There are a lot of benefits we can draw from game-based learning on the learning and development of management skills or soft skills. Despite the countless reasons showing how good an impact gamification has on learning, there is still some skepticism about mostly online interactive games. In order to drive away your fears, we tell you about the five main benefits of game-based learning:
GBL allows for practice
The greatest strength of effective game-based learning is the integration of tools which enable the internalization of contents. These tools are the simulators, which let students “do” things that they are just “told” about in other platforms. The best way of learning something is doing it, and it is especially so with the development of management skills. Simulators recreate real-life situations so as to have a no-risk practice and learn these soft skills that strengthen our personal and professional development and are not learned in books, or with theory, but only through practice.
GBL encourages strategic thinking and decision making
Most game-based learning requires students to think quickly and use logic in order to solve problems. This requirement encourages decision making and helps develop management skills. Aspects such as strategic thinking, putting oneself in the position of others, the development of analytical and communicative skills, etc., are factors very much present in many serious games for the learning of soft skills, such as Merchants, the negotiation course-game; or Triskelion, the one on time management and personal productivity.
GBL improves memory
Serious games and other “learning” games follow a narrative structure that allows students to immerse themselves in a context in order to develop a skill. By correcting certain behaviors and repeating certain habits, students end up memorizing, almost unconsciously, those behaviors that help them solve the game, move forward and get positive feedback. In short, GBL improves memory through practical learning.
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GBL favors adaptation to new technologies
We live in a world dominated by technology. It is nearly impossible to imagine a work position where the computer is not the main tool. Let’s face it; even children seem to have an innate ability to find their way in the digital world. It is now the time for the not so young, who through the use of game-based learning in devices and computers, have the perfect opportunity to get familiar with virtual challenges, interactive scenarios, Internet surfing or the simple management of users and passwords. Game-based learning provides the necessary tools to adapt, gradually and easily, to new technologies.
GBL develops coordination and attention span
The use of the keyboard and mouse (computers) or our finger (tablets and mobile devices), requires the attention of body and mind and helps develop coordination between our eyes and our hands. This combination of physical action and mental attention, provided by game-based learning, stimulates our memory. Among the recognized benefits of using applied video games are the improvement of the attention span, spatial vision and cognitive, motivational and social development.
These five basic benefits show that game and learning are not antagonistic; on the contrary, they can become best friends.
What other benefits do you think games can provide?
