India's Top 5 Edtech Companies with Gamified Learning in 2023

Have you noticed how learning has become more engaging and fun lately?

Well, you can thank technology and innovative thinking for that.

The COVID-19 pandemic was a bit of a game-changer too. It has changed the way we think about education. 

One of the big shifts we've seen is the increased emphasis on digital learning during the pandemic. Students were stuck at home and teachers were struggling to find creative methods to keep them engaged in the learning process.

This sparked a wave of innovation by the edtech companies globally.

One such innovation is gamified learning.

According to a study conducted by Precedence Research, the gamification market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 27.9% during the period 2023 to 2032. 

So, yeah, gamification will play a crucial role in next-generation learning systems. 

In this article, we’re going to talk about what gamified learning is and why it has led to a paradigm shift in the education sector.

You’ll also get to know about the top 5 edtech companies in India that have taken e-learning to a whole new level by incorporating gamification in education.

Gamification in Learning

Ever wondered where the term 'Gamification' came from?

The origin of the word ‘Gamification’ dates back to the early 21st century. This term was coined by a game designer - Nick Pelling. He had a fascinating challenge on his hands – to create a game-like interface for ATMs and vending machines, to make them more user-friendly.

But it was only in 2010, that the word was widely adopted.

You might be wondering- what is gamification in learning?

Well, gamified learning is all about taking game design elements like challenges, badges, and rewards and incorporating them into education. It’s a fusion of education and gaming. 

In simple words, it means - learning that feels like a game.

Sounds interesting, right?

Gamification adds a dash of excitement to long boring lectures. It can turn a history lesson into a treasure hunt and a maths class into an epic quest. So, learning becomes fun and engaging.

Guess what? 

The 'Online Education Market in India 2022-2026' report states that gamification in education will lead to a rise in user engagement. And because of this, there's going to be a huge demand in the online education market. 

Exciting times ahead!

The Perks of Gamified Learning

Gamified learning brings a ton of benefits to the table. Let’s talk about some of them.

• Higher Engagement

The use of gamification in learning increases user engagement. By building curiosity and creating a sense of accomplishment, gamification makes learning interesting. Competitive elements like leaderboards promote healthy competition and motivate you to perform better.

In 2020, a survey was undertaken in the United States to gather feedback regarding the use of gamification in core obstetric and gynecology subjects. A whopping 95% of the medical learners who took part agreed that they were seriously engaged during their gamified session. 

• Improvement in Retention

Gamification in education requires the active participation of the learner. You are more likely to retain information for longer when you are motivated to participate and engage with the learning material.

A longitudinal study was conducted on 617 students in secondary and tertiary education for two years. This study aimed to see if workshops with gamification elements were any different from plain, non-gamified ones.

The result - students who participated in the gamified workshops came out with better knowledge retention.

• Rise in Intrinsic Motivation

Gamified learning leads to a rise in intrinsic motivation by making boring tasks interesting. It provides feedback in real-time and facilitates social interaction. 

And to keep things exciting, it keeps throwing new challenges. It motivates you to achieve certain goals by providing rewards and badges along the way.

You often get to choose your path or avatar. It's like picking your own adventure, which can be really motivating.

Jared and Peter conducted a survey of a bunch of organizational behavior students to know about the impact of a gamified course on their motivation. 67.7% of the participants said that the gamified course was way more motivating than a traditional course.

• Personalised Learning

Gamification in learning offers highly customized challenges and tasks. Beginners are given easier tasks, while advanced learners are given tougher ones.

 It also provides feedback after the completion of each task. It tells you what you're good at and where you might need a little more practice. It helps you set your own learning goals and keep track of your progress.

Gustavo and Lennart conducted a pilot study with 50 people. They asked them to pick four game-like elements to make their learning experience unique. People chose progress feedback 36 times. Right behind that were levels and power-ups, each picked 30 times. Then came leaderboards, badges, unlockable content, and challenges. 

In fact, almost 80% of the participants really liked being able to customize their learning experience.

Meet the Game-Changers

Now, it’s time to meet the top 5 Indian edtech companies that have taken education to a new level through gamification.

BYJU'S

You might have probably heard about Byju’s.

It is one of the leading Indian edtech companies that offer a wide range of online learning programs and resources for students. It offers educational content for school students. It also provides training for competitive exams like IIT-JEE, CAT, NEET, and UPSC.

Byju’s has introduced some exciting gamification features in its learning modules to make learning interactive and engaging for students. They've designed a student dashboard with features like leaderboards, points land, badges, etc. to keep children motivated and enthusiastic about learning.

Let’s discuss these amazing gaming elements-

• Leaderboard

Leaderboard allows you to see how well you are doing compared to your peers, which can be really inspiring. It promotes healthy competition and motivates you to do better. You can track your progress and set your own learning goals.

• Badges

It is another cool feature that rewards you for your achievements and motivates you to go the extra mile.

• Points and Avatar

You can earn points on the completion of projects and quizzes. These points can be redeemed to create a dynamic avatar. This avatar can be customized as the learning progresses. It makes learning adventurous and playful. In Byju’s early learning program, children can learn alongside their favourite Disney characters.

• Adaptive Learning

The learning app analyses your performance and learning patterns and then modifies a lesson's content and difficulty level accordingly. It helps in improving the learning outcomes.

UNACADEMY

Unacademy is an edtech company headquartered in Bangalore. It prepares students for competitive exams like UPSC, SSC, NEET UG, CSIR UGC NET, IIT JEE, GATE, CUET, etc. It also provides foundational and skill-building courses.

Unacademy uses gaming elements like streaks, badges, leaderboards, and stats to keep the users engaged and motivated.

Let’s have a closer look at each of these gaming elements-

• Streaks

This is one of the unique gaming features provided by Unacademy. Streaks allow you to maintain consistency in learning and help you achieve your daily goals. 

And guess what?

You can earn coins by maintaining your learning streak. These coins can be redeemed to get a 10% discount, and access to course trials, guidance sessions, test series, etc. This motivates you to complete your lessons on time.

• Stats

This cool feature allows you to keep track of your progress. It provides details about total watch minutes, credits earned, lessons and tests completed, polls answered and questions attempted. It's like having your own little dashboard to see how far you've come.

• Badge of Honour

Unacademy hosts an exciting contest called ‘Combat’ every 2 weeks. It allows you to compete live with your fellow learners. You can earn a badge of honour as you climb up the ranks. They've got different levels, like Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, Master, and Legend.

• Leaderboards

Leaderboards provide real-time rankings during Combat. You can instantly see where you stand among other learners in India. You'll know your scores, ratings, and accuracy on the spot, helping you keep a constant eye on how you're doing and motivating you to keep pushing forward.

All these features have made test-taking challenging and fun.

VEDANTU

Vedantu offers live online tutoring services to students in classes 4 to 12. It also provides preparatory courses for IIT JEE, NTSE, NEET, and PSA.

Vedantu launched its WAVE platform in 2019. This platform uses AI and machine learning to tackle a common problem in the world of Ed-tech – low completion rates of courses due to lack of engagement. To make online learning fun and interactive, Vedantu uses rich animation and gamification techniques, live quizzes, leaderboards, etc. to keep learners engaged. 

But that’s not all!

It also tracks and analyzes all the gamified elements to ensure real and tangible results from these gamified learning sessions.

TOPPR

Toppr provides a comprehensive platform for students to prepare for various competitive exams (JEE, NEET, CA, Olympiads) and improve their overall academic performance. It provides learning solutions for classes KG to 12th.

To make learning exciting, Toppr allows you to challenge your peers in real time. There’s a live challenge for each subject. It comprises 10 questions and each question has a time limit of 25 seconds. It helps you to revise your lessons in a fun way. 

You get to pick not just the subject but also the specific chapter you're interested in. Plus, you can even choose how difficult you want the challenge to be. 

And the best part- each challenge you win, motivates you to learn more.

NEXT EDUCATION

Next Education is a SaaS-based B2B edtech company in India. It provides education solutions for the K-12 sector that make teaching-learning easy and interesting. Its products are user-friendly, technology-driven, and learner-centric.

Next Education provides gamified learning solutions for students of pre-primary and primary grades to boost their motivation.

It makes use of the following gaming elements-

• Storytelling - a child with a pet parrot is on a mission to master Maths, progressing from one math concept to another.
• Features interesting characters in the lessons to keep learners engaged. These characters add a fun and relatable element to the lessons.
• An adaptive learning approach that allows you to learn at your own pace.
• Hands-on activities and interactive experiment videos to explain concepts and improve retention.

All these features make learning fun while also improving your knowledge and learning outcomes.

Conclusion

Whether you're preparing for exams, exploring new subjects, or just curious to learn, gamified learning is here to stay, making the journey of education entertaining and rewarding. 

These Indian edtech companies have turned long, boring lectures into thrilling adventures, where every challenge conquered is a badge of achievement and every lesson learned is a step closer to your dreams.  

So, get ready, learners!

The gamified future of education is here, and it's more exciting than ever.

 Happy learning! 

FAQs

• What is gamification?

The word ‘gamification’ combines two words- ‘game’ and ‘modification’. A  game refers to an activity that involves rules, challenges, goals, and often competition or interaction. Modification indicates the process of making something or transforming it. In the context of gamification, it means transforming a non-game activity into something that resembles or incorporates elements of a game such as points, rewards, and competition. It's often used in various fields, including education, marketing, and workplaces to engage and motivate people to complete certain tasks.

• What is a gamified learning platform?

A gamified learning platform makes use of elements of game design in the learning experience. These game elements create a sense of achievement in the learners and motivate them to maintain consistency in learning.  A gamified learning platform unlocks new content, challenges, or levels as a learner completes lessons and achieves certain milestones. It also allows users to choose their learning path, and personalize avatars or profiles.

• Why is gamification used in education?

The main objective of gamification in education is to make learning exciting and interactive. It encourages users to take desired actions by offering incentives like badges, points, or discounts.  It helps learners acquire new knowledge or skills through engaging activities. In the corporate sector, gamification boosts employee performance and productivity by introducing competition, recognition, and a sense of achievement into tasks and projects.

• How is gamification used in higher education?

In higher education, various gamification techniques are used to enhance the learning experience. Some examples of gamification in higher education include progress bars, leaderboards, levels, badges, quizzes, assessments, hackathons, etc. In fields like science and engineering, gamified simulations and virtual labs are used to provide hands-on experience to students.