Gamification is a great way to encourage your students to continue learning outside the classroom. When you gamify the task you want to teach, it becomes easier to engage students. Learning becomes fun! So what are the pieces that make a great typing game?

The Keys to a Great Typing Game

Games encourage children—and adults—to engage in whatever the topic is. While all games could be used in a classroom, educational games are designed to help you learn a new skill along the way. 

Here are three keys to a great typing game:

1. Customization. A game that offers adjustments to accommodate the different paces that people learn ensures the learner can progress while staying challenged.
2. Tracking. Knowing how you are improving as you go through a game helps players—or teachers—track progress.
3. Motivation. Games offer the thrill of a challenge that motivates students to stay engaged in learning something new.

Game Customization

The games that interest a 3rd grader and ones that interest 6th graders can vary drastically—even the skill level across one classroom can be very different. As a teacher, you need to provide options for every student. 

The best typing programs provide games that allow you to choose skill level, online or offline play, and a variety of gameplay tailored to students’ needs.

Games That Track Progress

While games can be great when students love to play, you want to have insights into how they progress in and out of the classroom.  

The only trouble is, as students get caught up in the games, they may forget about proper technique. With progress tracking, you can see what keys students are struggling with and provide additional support or lessons as needed!

Motivate With Games

After a long week, motivating your students to concentrate can be a struggle. So what better way than giving them some educational game time?

In games, every action works toward a reward. Often, students even earn rewards for trying. It’s a valuable lesson for students that effort is worth noticing, acknowledging, and rewarding. You don’t always succeed the first (or second or third) time, but each attempt gets you one step closer to mastery. It teaches a growth mindset in a fun way.

As human beings, we love rewards. We don’t want our failures to discourage us. Instead, we prefer that every little bit of our effort is acknowledged and rewarded. Games do this!

Still have questions?

Typing.com’s typing tutor gives every student access plenty of games to help you make learning fun! Find out more about all the games you can offer your students here.