Gamification can help education — here’s how

Teachers and parents hear it over and over again: “make learning fun” to keep kids engaged. Gamified education apps for use outside of the classroom have proliferated, leading students to expect gamification when they’re back inside of the classroom, too. ABCmouse is one great example for the youngest of students. Just recently, Google announced Grasshopper, an app that teaches coding to beginners, offering lessons through puzzles that make the topic seem less intimidating.

Discussing the benefits of gamification for learning and retention is a tricky topic because doing it successfully requires a delicate balance of science and art. It’s not easy to build something that is both entertaining and educational. Combine people’s short attention spans with an obvious reliance on technology and personal devices, however, and the argument for gamification as a constructive learning technique is one worth paying attention to.