How this global edtech player is pioneering game-based learning in India

Just a few years back, Ayaan, a grade 3 child in Nasik, hated numbers and formulas. However, in the pandemic, his school partnered with an edtech player, providing game based learning solutions. To his parents and teacher's surprise, math became Ayaan’s favorite subject owing to his love for games and simplification of concepts through games. Previously, learning and games would be on a parallel track, but today game based learning is painting a different picture altogether. It is benefitting the school leaders, parents and students by enabling a stress free environment.

Game-based learning is a way of teaching that employs the power of games to define and reinforce learning objectives. This is accomplished in an atmosphere with instructional games that include elements like engagement, immediate rewards, and healthy competition. All of this is done to keep children interested in learning while they play. The concepts are easily broken down and conveyed in a contextual and visually interesting manner which supports students' attention span. This phenomenon has largely solved the problem of reduced low retention levels and attention span among kids. The entire learning experience is enhanced with animation, interactive quizzes, and assessments.

One such edtech player that is being applauded for its integrated game based solutions is Prodigy Education. A decade old company and a leading Canadian edtech player that is well recognized in the markets of North America, UK and Australia. The company has transformed learning for 150+ million students in 20,000+ schools and 2.5+ million teachers across the globe. Today, the platform covers more than 1,500 curriculum aligned math skills and over 50,000 math questions to help every student in the world love learning. The global leader aims to break the stereotype that game-based solutions are only limited to fun and not learning. In game-based learning, teachers incorporate educational activities into their lessons which help students to refresh old concepts or solidify new ones. By leveraging today’s students’ intimate knowledge of game play, teachers create exciting learning environments that increase student engagement.

Sharing her views on the changing perception for game based learning in the Indian market, Mahalakshmi Satish, India Director, Prodigy Education said, “We believe in providing high quality education that would enable a successful future for young students with an innovation led mindset. Through the platform, teachers easily identify learning gaps among students and create game based assignments to bridge the gap. The assignments support in keeping the students engaged and motivated to practice math concepts. The stereotype around learning cannot be fun is changed in today’s educational setup. Certainly, game based learning is the future of education and will continue to thrive in coming years.”   

The platform aligns with National Education Policy and Pragyata guidelines (by the HRD Ministry of the Government of India) on digital education, focussed on tracking student engagement, assigning goals and an inbuilt system of rewards. Assessments can be customized by topic, skill, student and number of questions as per the requirement.

Mrs Sujatha Nagraj, Principal, Lawrence High School, Bengaluru who partnered with Prodigy Education shared, “Prodigy Education is an interactive, game-based platform where math learning is fun! It helps students develop conceptual understanding through analytical and application-based questions. It motivates learners with challenging questions at each level to build a relationship with math. There is no denying that numbers have a life of their own and will drive the digital world of the future. I feel that anyone who does use Prodigy would benefit from the familiarity and speed of calculation. Currently, over 400 students at Lawrence High School practice Math with Prodigy to solve equations in seconds. We have seen a paradigm shift for the better in our students' attitude towards Math.”

Through the Prodigy Education platform, there are three fold benefits for students, school leaders and parents. It empowers teachers through a curriculum-aligned learning tool that connects in-class learning to at-home math practice in a fun and engaging way. For school leaders, it eases the workload of teachers in preparing assignments and grading them, improves student performance in unit tests and exams and provides a dashboard for school leaders to track usage and assess progress. For Parents, it is a safe and secure platform for children to practice math skills in an action packed fantasy adventure.

In 2018, the edtech platform entered the Indian market and has gained popularity for bringing together education, games, and technology. Prodigy Education is currently supporting 1st-8th grade students to master math skills in adherence to the CBSE and ICSE curriculum. In India, the edtech player has seen a huge uptick in the demand from schools in tier1 and tier 2 cities'. Till date, it has partnered with 500+ schools and 70,000+ students from all across the country.  After the success of Prodigy Math, the platform is planning to expand the innovative game-based learning to other subjects by 2023.

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