In the United States, 80% of learners say that they want more game-based learning at school and at the workplace. With a large proportion of the American population gaming, industries have grown to create settings that mimic the fun elements of games in current students and employees. The essence of gamification is to adopt various elements found in games and use them in other domains to improve skills, foster creativity, and support learning. Thus, educational digital signage appears as the most effective organizer of the starting gamification activities and the identification of people’s complete attention.
New integrations of touch and gesture technologies have brought changes in the gamification environment of digital signage. It is now possible to engage content with different body parts to add the element of fun in the gamification aspects. A lot of research reinforces the benefits of using gamification, including providing easily navigable utilities for communication, knowledge exchange, and team cohesiveness in a single interface. Depending on an activity, this dynamic approach to day-to-day activities brings a new perspective on task accomplishment, making gamification an outstanding phenomenon to consider.
Gamification in Educational Digital Signage:
The transition from learning to group learning has created a basis for gamification in classrooms at all levels of learning. The Education Arcade at MIT notes that the game players display some behaviors that are desirable in academic contexts, including perseverance, defiance, focus, and critical thinking. This way, not only does the student receive a penalty-free zone in which to learn and practice the concepts, but also the classrooms have the incorporation of interactive technologies, resulting in creativity and a higher level of students’ participation. According to Games and Learning, educational video games increase the level of students’ engagement by 70%. They are used to enrich the learning process and include such elements as entertainment features that are characteristic of the games, which makes learning content more appealing and useful.
Rewards, badges, and points in Educational Digital Signage:
Mobile learning in educational digital signage may use point systems, badges, and rewards to make learners feel that they are learning and growing.
Engaging Content in Educational Digital Signage:
Gamified digital signage typically contains touch screens, questions and answer sessions, and augmented reality, encouraging the users to be active and to learn.
Narratives and Storytelling:
The integration of storytelling aspects into the learning material means that, in addition to the information and skills to be acquired, there is an exciting story for the audience.
Competition and Teamwork:
Incorporation of competition or collaboration introduces challenge and teamwork among students through use of leaderboards, time limits, and group assignments.
Instant Feedback:
Immediate feedback on quizzes, assessments, or other forms of learning activities gives the students direction and encourages positive learning behaviors.
Use of Characters and avatars in Educational Digital Signage:
The use of avatars or characters is more appealing to learners and brings the fun aspect of gamified education into perspective.
Adaptability and Personalization:
This is because, through gamification, learning can be made to be smart, that is, learning can be made to vary with the performance of the learner. This aspect is focused on by gamification, where the level of difficulty, the frequency, and the content of learning can be made to vary with the performance of the learner.
Practical Application:
The concept of gamification aims at closing the gap between what learners know and what they are able to do through the use of simulation, role play, and problem solving.
Now let’s take a closer look at how gamification is being used in different industries.
Gamification in Museums:
Other facilities, apart from classrooms, such as museums, are using impressive gamification tools in the form of interactive technology. Museums are one of the first industries that have adopted digital signage technologies, which engage people using gamification. A recent example is the Oztoc exhibit in the New York Hall of Science, developed with the support of the Games Learning Society and the University of Wisconsin–Madison. At the exhibit, there is a multitouch table that is used by all the visitors to play and learn together without being taught, so the children develop problem-solving, reasoning, and collaboration skills.
Gamification in the Workplace:
When people leave school and join the job market, learning does not stop. Gamification is changing the ways employers disseminate information and is turning work into fun games. Office Vibe has estimated that 70% of the Forbes Global 2000 intend to apply gamification to increase engagement, retention, and revenues. The use of gamification in the workplace leads to active, involved, and productive employees, especially in cases of new employees. The use of interactive technology helps corporations develop games for employees, thus closing the gap between a happy employee and a successful corporation.
M2Research stated that the market for gamification is still at about $100 million and is expected to grow to about $2.8 billion in 2016. The integration of digital signage with interactive technology will remain a focus of great concern in a number of fields. When one thinks about education facilities that serve the learning needs of students, museums that offer interesting content, or companies willing to engage and motivate employees, gamification stays the focus.
Conclusion:
Gamification in the context of educational digital signage is revolutionizing learning. As a tool, it supports our ability to learn better and to change, so it is quite a versatile tool for designing fun and engaging learning environments. Thus, while the use of technology in the process of gamification and education will continue to advance, the future for learners all over the world will become more engaging and effective.
