From Innovative Teaching Methods through Social Media to Game Based Learning (GBL)

The educational system in place today must keep up with the ever changing world. Technology has made the world to radically change without notice. It is technology that has been driving much of the changes that we observe today. With the internet connectivity and the other technologies many researches can be done in just a matter of seconds and it is using this approaches that the teacher should among others use the strategy of teaching around the wheel involving multiple modalities throughout the digital lesson in an effort to present content using the students' preferred approach; Provide the necessary skills so that they can use skills effortlessly and accurately etc.

Among others is the use of social media as a tool for learning which has been evidenced in the recent years to have gone beyond to the extent of being used as a learning resource.  Although social media comes with its rule of the game e.g., learners want to have a say; dialoguing; getting connected with others, getting engaged in similar activities etc. Integrating social media in the class will therefore involve doing the following to ensure smooth integration (i) improve communication by allowing students to easily message teachers and other students with questions; (ii) make a Facebook page for my class where i can schedule events, post notes and remind students of assignments due dates; (iii) post supplementary materials like links to articles and videos so students can continue learning even when class is over.

While GBL can be superior to traditional classroom learning in that it fosters creativity and training the learners to be great innovators. However, GBL is easily surpassed by traditional classroom learning due to its cost where each learner needs to have access to computers or other gaming devices. Where the game is easy to access and easy to play, psychologists believe that playing such games make the children feel happier and may improve their (learner’s) moods, promote relaxation and ward off anxiety. That in this case the learners develop emotional resilience which they can rely on in their daily lives. Playing games hence becomes more important than creating games.

GBL can easily be integrated into innovative teaching by (i) embedding the instructional game into the curriculum; (ii) including instructional support. Instructional support helps learners understand how to use the game; (iii) ensuring game objectives align with curriculum objectives etc.

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