Challenges of Games in the Classroom

Some challenges of using gamification in the classroom should be considered.  According to Furdu, Tomozei, and Köse (2017), “The effort, not mastery, should be rewarded, and the students should learn to see failure as an opportunity, instead of becoming unmotivated or fearful” (p. 58).  It is demotivating to those students who have made an extra effort but do not get recognition for their work.  One of the challenges comes when teachers forget that they must recognize not only those students who reach their goals, but also those who do an amazing job.  In addition to that, a student that fails, needs to be allowed to grow from it and try again rather than been reprimanded and shamed on.  For that reason, game-based learning needs to be designed by teachers so that learners can repeat them in case of an unsuccessful attempt.  

Series on Games in the Classroom

Learn more about Games in the Classroom:

About the Author

Teaching 2006 in Elementary (1st, 3rd, and 4th grade). As of 2022, teaching 4th-grade mono & dual language virtual classes at La Joya ISD.

• LinkedIn
• Twitter

Another challenge is to keep in mind is the students’ motivation towards the games.  In a survey conducted by Furdu, Tomozei, and Köse (2017) to assess how student’s behavior and motivation are affected,  the results showed that motivation decreases by introducing leaderboards.  Students at the bottom of the leaderboards do not see a way of catching up to their peers.  The lower on the leaderboard they go, the harder it is for them to catch up.   They tend to act out as if they do not care, which eventually leads them to stop trying.  This lack of motivation can lead to them to be ridiculed by their peers and, in turn, decreased students’ behavior and motivation towards academic performance.  Teachers need to keep in mind that one of the challenges of implementing game-based learning is that competition leads to losing motivation for some students. 

Furthermore, a problem to consider is that game-based learning tools do not collect data and are not necessarily adaptive or responsive to the learner’s needs.  In addition, game designers create games to be assessments with little to no learning occurring in the game (Groff, 2018). Therefore, teachers need to be cautious before assigning a game to the students.  They need to research to make sure the game is aligned to the topic of study.  The academic goal needs to be at the top of the list before selecting a game.  For game-based learning to be effective, it needs to provide some form of teaching to the student and provide an appropriate assessment of the content covered.  According to Stieler and Jones (2019), the use of digital games in classrooms is complex and requires substantial effort.  The difficult part for teachers is finding suitable games and incorporating them into the curriculum.  Consequently, if teachers do not understand how to use digital games effectively in their classrooms, it will be challenging for teachers to use them as a tool to produce a productive learning environment.

Additionally, another issue to consider is the teacher’s limited knowledge of technology.  The lack of technical knowledge can become a challenge for a teacher to implement game-based learning in the classroom.  An and Cao (2017) found that the majority of the pre-service teachers in their study had no or limited experiences with multi-player online games and were not fully aware of the pedagogical value they have to students.  Likewise, Gaudelli and Talyor (2011) stated that teachers were frequently skeptical about the pedagogical value of video games, partially due to their lack of familiarity with games, and they remained doubtful about utilizing game-based learning in teaching even after being exposed to several games. However, teachers can attend professional development or courses to help them learn how to effectively implement digital game-based learning in the classroom.