read More

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