New Gamified Learning Support Center at SJVC Encourages Lifelong Learning and Helps Online Students Achieve Success

With the growing popularity of online education, you may have heard the term “gamification,” a process that uses game mechanics to enhance learning. Gamification is becoming increasingly used in educational settings for a number of reasons. In short, it helps to make learning more enjoyable while motivating students and making them more engaged with the subject matter. The gamification of education can enhance levels of students’ engagement similar to what games can do, to help improve their particular skills and optimize their learning.

At SJVC we’re always looking for new and improved ways to provide our students with a quality education, and as part of that, we’re committed to their success. That is why we are proud to announce a new resource for our SJVC online students called the Career Academy, a gamified learning support center available to every student that is part of all our online programs including:

• Bachelor of Science in Dental Hygiene
• Bachelor of Science in Construction Management
• Bachelor of Science in Health Care Management
• Bachelor of Science in Respiratory Therapy
• Associate of Science in Construction Management
• Associate of Science in Health Studies
• Certificate or Associate of Science in Information Technology
• Certificate or Associate of Science in Medical Billing and Coding
• Certificate or Associate of Science in Business Office Administration
• Certificate or Associate of Science in Human Resources Administration
• Certificate in Clinical Medical Assisting or Associate of Science in Clinical & Administrative Medical Assisting

So what exactly is the Career Academy at SJVC? The Career Academy is a whole new way to integrate course, program and institutional outcomes into an interactive lifelong learning hub. Online students can learn, socialize, explore, compete, achieve mastery and collaborate while having fun working towards their future. The goal is to provide students with coaching, training and motivation for lifelong learning during their time at SJVC.

How it works may seem pretty simple and straightforward, but with hundreds of games, puzzles, topics and modules, it includes tailored content that is curated for each individual based on their program and overall assessment. That goes beyond what many standard gamification platforms provide to really focus on the co-curricular learning outcomes that help set our students up for success.

“Many forward-thinking institutions have experimented with gamifying courses with great success,” said Corporate Director of eLearning Curriculum, Instruction and Student Services at SJVC, Pat Fox. “At SJVC, however, we have created a fully integrated system that leverages data from the time students start their orientation, throughout their program to deliver the best choices of games to the student at just the right time. Students are very excited by the wide range of content, so much so that most students play far more games than are required to fulfil their professionalism requirement,” added Fox. “Today, the student on top of the leaderboard has earned 131 game badges!”

So as you can see, gamification in education helps to make learning more engaging and technology will continue to be a driving force behind the development of curricula. To help students achieve better results, today’s educators are increasingly utilizing cutting-edge digital tools and strategies in their teaching methods. That is why we are proud to announce the new Career Academy at SJVC.