Okay, we all know game-based learning is fun. And there was once a time when many educators understandably thought the benefits began and ended there.
But teachers are now realizing that game-based learning is brimming with benefits, and lots more excited educators are getting involved in the action.
Recent research has repeatedly shown just how beneficial game-based learning can be. According to this fact-packed collection of great information, “studies have revealed that game-based learning is linked to a broad range of perceptual, cognitive, behavioral, affective, and motivational effects and outcomes.”
Baamboozle is proof of those effects and outcomes. More than 400,000 educators use the site, over 50,000 classrooms play their games every day, at least 7 million Baamboozle games are played every month, and tens of thousands of teachers signed up to the platform this week alone.
There are broad and brilliant benefits of game-based learning. And those benefits include:
- It promotes engagement: it’s impossible to play any game without engaging with that game… and if you engage with anything, you’ll learn from it. If your students are reticent, reluctant, or just a little lazy, some in-class games will swiftly solve that problem.
- It helps with recall and memory: sooner or later, your students will be preparing for an examination, where memory is one of the major keys to success. And because lots of educational games focus on memory, they help students to perform better in tests.
- It teaches kids to persevere: let’s be honest, kids like giving up, and they’re always eager to down tools as quickly as they can. But when they play games in class, students learn that giving up gets you nowhere… and that perseverance pays off.
- It creates a more pleasant classroom: most games are team-based. When students play team-based games, they learn to co-operate and get along. And teachers love a classroom where everyone gets along!
- It’s fun: okay, we’ve already noted this, but it’s worth noting again. If you can get students having fun, you can get them engaging, interacting, and actually looking forward to learning. And at that point, you’re already halfway to success.
But most importantly of all, game-based learning organically promotes a more immersive (and therefore productive) learning experience. In one study, “it was found that […] educational games play a successful role in terms of both a better understanding of the course content by the students and the participation of the students in this process.”
So, the evidence is pretty clear: when used correctly, game-based learning can be a great link between classroom content and the effective understanding of that content. And if that’s not exactly what us teachers are trying our best to achieve, then what is?
Lots of teachers are making this realization themselves and embracing the potential of game-based learning. In another study, 90% of educators acknowledged the “positive impacts of employing game-based learning,” and expressed “positive feelings toward game-based learning.”
So, if you haven’t already immersed yourself in the benefits of game-based learning, here’s what we recommend: embrace the frenetic fun of using games in the classroom, and join the party before everybody else does!
To see if all the excitement is for you, take a sneaky peak at the ever-growing bank of over 750,000 Baamboozle games. Even the most tech-wary teacher can use these games with no fuss, no stress, and very little prep. And even more importantly, your students don’t need any access to their own devices.
But whether you choose to use Baamboozle or not, we can’t recommend game-based learning enough. As we’ve (hopefully!) covered by now, it’ll enhance and improve the academic performance of your little learners, and propel them to greater success!
