essay on learning is fun

Fun in Learning: Why it Works, Benefits & Practical Applications

• February 14, 2024
• 11 Min Read

The idea of fun in learning or fun in education can be a hard one to grasp. Yet, at heart, we all know that learning is fun. At least, it can and should be.

Do you remember the last time you sat down just to learn something new or improve your skills at work?

Though the idea of self-development is exciting, the process itself can be dull. It’s also difficult to find the time. According to Josh Bersin, we only dedicate 24-minutes a week to learning at work.

Winston Churchill once said “Personally, I’m always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught”. Unfortunately, this is how most of us see learning and development .

Regrettably, the approach to traditional training hasn’t evolved much since Churchill was yawning at the back of a classroom.  Yes, technology has moved on, but the thought of accessing an online learning platform probably doesn’t fill you with a sense of joy either.

This raises the question of how we can make adult learning or workplace learning fun. As it happens, that’s our speciality . And in this article, we’ll spill all our secrets!

Ready for some fun and games? Let’s go!

Fun in Learning: The Research

Let’s start with the headline statistics. According to a recent study, 91% of learners value fun in learning. It’s also effective. Gamification can improve company productivity by up to 50% . And learning games increase knowledge retention by 9% .

What’s more, all this engagement leads to teams that are 14% more productive. Wow! Clearly making learning fun has a strong positive influence. This is backed up by plenty of research. For instance:

• A study in The Journal of Experimental Education found that students scored higher in their final assessment when the professor used humour in their lectures.
• In a study for the Journal of Vocational Behaviour, Michael Tews found that employees are more likely to try new things if their work environment is fun.
• Dr Laura Kubansky has conducted research that shows that fun is good for your health.
• Many influential researchers, like Dulay & Burt (1977) and Krashen (1982) , have found evidence that people learn better when they’re feeling strong positive emotions.

These are just few quick examples from the abundance of research into the impact of making an enjoyable learning experience. It’s clear that fun has an impact on learning effectiveness and memory retention . It also promotes self-determination and self-led learning .

The Science of Fun in Learning

In her book , neurologist Judy Willis showed how fun experiences increase levels of dopamine and endorphins in our brain. These hormones are important for successful learning. 

Dopamine is known as the ‘feel-good hormone’ with good reason. It has the power to make learning feel pleasurable and rewarding. Endorphins, on the other hand, help you to deal with stressful situations (such as compliance deadlines ).

A good mood has also been shown to improve the value of perceived rewards. This includes the gratification that comes with learning something new, or that sense of accomplishment we feel when we pick up a new skill.

As Aditya Shukla puts it, ‘positive emotions broaden our attention’s capacity and help us to draw mental resources, increase access to memory networks, semantic relationships, and motivate… efficient thinking’.

Now we have scientific-backing, let’s get into the nitty-gritty.

Why Is Fun In Learning Important?

A life without laughter, entertainment and fun would be downright dull. And we can all agree that life’s too short for boring! As such, it only makes sense to ensure your organisation has room for excitement.

Fun at work can take many forms . Let’s explore some of the ways a little fun can make a big difference.

1. Skyrocket Your Learners’ Productivity

It’s probably not a surprise that a fun working environment makes us happier at work. And this can have a big influence on your organisation!

The good news? Happy employees are 12% more productive ! The great news? It’s not just happiness that increases positivity. Research shows that simply having a good laugh makes us more productive and resilient.

As such, next time you have a challenging work project, tight deadlines, or back-to-back calls ahead of you, an impromptu #joke-off could be just the motivation you need .

2. Less Empty Seats

No, we’re not talking about Musical Chairs Monday (but while we’re at it, that sounds like an awesome idea!). Instead, we’re focusing on absenteeism.

In fact, research suggests that 62% of people who engage in fun activities at work then go on to take no sick days in the following three months. On the other hand, this drops down to just 38% of people if they do not take part.

As such, organise fun activities at work and make sure your company culture is relaxed and supportive. This will help you to reduce your recruitment costs.

3. Raise Resilience

Whether you’re facing a business crisis, a bad day at the office or just a bad hair day, resilience is essential in times of adversity. That’s where fun and laugher can help. After all, it’s good for our health and well-being .

In fact, a hearty chuckle can lower stress and boost immunity. And did you know that our muscles relax for up to 45 minutes following a good giggle? 

Encouraging a positive office culture that advocates fun and laughter helps protect staff against the stresses and strains of day-to-day working life. This, in turn, helps you to create a more resilient workforce.

4. Increase Creativity

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. It’s true — without a little fun in the office, people become dull and uninspired.

This means that their creativity suffers. In contrast, 55% of staff who’ve taken part in a fun activity in the last 6 months feel more creative. As such, creativity is essential for organisational success.

After all, a workplace where people feel free to laugh helps them to share their ideas freely. This creates a culture where ideas bounce back and forth effectively. It’s clear a little fun can make all the difference when it comes to business innovation.

5. Cater To All Learners

Fun means different things to different people. One person’s micro-scooter may be another person’s Harley Davidson. Likewise, someone’s snowboarding dream getaway might be another person’s vertigo nightmare.

Most people like to have fun, but some like it more than others. Indeed, 79% of millennials think fun at work is important, compared to just 55% of older generations.

On top of this, fun looks different depending on your learners’ role within the company. For example, only 14% of business owners see dress-down days as fun compared to 29% of graduates. The research also shows that business owners are less likely to value fun at work than employees.

So, next time you’re planning your company’s wellbeing strategy, staff conference or social event, ask your people what they want. This fosters a working environment of inclusion, diversity, Epic Meaning , and, of course, bucket loads of fu n.

6. Make Fun a Habit

One-off away days, team events, or socials have their role. These activities will probably boost morale temporarily, but how long will this serotonin high last?

In fact, for fun to translate into happiness and success, it needs to become a habit . This means that fun-focused events and activities should be a regular occurence.

As such, you should seek to make fun a part of your company culture. And, of course, make it part of your learning culture to keep your staff happy, engaged and motivated .

150 Nifty Learner Engagement Tips

Barriers to having fun while learning.

Now we know the science and benefits of having fun at work and while learning. So, why are there still organisations that struggle to make their learning culture exciting?

Let’s have a look at the typical barriers to having fun while learning.

• Many individuals still associate education with the traditional view of sitting in a classroom and following an instructor-led session. After all, this is what most of us have grown up with. This approach doesn’t leave as much room for fun and creativity, so it may feel difficult to know where to start.
• Educators who are not used to incorporating fun into their training programmes may fear losing control if they do so. After all, if not done right, fun can lead to distracted learners. This fear can be challenging to overcome, as many instructors feel pressure to maintain authority over their classroom.
• Incorporating fun into learning experiences requires creativity and innovation . This can be challenging for educators who have limited resources or those who lack the knowledge to design engaging and entertaining training programmes.
• Finding a balance between different learning preferences (or dare we say, learning styles ) can be challenging. After all, some learners prefer a more structured approach to learning, while others want a more relaxed and fun learning environment.
• Most learning professionals don’t come from a technology background. As a result, they don’t necessarily know the extent of what’s possible in terms of engagement tools and features.
• Most educational systems still measure success primarily through standardised testing and assessments. As a result, some instructors may feel pressure to prioritise performance over fun and enjoyment.

How to Make Learning More Fun

While these barriers may seem insurmountable, there is a lot that can be done. In fact, learning technology can help you to create an engaging and informative experience brimming with fun.

1. Gamification

What ‘s more fun than a good game? Gamification is the application of game mechanics to non-gaming environments to help incentivise activity.

As such, it allows you to bring all the fun of Fortnite or Minecraft straight into your learning platform (such as your learning management system ). In fact, the push for digital transformation is behind the recent popularity of gamification.

Game mechanics, like Experience Points , Levels , and Badges keep your learners engaged and motivated. As a result, they will be excited to explore content and continue their learning journey.

2. Social Learning

Humans are social animals by nature. As such, social learning is another great way to boost the fun factor throughout your training programme. In fact, social learning comes with vast benefits .

By promoting increased learner participation, your learners will develop a sense of belonging and ownership . Similarly, they will form better relationships and improve communication with their peers.

Creating an effective social and knowledge-sharing culture gives your learners more opportunities to improve their skills and knowledge. To do so, you simply need to unleash the communication and collaboration features within your learning platforms.

3. Mobile Learning

Whether they’re based at your company’s head office or in a remote wilderness, mobile learning enables your learners to stay connected to the fun wherever they are. 

Indeed, mobile learning means that no one has to miss out on the latest training unit, social post or company competition.

After all, mobile devices are a familiar part of our everyday lives. We use them to stay connected, stream music or videos and play games. Why wouldn’t we use them for learning as well?

4. Microlearning

One sure way to kill the fun is to have your learners listen to a 5-hour seminar or explore text-heavy documents. As such, make sure that your training content is easy to digest.

You can do so by implementing microlearning . This approach breaks your training content down into small, bite-sized chunks that only take minutes to complete. 

As a result, your training will fit better into your learners’ schedules. For example, your learners can complete a training unit during their morning commute or while waiting for a meeting to start .

5. AI and Immersive Technology

Two of today’s biggest trends , artificial intelligence and immersive technology , also happen to be excellent ways to make sure your team has fun during their learning experiences.

Immersive technology has the capability to integrate the real and virtual worlds. It typically covers virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR). Artificial intelligence (AI), on the other hand, simulates human intelligence within machines.

Today, these tools can be used to create fun and stimulating training sessions. For example, through VR you can create real-world-like simulations where learners get a safe environment to practise their skills.

As a result, they get to learn by doing , even with difficult topics that are usually more challenging to teach. These experiences are typically informative and engaging.

Practical Examples of Fun in Learning

If an academic study doesn’t do it for you, how about some real-world examples that showcase the effect of fun on human behaviour?

1. Volkswagen’s Gamified Staircase

As part of their ‘ Fun Theory ’ campaign, Volkswagen turned a staircase into a giant fully-functioning piano keyboard. The result? 66% more people chose the stairs over the escalator. 

This just goes to show that fun can change the way people behave in a situation that would otherwise be a boring chore. In fact, changing behaviour becomes much easier if you make the process enjoyable .

2. HubSpot Meetings

HubSpot’s previous CEO, Brian Halligan, had a small rooftop terrace where the team gathered for beers after work. Why? Brian believed that these meetings were, in fact, the reason behind the company’s success. 

After all, these after-work sessions enabled the HubSpot team to come together. Ultimately, this helped to make work a more sociable and fun place to be.

3. Nike Run Club

Running is hard. If you don’t have a running partner, a trainer or any other form of encouragement, it’s all too easy to fall out the habit. Enter Nike Run Club , an app that expertly deploys Nir Eyal’s Hook Model to effortlessly incentivise regular activity.

Nike Run Club offers GPS tracking, guided workouts, coaching plans, and friendly motivation. It’s also fun. Runners complete challenges in order to earn achievements (such as ‘Longest Run’ or ‘Fastest 5k’). These virtual rewards can even be shared with your friends.

4. Gigantic Ball Pit Downtown

To test if senior business executives still had time to enjoy themselves, Mark Gagnon installed a giant ball pit in a business area. He then asked passersby if they were too busy to have fun.

What he found was that inside each business person in a suit there’s a carefree fun-lover desperate to get out! This, in turn, tells us that fun is also suitable for corporate learning environments.

5. LinkedIn Walk & Talks

LinkedIn introduced walk & talks where team members can take a stroll to catch up or have meetings. It’s a great way to introduce some exercise into the workday, and it releases fun-inducing endorphins . 

These neurotransmitters help us to reduce stress, improve health and make people happier. This ensures your learners and employees are in the ultimate mindset to smash their goals .

6. EON-XR’s Stargazing

VR technology and applications like EON Reality offer an immersive way to learn about the night sky. This enables users to virtually gaze at the stars, explore celestial bodies and identify constellations.

This method creates a dynamic, fun and engaging learning experience, making it easier to understand and identify celestial phenomena. Pop your headset on and you’ll be an astronomy ace in no time!

7. My Beauty Club

In 2020, Covid-19 brought the travel retail industry to a standstill. As a result, L’Oréal Travel Retail started to train 5,500+ Beauty Advisors online .

To do this, they created My Beauty Club , built on the Growth Engineering Learning App framework. It uses gamification, microlearning and social learning to create high-performance learning cultures .

As a result, My Beauty Club has produced unprecedented levels of learner uptake, helping L’Oréal Travel Retail to smash their learning goals. But don’t take our word for it. Check out the engagement statistics below:

• 18,410+ social engagements per day
• 23,500+ modules completed per month
• 312 contests completed per learner

Final Words

Fun, pleasure, excitement — call it what you will, its an essential ingredient in any training endeavour. If you don’t spend time making your learning experience compelling, how can you expect your learners to spend any of their time on it?

Unlocking engagement in your learning platform isn’t some dark art known only to mystics and seers. It’s actually a lot simpler than you might thin k. Just follow our suggested steps and let the fun begin!

Ready to add fun to your learning and development approach? We’ve got your back. Our 150 Nifty Learner Engagement Tips will help you to unleash the power of engagement throughout your organisation.

Like What You're Reading? Join the Growth Squad!

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How to Write Stanford’s “Excited About Learning” Essay

This article was written based on the information and opinions presented by Johnathan Patin-Sauls and Vinay Bhaskara in a CollegeVine livestream. You can watch the full livestream for more info.

What’s Covered:

Choosing an idea vs. an experience, learning for the sake of learning, learning as a means to other ends, be specific.

Stanford University’s first essay prompt asks you to respond to the following:

“ The Stanford community is deeply curious and driven to learn in and out of the classroom. Reflect on an idea or experience that makes you genuinely excited about learning. (100-250 words)”

For this short answer question, your response is limited to a maximum of 250 words. In this article, we will discuss considerations for choosing to write about an idea or experience, ways to demonstrate a love or enthusiasm for learning, and why you should be as specific. For more information and guidance on writing the application essays for Stanford University, check out our post on how to write the Stanford University essays .

Regardless of if you choose either an idea or experience that makes you genuinely excited about learning as a topic, there are a few considerations for each.  

Most people gravitate towards writing about an idea. One challenge that arises with an idea-focused essay is that applicants who are passionate about an idea often become hyper focused on explaining the idea but neglect to connect this idea to who they are as a person and why this idea excites them. 

When writing about an experience, it is important to strike a balance between describing the experience and analyzing the impact of the experience on you, your goals, and your commitment to learning.

This essay question allows you to expand on your joy for learning and your genuine curiosity. Stanford is searching for students who are naturally curious and enjoy the process of learning and educating themselves. For example, a compelling essay could begin with a riveting story of getting lost while hiking the Appalachian Trail and describing how this experience led to a lifelong passion for studying primitive forms of navigation. 

There is a strong tendency among applicants to write about formal academic coursework, however, the most compelling essays will subvert expectations by taking the concept of learning beyond the classroom and demonstrating how learning manifests itself in unique contexts in your life.

If you’re someone for whom learning is a means to other ends, it is important that you convey a sense of genuine enthusiasm and purpose beyond, “I want to go to X school because it will help me get Y job for Z purpose.” You may be motivated to attend college to obtain a certain position and make a comfortable income, however these answers are not necessarily what admissions officers are looking for. Instead, it can be helpful to relate an idea or experience to something more personal to you.

Academic & Professional Trajectory

Consider relating the idea or experience you choose to a major, degree program, research initiative, or professor that interests you at Stanford. Then go beyond the academic context to explain how the idea or experience ties into your future career. 

For instance, if you are interested in the concept of universal health care, then you might describe your interest in applying to public health programs with faculty that specialize in national health care systems. You might then describe your long term career aspirations to work in the United States Senate on crafting and passing health care policy.

Personal Values & Experiences

Another way to tie the ideas in this essay back to a more personal topic is to discuss how the idea or experience informs who you are, how you treat others, or how you experience the world around you. 

You could also focus on an idea or experience that has challenged, frustrated, or even offended you, thereby reinforcing and further justifying the values you hold and your worldview.

Community Building & Social Connectedness

You may also explore how this idea or experience connects you to a particular community by helping you understand, build, and support members of the community. Stanford is looking to find students who will be engaged members of the student body and carry out the community’s core mission, values, and projects, so this essay can be an opportunity to highlight how you would contribute to Stanford. 

Be specific in your choice of idea or the way in which you describe an experience. For example, a response that focuses on the joys of learning philosophy is too broad to be particularly memorable or impactful. However, the mind-body problem looking at the debate concerning the relationship between thought and consciousness is a specific philosophical idea that lends itself to a rich discussion. 

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What Is Learning? Essay about Learning Importance

What Is learning? 👨‍🎓️ Why is learning important? Find the answers here! 🔤 This essay on learning describes its outcomes and importance in one’s life.

Introduction

• The Key Concepts

Learning is a continuous process that involves the transformation of information and experience into abilities and knowledge. Learning, according to me, is a two way process that involves the learner and the educator leading to knowledge acquisition as well as capability.

It informs my educational sector by making sure that both the students and the teacher participate during the learning process to make it more real and enjoyable so that the learners can clearly understand. There are many and different learning concepts held by students and ways in which the different views affect teaching and learning.

What Is Learning? The Key Concepts

One of the learning concept held by students is, presentation of learning material that is precise. This means that any material that is meant for learning should be very clear put in a language that the learners comprehend (Blackman & Benson 2003). The material should also be detailed with many examples that are relevant to the prior knowledge of the learner.

This means that the learner must have pertinent prior knowledge. This can be obtained by the teacher explaining new ideas and words that are to be encountered in a certain field or topic that might take more consecutive lessons. Different examples assist the students in approaching ideas in many perspectives.

The learner is able to get similarities from the many examples given thus leading to a better understanding of a concept since the ideas are related and linked.

Secondly, new meanings should be incorporated into the students’ prior knowledge, instead of remembering only the definitions or procedures. Therefore, to promote expressive learning, instructional methods that relate new information to the learner’s prior knowledge should be used.

Moreover, significant learning involves the use of evaluation methods that inspire learners to relate their existing knowledge with new ideas. For the students to comprehend complex ideas, they must be combined with the simple ideas they know.

Teaching becomes very easy when a lesson starts with simple concepts that the students are familiar with. The students should start by understanding what they know so that they can use the ideas in comprehending complex concepts. This makes learning smooth and easy for both the learner and the educator (Chermak& Weiss 1999).

Thirdly, acquisition of the basic concepts is very essential for the student to understand the threshold concepts. This is because; the basic concepts act as a foundation in learning a certain topic or procedure. So, the basic concepts must be comprehended first before proceeding to the incorporation of the threshold concepts.

This makes the student to have a clear understanding of each stage due to the possession of initial knowledge (Felder &Brent 1996). A deeper foundation of the study may also be achieved through getting the differences between various concepts clearly and by knowing the necessary as well as the unnecessary aspects. Basic concepts are normally taught in the lower classes of each level.

They include defining terms in each discipline. These terms aid in teaching in all the levels because they act as a foundation. The stage of acquiring the basics determines the students’ success in the rest of their studies.

This is because lack of basics leads to failure since the students can not understand the rest of the context in that discipline, which depends mostly on the basics. For learning to become effective to the students, the basics must be well understood as well as their applications.

Learning by use of models to explain certain procedures or ideas in a certain discipline is also another learning concept held by students. Models are helpful in explaining complex procedures and they assist the students in understanding better (Blackman & Benson 2003).

For instance, in economics, there are many models that are used by the students so that they can comprehend the essential interrelationships in that discipline. A model known as comparative static is used by the students who do economics to understand how equilibrium is used in economic reason as well as the forces that bring back equilibrium after it has been moved.

The students must know the importance of using such kind of models, the main aspect in the model and its relationship with the visual representation. A model is one of the important devices that must be used by a learner to acquire knowledge. They are mainly presented in a diagram form using symbols or arrows.

It simplifies teaching especially to the slow learners who get the concept slowly but clearly. It is the easiest and most effective method of learning complex procedures or directions. Most models are in form of flowcharts.

Learners should get used to learning incomplete ideas so that they can make more complete ideas available to them and enjoy going ahead. This is because, in the process of acquiring the threshold concepts, the prior knowledge acquired previously might be transformed.

So, the students must be ready to admit that every stage in the learning process they get an understanding that is temporary. This problem intensifies when the understanding of an idea acquired currently changes the understanding of an idea that had been taught previously.

This leads to confusion that can make the weak students lose hope. That is why the teacher should always state clear similarities as well as differences of various concepts. On the other hand, the student should be able to compare different concepts and stating their similarities as well as differences (Watkins & Regmy 1992).

The student should also be careful when dealing with concepts that seem similar and must always be attentive to get the first hand information from the teacher. Teaching and learning becomes very hard when learners do not concentrate by paying attention to what the teacher is explaining. For the serious students, learning becomes enjoyable and they do not get confused.

According to Chemkar and Weiss (1999), learners must not just sit down and listen, but they must involve themselves in some other activities such as reading, writing, discussing or solving problems. Basically, they must be very active and concentrate on what they are doing. These techniques are very essential because they have a great impact to the learners.

Students always support learning that is active than the traditional lecture methods because they master the content well and aids in the development of most skills such as writing and reading. So methods that enhance active learning motivate the learners since they also get more information from their fellow learners through discussions.

Students engage themselves in discussion groups or class presentations to break the monotony of lecture method of learning. Learning is a two way process and so both the teacher and the student must be involved.

Active learning removes boredom in the class and the students get so much involved thus improving understanding. This arouses the mind of the student leading to more concentration. During a lecture, the student should write down some of the important points that can later be expounded on.

Involvement in challenging tasks by the learners is so much important. The task should not be very difficult but rather it should just be slightly above the learner’s level of mastery. This makes the learner to get motivated and instills confidence. It leads to success of the learner due to the self confidence that aids in problem solving.

For instance, when a learner tackles a question that deemed hard and gets the answer correct, it becomes the best kind of encouragement ever. The learner gets the confidence that he can make it and this motivates him to achieve even more.

This kind of encouragement mostly occurs to the quick learners because the slow learners fail in most cases. This makes the slow learners fear tackling many problems. So, the concept might not apply to all the learners but for the slow learners who are determined, they can always seek for help incase of such a problem.

Moreover, another concept held by students is repetition because, the most essential factor in learning is efficient time in a task. For a student to study well he or she should consider repetition, that is, looking at the same material over and over again.

For instance, before a teacher comes for the lesson, the student can review notes and then review the same notes after the teacher gets out of class. So, the student reviews the notes many times thus improving the understanding level (Felder & Brent 1996). This simplifies revising for an exam because the student does not need to cram for it.

Reviewing the same material makes teaching very easy since the teacher does not need to go back to the previous material and start explaining again. It becomes very hard for those students who do not review their work at all because they do not understand the teacher well and are faced by a hard time when preparing for examinations.

Basically, learning requires quite enough time so that it can be effective. It also becomes a very big problem for those who do not sacrifice their time in reviews.

Acquisition of the main points improves understanding of the material to the student. Everything that is learnt or taught may not be of importance. Therefore, the student must be very keen to identify the main points when learning. These points should be written down or underlined because they become useful when reviewing notes before doing an exam. It helps in saving time and leads to success.

For those students who do not pay attention, it becomes very difficult for them to highlight the main points. They read for the sake of it and make the teacher undergo a very hard time during teaching. To overcome this problem, the students must be taught how to study so that learning can be effective.

Cooperative learning is also another concept held by the students. It is more detailed than a group work because when used properly, it leads to remarkable results. This is very encouraging in teaching and the learning environment as well.

The students should not work with their friends so that learning can be productive, instead every group should have at least one top level student who can assist the weak students. The groups assist them in achieving academic as well as social abilities due to the interaction. This learning concept benefits the students more because, a fellow student can explain a concept in a better way than how the teacher can explain in class.

Assignments are then given to these groups through a selected group leader (Felder& Brent 1996). Every member must be active in contributing ideas and respect of one’s ideas is necessary. It becomes very easy for the teacher to mark such kind of assignments since they are fewer than marking for each individual.

Learning becomes enjoyable because every student is given a chance to express his or her ideas freely and in a constructive manner. Teaching is also easier because the students encounter very many new ideas during the discussions. Some students deem it as time wastage but it is necessary in every discipline.

Every group member should be given a chance to become the group’s facilitator whose work is to distribute and collect assignments. Dormant students are forced to become active because every group member must contribute his or her points. Cooperative learning is a concept that requires proper planning and organization.

Completion of assignments is another student held learning concept. Its main aim is to assist the student in knowing whether the main concepts in a certain topic were understood. This acts as a kind of self evaluation to the student and also assists the teacher to know whether the students understood a certain topic. The assignments must be submitted to the respective teacher for marking.

Those students who are focused follow the teacher after the assignments have been marked for clarification purposes. This enhances learning and the student understands better. Many students differ with this idea because they do not like relating with the teacher (Marton &Beaty 1993). This leads to very poor grades since communication is a very essential factor in learning.

Teaching becomes easier and enjoyable when there is a student- teacher relationship. Assignment corrections are necessary to both the student and the teacher since the student comprehends the right method of solving a certain problem that he or she could not before.

Lazy students who do not do corrections make teaching hard for the teacher because they make the other students to lag behind. Learning may also become ineffective for them due to low levels of understanding.

Acquisition of facts is still another student held concept that aims at understanding reality. Students capture the essential facts so that they can understand how they suit in another context. Many students fail to obtain the facts because they think that they can get everything taught in class or read from books.

When studying, the student must clearly understand the topic so that he or she can develop a theme. This helps in making short notes by eliminating unnecessary information. So, the facts must always be identified and well understood in order to apply them where necessary. Teaching becomes easier when the facts are well comprehended by the students because it enhances effective learning.

Effective learning occurs when a student possesses strong emotions. A strong memory that lasts for long is linked with the emotional condition of the learner. This means that the learners will always remember well when learning is incorporated with strong emotions. Emotions develop when the students have a positive attitude towards learning (Marton& Beaty 1993).

This is because they will find learning enjoyable and exciting unlike those with a negative attitude who will find learning boring and of no use to them. Emotions affect teaching since a teacher will like to teach those students with a positive attitude towards what he is teaching rather than those with a negative attitude.

The positive attitude leads to effective learning because the students get interested in what they are learning and eventually leads to success. Learning does not become effective where students portray a negative attitude since they are not interested thus leading to failure.

Furthermore, learning through hearing is another student held concept. This concept enables them to understand what they hear thus calling for more attention and concentration. They prefer instructions that are given orally and are very keen but they also participate by speaking. Teaching becomes very enjoyable since the students contribute a lot through talking and interviewing.

Learning occurs effectively because the students involve themselves in oral reading as well as listening to recorded information. In this concept, learning is mostly enhanced by debating, presenting reports orally and interviewing people. Those students who do not prefer this concept as a method of learning do not involve themselves in debates or oral discussions but use other learning concepts.

Learners may also use the concept of seeing to understand better. This makes them remember what they saw and most of them prefer using written materials (Van Rosum & Schenk 1984). Unlike the auditory learners who grasp the concept through hearing, visual learners understand better by seeing.

They use their sight to learn and do it quietly. They prefer watching things like videos and learn from what they see. Learning occurs effectively since the memory is usually connected with visual images. Teaching becomes very easy when visual images are incorporated. They include such things like pictures, objects, graphs.

A teacher can use charts during instruction thus improving the students’ understanding level or present a demonstration for the students to see. Diagrams are also necessary because most students learn through seeing.

Use of visual images makes learning to look real and the student gets the concept better than those who learn through imaginations. This concept makes the students to use text that has got many pictures, diagrams, graphics, maps and graphs.

In learning students may also use the tactile concept whereby they gain knowledge and skills through touching. They gain knowledge mostly through manipulative. Teaching becomes more effective when students are left to handle equipments for themselves for instance in a laboratory practical. Students tend to understand better because they are able to follow instructions (Watkins & Regmy 1992).

After applying this concept, the students are able to engage themselves in making perfect drawings, making models and following procedures to make something. Learning may not take place effectively to those students who do not like manipulating because it arouses the memory and the students comprehends the concept in a better way.

Learning through analysis is also another concept held by students because they are able to plan their work in an organized manner which is based on logic ideas only. It requires individual learning and effective learning occurs when information is given in steps. This makes the teacher to structure the lessons properly and the goals should be clear.

This method of organizing ideas makes learning to become effective thus leading to success and achievement of the objectives. Analysis improves understanding of concepts to the learners (Watkins & Regmy 1992). They also understand certain procedures used in various topics because they are sequential.

Teaching and learning becomes very hard for those students who do not know how to analyze their work. Such students learn in a haphazard way thus leading to failure.

If all the learning concepts held by students are incorporated, then remarkable results can be obtained. A lot information and knowledge can be obtained through learning as long as the learner uses the best concepts for learning. Learners are also different because there are those who understand better by seeing while others understand through listening or touching.

So, it is necessary for each learner to understand the best concept to use in order to improve the understanding level. For the slow learners, extra time should be taken while studying and explanations must be clear to avoid confusion. There are also those who follow written instructions better than those instructions that are given orally. Basically, learners are not the same and so require different techniques.

Reference List

Benson, A., & Blackman, D., 2003. Can research methods ever be interesting? Active Learning in Higher Education, Vol. 4, No. 1, 39-55.

Chermak, S., & Weiss, A., 1999. Activity-based learning of statistics: Using practical applications to improve students’ learning. Journal of Criminal Justice Education , Vol. 10, No. 2, pp. 361-371.

Felder, R., & Brent, R., 1996. Navigating the bumpy road to student-centered instruction. College Teaching , Vol. 44, No. 2, pp. 43-47.

Marton, F. & Beaty, E., 1993. Conceptions of learning. International Journal of Educational Research , Vol. 19, pp. 277-300.

Van Rossum, E., & Schenk, S., 1984. The relationship between learning conception, study strategy and learning outcome. British Journal of Educational Psychology , Vol. 54, No.1, pp. 73-85.

Watkins, D., & Regmy, M., 1992. How universal are student conceptions of learning? A Nepalese investigation. Psychologia , Vol. 25, No. 2, pp. 101-110.

What Is Learning? FAQ

• Why Is Learning Important? Learning means gaining new knowledge, skills, and values, both in a group or on one’s own. It helps a person to develop, maintain their interest in life, and adapt to changes.
• Why Is Online Learning Good? Online learning has a number of advantages over traditional learning. First, it allows you to collaborate with top experts in your area of interest, no matter where you are located geographically. Secondly, it encourages independence and helps you develop time management skills. Last but not least, it saves time on transport.
• How to Overcome Challenges in Online Learning? The most challenging aspects of distant learning are the lack of face-to-face communication and the lack of feedback. The key to overcoming these challenges is effective communication with teachers and classmates through videoconferencing, email, and chats.
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Learning and Fun

It may not be always fun to learn, but learning is what keeps fun fun.

Posted June 9, 2016

A lot of people talk about making learning fun.

I think they have it basically wrong.

When you’re having fun, you’re learning something. It could be learning something trivial – significant only in the moment – like when you learn that there are actually four aces in a deck of cards. Or something profound, eternally significant, like learning how you really can keep your eyes on the ball, how that particularly concentrated focus, and only that, can be all you need to succeed.

Games are full of things to learn. That’s one of the reason they can be so much fun. When you’re playing a game by yourself, there are things to learn about the game, and things to learn about yourself. When you’re playing a game with other people, there are also things you can learn about yourself when you are with other people, and about other people when they are with you. Which explains why social games tend to be fun longer.

And when you run out of things to learn, the game stops being fun.

It’s not mastery that makes a game fun. It’s mystery.

Ask a chess player, a tennis player, a baseball player, ask really anybody who plays actually anything, and they’ll tell you. Learning. All the time, learning.

Bernard De Koven is the author of The Well-Played Game . He writes on theories of fun and playfulness and how they affect personal, interpersonal, community and institutional health.

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The Benefits of Reading for Fun

There’s a powerful academic impact, new research reveals, when students are voracious, voluntary readers.

Mrs. Mason was “the perfect reading ambassador,” said Sandra Martin-Chang, recalling an early reading role model, her high school English and drama teacher. “She encouraged me to read excellent books with great storylines. We read The Handmaid’s Tale , and it was fabulous.… We’d envision it first and then think about how to enact it and bring it to life.”

Now a professor of education at Concordia University, Martin-Chang studies how reading storybooks and novels influences cognitive development.

In a new study published in Reading and Writing , she and her colleagues found significant differences between students who read for pleasure outside of class—immersing themselves in fantasy novels or spy thrillers, for example—and those who primarily read books to satisfy school assignments. Not only was there a powerful link between reading for fun and stronger language skills, but students who disliked reading frequently attributed their negative outlook to experiences they had in classrooms. Too much emphasis on analyzing the compositional nuts and bolts of texts and reading merely to absorb information came at a psychological cost, the researchers found, as students disengaged from voluntary reading.

In the study, Martin-Chang and her colleagues surveyed 200 university undergraduates, asking them about their reading interests, how often they read for pleasure, what motivated them, and what experiences helped shape their attitudes toward reading. They were also asked to identify authors they had read in the past—a proxy for measuring how many books they had read. The young adults then took a series of tests to gauge their reading ability.

“We found that often children’s experience in elementary school is far more positive, and then it drops in high school,” said Martin-Chang. While children in kindergarten and early elementary school tend to read storybooks as they develop their reading skills—often sharing the experience with an adult—by high school, the nature of reading changes as students are expected to read a steady diet of more challenging, information-rich texts. Somewhere during that transition, a love of reading seems to fade.

In the study, 35 percent of students pinpointed a specific reason: They didn’t enjoy reading because “being asked to analyze books in high school made it less pleasurable.”

But analyzing the elements of good writing—how persuasion works, how figurative language can elevate texts—is essential to teaching kids the full range of their expressive potential, and Martin-Chang isn’t suggesting that we read only for fun. “Competence is very, very important. We can’t skip straight to books children love without teaching them how to do it right,” she said. She likens reading to eating a well-balanced diet: “The people who say chocolate is good for you don’t recommend eating it to the exclusion of all other things.” Focusing primarily on analyzing texts and gathering information—a shift that tends to occur in middle and high school—can send the signal that reading is merely a utilitarian undertaking, robbing it of its powerful connection to human imagination, passion, and creativity, making it a lot less desirable.

We need to take reading for fun as seriously as we take academic reading, if we’re going to sustain voluntary reading through middle school and high school, and into adulthood.

Expand Their Options

For Martin-Chang, reading for pleasure isn’t a diversion from rigorous academics—it’s a gratifying form of cognitive exercise, one that is both enjoyable and intellectually beneficial.

“We don’t just want kids exercising in gym class, we want them to continue to exercise when they get home,” said Martin-Chang. “So it’s the same with reading. In school, we want to show them a range of things that hopefully they’ll pick up, go home, and continue to do on their own time.”

Even light reading provides a host of benefits, increasing verbal and creative skills, nourishing our capacity for empathy, and even reducing prejudice against stigmatized groups—all skills that are developed as readers become accustomed to inhabiting unfamiliar worlds, seeing things from new perspectives, and contemplating how a chain of events can lead to unforeseen outcomes.

Yet reading for fun—particularly the kinds of books that aren’t part of classical literature or that don’t carry literary prestige—is often considered less useful. “It’s a false dichotomy,” said Martin-Chang. “People feel like we either let the kids be creative, do what they want, and we give them choice, or we get serious about things and they excel and they’re a good student. It’s serious or it’s fun. And that dichotomy is completely misguided.”

That’s why providing students with a rich and varied reading diet can make a difference. “Offer more choice,” said Martin-Chang. Introduce students to Romeo and Juliet , but give them the option to read The Fault in Our Stars as well; let them read comic books and manga, sports writing and plays, sci-fi and horror novels. In other words, it seems clear that if we want students to build literacy skills, it’s better for them to consume dozens of texts that they love, connect with, or feel inspired by, instead of grudgingly reading one because it’s assigned.

While children’s literacy skill development begins at home, teachers play a profoundly important part in encouraging students to love reading, a point that Martin-Chang makes clear when she’s training preservice teachers.

“People will either talk about teachers that loved reading, encouraged them as readers and really lit a fire, or they’ll talk about teachers who did the exact opposite,” said Martin-Chang. “They'll talk about teachers that took something that was once pleasurable and diminished it, or they’ll talk about teachers that didn’t seem to like reading themselves, or made them feel like less of a reader.”

In the study, Martin-Chang points to research on preservice teachers showing that “over half reported receiving little to no enjoyment from reading.” The teachers often attributed their disinterest to experiences they had in school, a finding that Martin-Chang and her colleagues called “especially concerning,” alluding to the cyclical nature of reading habits. “Teachers carry immense power in influencing students’ attitudes toward reading,” the researchers concluded.

So part of Martin-Chang’s mission is to convince teachers—and everyone else—that there’s tremendous value in giving students more choice in what they read, including books that may appear to be self-indulgent or have little intellectual merit.

In the classroom, said Martin-Chang, model a love of reading—go beyond grammar and meaning and inhabit the narrative worlds on the page. Emphasize choice, and give students opportunities to read and share during class time. Teachers have shared their own strategies to promote choice: Expand your classroom library beyond the traditional literary canon, and make sure it includes books that reflect students’ backgrounds, cultures, experiences, and passions . Offer plenty of ungraded ways for them to think about their reading: To ensure that they do the reading without the pressure of grades, pair kids up as reading accountability partners ; to enliven and dramatize books, let them act out scenes ; to build a thriving community of readers, set up book clubs or book tastings . Avoid rote or mechanical exercises like reading logs , which can create the impression that reading is a chore to be completed and then quickly set aside.

And if books aren’t normally a part of your curriculum, you can still show an interest in what your students are reading by making connections to a lesson. Start a science experiment by referencing Harry Potter , for example, or use dystopian novels to discuss totalitarianism, propaganda, or human rights.

“It’s important to teach children how to read,” said Martin-Chang. “And once we do that, we need to make it worthwhile. We’ve got to give them a reason. We’ve got to give them a view once they climb that mountain.”

Susan Midlarsky

Why learning should be fun, or, why baby animals have it better than schoolchildren.

UPDATE: Pediatricians say not to cut recess! “In order to learn well, children need a period of concentrated academic activity followed by a break that allows them to process information…”

Back in the mid-2000s, when I was a newly-minted teacher launching my career, I interviewed at a number of different schools. One school – where they had us take a test and write an essay in response to a question – was a near miss: the teachers and other hiring team members loved me, but then I interviewed with the principal, who brought up my essay. The essay question had been about how I would approach teaching math. I had written that I would use fun, engaging activities to teach the students through different approaches.

The principal – who was one of the most tense, anxious people I have ever met – proceeded to lecture me about how learning should not be “fun,” and that is everything wrong with education these days. She objected to the point of view expressed in my essay, in spite of the fact that it was based in cutting-edge research about teaching math.

Needless to say, I did not get the job.

Fast forward to this holiday season, when I am an independent teacher, tutor and consultant. Here is the text of one of the notes from a second-grade student:

“Thank you for being my math tuter i am very glad i started again… every seshion i have more fun and every seshion i learn more and more.”

Are learning and fun incompatible? According to this student, no way!

Last summer, I reluctantly adopted a kitten, Abby. She was a tiny feral thing, crying and crying on the street for her mama. I captured her, brought her home, cleaned her up, vetted her, and tried my darndest to find her a new home. With the abundance of unwanted kittens this year, though, I had no luck.

She shook up my calm, settled home and older pets. And she shows me how much learning happens through play.

Abby will play with absolutely anything new that comes into the house. If I put something on a table or counter, she knocks it off to see what it does. If it’s mobile, she’ll chase it around the floor. If she can fit in it, she will play hide-and-seek-and-attack. If it smells good, she’ll try to eat it.

Why does she do this? She’s developing the skills and abilities she would need as a predator. And what makes it so miraculous is that she has a great time doing it. Her joy is contagious and makes people want to play with her. She has even won the reluctant affection of my cat-aggressive dog.

Watch any baby animal, and you will see the same kind of thing. This is why we love to be around them, and why they are guaranteed Youtube hits.

This is the incredible grace of youth: in learning what we need to survive, every species plays and discovers. Learning is hard work, but it’s fun!

I could list dozens of scholarly articles talking about why play is important to learning, and the different types of learning through play that children need. If you need that sort of thing, here is a place to start (check page five). But the point here is, what are we doing to our children when we structure play right out of their day and make them sit in desks or on the floor, except for maybe 20 minutes of recess?

Does this mean we should throw out all the workbooks? No way. My students love their workbooks. But that’s because the books are not stressful – they are chances to practice what the students have just learned. They are well designed, and if the students doesn’t understand the concept well enough to complete the homework, I tell them to wait so I can help them. Also, workbooks are not the only tools for learning. We use toys, games, iPad apps, manipulatives, and more. The more learning feels like play, the more fun it is, and the more it happens naturally.

And this is a reason I started using National Novel Writing Month in the classroom. When writing starts out as a joyride, it’s a lot more tolerable to slog through those term papers later on.

When we suck the joy out of learning, we are going against everything the planet and all of nature tells us about what works for real learning. Yes, we need to teach students to survive in the real world – but not by turning them into institutionalized drones.

And not by driving the inspired, fun teachers in favor of real learning to seek other careers.

HI Susan I always thought that the States were great at exploiting the talents that each individual child posessed but I guess like the whole world over exam based criteria for evaluation is gaining ground. In Madrid it’s absolutely horrendous. Official exams in English, maths and Spanish language start at 6 years old. No time for fun and play except thank goodness a really long lunch break for now. We need to go to Finland there kids have a twenty minute break out in the snow every two hours.

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Peter Reuell

Harvard Staff Writer

Study shows students in ‘active learning’ classrooms learn more than they think

For decades, there has been evidence that classroom techniques designed to get students to participate in the learning process produces better educational outcomes at virtually all levels.

And a new Harvard study suggests it may be important to let students know it.

The study , published Sept. 4 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows that, though students felt as if they learned more through traditional lectures, they actually learned more when taking part in classrooms that employed so-called active-learning strategies.

Lead author Louis Deslauriers , the director of science teaching and learning and senior physics preceptor, knew that students would learn more from active learning. He published a key study in Science in 2011 that showed just that. But many students and faculty remained hesitant to switch to it.

“Often, students seemed genuinely to prefer smooth-as-silk traditional lectures,” Deslauriers said. “We wanted to take them at their word. Perhaps they actually felt like they learned more from lectures than they did from active learning.”

In addition to Deslauriers, the study is authored by director of sciences education and physics lecturer Logan McCarty , senior preceptor in applied physics Kelly Miller, preceptor in physics Greg Kestin , and Kristina Callaghan, now a physics lecturer at the University of California, Merced.

The question of whether students’ perceptions of their learning matches with how well they’re actually learning is particularly important, Deslauriers said, because while students eventually see the value of active learning, initially it can feel frustrating.

“Deep learning is hard work. The effort involved in active learning can be misinterpreted as a sign of poor learning,” he said. “On the other hand, a superstar lecturer can explain things in such a way as to make students feel like they are learning more than they actually are.”

To understand that dichotomy, Deslauriers and his co-authors designed an experiment that would expose students in an introductory physics class to both traditional lectures and active learning.

For the first 11 weeks of the 15-week class, students were taught using standard methods by an experienced instructor. In the 12th week, half the class was randomly assigned to a classroom that used active learning, while the other half attended highly polished lectures. In a subsequent class, the two groups were reversed. Notably, both groups used identical class content and only active engagement with the material was toggled on and off.

Following each class, students were surveyed on how much they agreed or disagreed with statements such as “I feel like I learned a lot from this lecture” and “I wish all my physics courses were taught this way.” Students were also tested on how much they learned in the class with 12 multiple-choice questions.

When the results were tallied, the authors found that students felt as if they learned more from the lectures, but in fact scored higher on tests following the active learning sessions. “Actual learning and feeling of learning were strongly anticorrelated,” Deslauriers said, “as shown through the robust statistical analysis by co-author Kelly Miller, who is an expert in educational statistics and active learning.”

Those results, the study authors are quick to point out, shouldn’t be interpreted as suggesting students dislike active learning. In fact, many studies have shown students quickly warm to the idea, once they begin to see the results. “In all the courses at Harvard that we’ve transformed to active learning,” Deslauriers said, “the overall course evaluations went up.”

Co-author Kestin, who in addition to being a physicist is a video producer with PBS’ NOVA, said, “It can be tempting to engage the class simply by folding lectures into a compelling ‘story,’ especially when that’s what students seem to like. I show my students the data from this study on the first day of class to help them appreciate the importance of their own involvement in active learning.”

McCarty, who oversees curricular efforts across the sciences, hopes this study will encourage more of his colleagues to embrace active learning.

“We want to make sure that other instructors are thinking hard about the way they’re teaching,” he said. “In our classes, we start each topic by asking students to gather in small groups to solve some problems. While they work, we walk around the room to observe them and answer questions. Then we come together and give a short lecture targeted specifically at the misconceptions and struggles we saw during the problem-solving activity. So far we’ve transformed over a dozen classes to use this kind of active-learning approach. It’s extremely efficient — we can cover just as much material as we would using lectures.”

A pioneer in work on active learning, Balkanski Professor of Physics and Applied Physics Eric Mazur hailed the study as debunking long-held beliefs about how students learn.

“This work unambiguously debunks the illusion of learning from lectures,” he said. “It also explains why instructors and students cling to the belief that listening to lectures constitutes learning. I recommend every lecturer reads this article.”

Dean of Science Christopher Stubbs , Samuel C. Moncher Professor of Physics and of Astronomy, was an early convert. “When I first switched to teaching using active learning, some students resisted that change. This research confirms that faculty should persist and encourage active learning. Active engagement in every classroom, led by our incredible science faculty, should be the hallmark of residential undergraduate education at Harvard.”

Ultimately, Deslauriers said, the study shows that it’s important to ensure that neither instructors nor students are fooled into thinking that lectures are the best learning option. “Students might give fabulous evaluations to an amazing lecturer based on this feeling of learning, even though their actual learning isn’t optimal,” he said. “This could help to explain why study after study shows that student evaluations seem to be completely uncorrelated with actual learning.”

This research was supported with funding from the Harvard FAS Division of Science.

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The Power of Fun in Learning Engagement

• March 15, 2021

When asked about his learning preferences, Winston Churchill famously answered, “personally, I’m always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught”. Even today, Churchill’s answer reflects how a lot of us view learning and development.

The idea of starting an eLearning course probably doesn’t make you smile (cue the dulcet tones of Charlie Brown’s teacher) . This is because the majority of course creators don’t fully realize the physical, professional, and educational importance of fun .

This article will help you understand the benefits of fun, explore what fun might mean for different audiences, and suggest a few ways that content developers can make their instructional strategies fun for everyone.

The Science Behind Learning Engagement and Fun

Benefits of Fun : Learning doesn’t happen overnight. It requires repetition, motivation, and dedication. But how can we expect learners to stay motivated if course content is boring?

If a learning experience is fun, it will help learners stay curious and want to participate. Here are some scientific examples of how fun can help learners retain information, boost endorphins, and take risks:

• Fun Increases Retention : R.L. Garner published a study in 2006, titled Humor in Pedagogy: How Ha-Ha Can Lead to Aha!. The study found that students retained information more easily when the lecturer added appropriate and topic-related jokes into their course.
• Fun Boosts Dopamine : Neurologist and educator Judy Willis has spent her life examining how fun experiences increase levels of dopamine, and in turn, promote learning . Increased dopamine improves attention spans, memory storage, comprehension, and high-level thinking.
• Fun Inspires Us : In a study titled Does fun promote learning? The relationship between fun in the workplace and informal learning, Michael Tews found employees are more likely to go outside of their comfort zones and challenge themselves if their work environment is fun. 

While fun is an important part of learning engagement, course creators should know their boundaries and consider the preferences and personalities of their audience.

The Connection Between Humor and Learning Engagement

Education over Entertainment : Be wary of making your course too fun-centered, as it might distract learners from the main message of the lesson. Learners don’t necessarily want a stand-up comedian instructing their course. What they want is a course that uses humor and fun to enhance the learning process, not overtake it.

To ensure the fun elements of your course are appropriate and clear, make your content personalized and get to know your audience beforehand.

This means taking into consideration the audience’s age, interests, and personal goals. Before including a joke or fun element in your course, make sure it is:

• Age-appropriate : If you have an older audience, try to stay away from the latest pop-culture references and avoid slang. Look to more classic cultural icons that span across generations.
• Not sarcastic : In an eLearning course, humor should not be confusing or incredibly nuanced. Avoid dry humor and sarcasm and it might be lost on some learners.
• Inclusive : Make sure that your jokes never denigrate or disrespect your audience. Stay inclusive when creating an eLearning course and avoid topics that might be uncomfortable or insulting for some learners.

Now that you know what to look out for when creating a humorous, fun eLearning course, here are some design suggestions for making content refreshing and joyful

Tools For Content Developers and Learners

Video and Animatio n: Learners want to be visually stimulated. Rather than seeing videos as a laborious chore, try looking at them as opportunities to inject fun, charisma, and branding into eLearning courses.

Cartoon-style animations bring humor and levity to even the driest of topics. In an article published in Teaching of Psychology, psychology professors Mark Shatz and Frank LoSchiavo discovered that students logged into their course more often when they inserted the following things into their course:

• Self-deprecating jokes : By letting learners know that even the instructor isn’t perfect, it will help them learn from their mistakes instead of being ashamed of them.
• Topic-related cartoons : Cartoons bring out the inner-child in all of us. By showing learners simple, colorful visuals they won’t be as intimidated by complex topics.
• Top 10 lists : Lists are a great way to relay information to learners. They are easy to read, succinct, and visually appealing. 

At the end of each cartoon, try including a quick quiz to gauge how much the learner retained. Offer them the opportunity to choose where they go next through interactive decision-based layouts.

Course Design That’s Fun and Memorable

At WeLearn, we know fun isn’t about aimless thrill-seeking. For fun to be educationally and professionally beneficial, it needs to be relevant, appropriate, and simple.

Has your company or organization prioritized fun in their workforce development efforts? What does fun look like for you, and how would you like to see it incorporated into an eLearning course? Share your thoughts and experiences with us here at WeLearn, where together we learn.

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‘All Learning Should Be Fun’: The Big Debate

We’ve all had teachers who managed to engage our attention and others who spectacularly failed. But what was the key ingredient that distinguished success from failure? Was it, quite simply, ‘fun,’ as the proposers of a motion up for debate in December at Europe’s top conference on learning and technology will argue?

At OEB Global in Berlin, which will take place from 5 – 7 December, a panel of experts, drawn from education, academia and business will debate the proposition that “all learning experiences should be fun.” And, in the age of game-based learning and virtual reality, perhaps it is at last possible to infuse all learning with a sense of enjoyment.

But isn’t there more to learning than fun? Isn’t a school more than a theatre or a playground? What about discipline, self-control and academic rigour? Doesn’t successful learning inevitably involve doing some things that aren’t fun but are fundamental and necessary?

Two teams of speakers will slug it out in front of an audience of hundreds of education professionals, managers and edTech entrepreneurs at OEB Global, which attracts over two thousand participants to Berlin every year for the annual conference and exhibition. The result, say the proposers of the motion, may all depend on what you mean by “fun.”

“The key,” says Elliott Masie , founder of the Learning Consortium and Head of the Masie Center , “is to view fun as engagement. Fun as challenge. And fun as curiosity driven.”

Masie will be supported, in arguing for the motion, by blogger Benjamin Doxtdator , who is also a teacher at the International School in Brussels.

“Learning holds the potential to be subversive – and that can be fun ,” he says. “School can also be emotionally draining. But rather than trying to harden students by calling for ‘grit’, as teachers we have the opportunity to build classrooms based on love, kindness, and inclusion. We have the duty to help students find joy in and make their own fun out of learning.”

Such arguments are regarded with barely concealed derision by the opposers of the motion.

“Just as the food industry gets us hooked on sugary foods with no nutritional value, we’re guilty of pushing out learning games that are great fun, but lead to no learning,” argues Alex Beard , educator, author and director of the UK’s ‘Teach for All .’ “If you want to get fit, you know you have to put in hard work. If you want to get smart, you have to do the same to learn. Aristotle was saying this 2,500 years ago, ‘the root of learning is bitter, but the fruit is sweet’.”

His debate partner, learning designer Patti Shank , who is the President of Learning Peaks , is equally insistent that there are no easy paths to successful learning.

“Expertise researchers such as K. Anders Ericsson, Robert Glaser, and Michelene Chi help us understand the difficulties of building very high levels of performance,” she says. “Ask someone well known for their level of expertise how they got to where they are and they’ll likely discuss the amount of time and effort involved. In today’s fast-moving and rapidly-responding organizations, very high levels of skill and performance are needed to remain afloat. We need to implement learning strategies that make this possible. Cognitive science and educational psychology show us that designing for fun is often at odds with designing for high levels of performance. It’s past time for us to do what’s needed, what works, and what keeps organizations viable. The myths and folklore need to be put aside.”

The debate will be chaired by former UK parliamentarian, Harold Elletson , who is expecting some hard hitting in a no-holds-barred battle for glory.

“It is clear that both sides have dug into some very heavily fortified positions,” he says. “They’re going to be shelling each other with heavy artillery. It’s going to be bloody, it’s going to be brutal but it’s probably going to be the best debate we’ve ever had at OEB. And, dare I say it, it’s going to be fun!”

The OEB Plenary debate will take place on Thursday, December 6 from 17:45 – 19:00 in Hall Potsdam I

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You are here, learning is fun, or at least it should be.

This article is written in response to listening to teachers query the place of fun in learning. Students often express that learning should be fun but teachers are often unsure what they mean by this and whether fun is actually important to learning. We have drawn some relevant understandings and views together to promote further conversation and learning around these questions in support of our professional development work alongside teachers, leaders, students, and whānau to develop effective relational and responsive pedagogy.

Learning is fun

or at least it should be

Rāwini Ngaamo and Dawn Lawrence

• Fun should not be an optional extra within the learning process.

• Whakatoi—cheekiness and fun—holds an important place in the growth and development of Māori children.

• Cognitive research shows a significant link between fun and learning.

• Fun breathes life into effective relational and responsive pedagogy.

• A child’s connectedness to learning through fun can positively impact the power dynamics within a classroom.

Kia kawea tātou e te rēhia Let us be taken by joy and entertainment

(Royal, 2020)

Ko Kakepuku te maunga Ko Mangapu te awa Ko Tainui te waka Ko Ngāti Maniapoto te iwi Ko Ngāti Matakore te hapū Ko Kaputuhi te marae Ko Rāwini Ngaamo tōku ingoa

Nō Peretānia ōku tūpuna. I whānau mai au i Essex ki Ingarangi. I tipu ake au i Waikumete ki Tāmaki Makaurau. Kei Te Wao Nui a Tiriwa ahau e noho ana. Ko Dawn Lawrence tōku ingoa.

Tēnā koutou katoa. He mihi maioha ki a koutou. We work in the University of Waikato’s Poutama Pounamu whānau as cultural capability facilitators. We have both been a part of the ongoing learning and development within Te Kotahitanga, Kia Eke Panuku and, more recently, within individual schools and kāhui ako.

Part of our work is to support schools within an evaluative learning process called Rongohia te Hau. 1 Rongohia te Hau was first developed within Te Kotahitanga, and has become an increasingly important way in which schools can come to understand and respond to the voices and experiences of their students, whānau, and teachers.

One of the survey statements always elicits much debate and consternation: My teacher knows how to make learning fun.

Our response to this statement is the following provocation: We understand fun, in the context of learning, as a state of being entwined with mauri ora and embedded within cultural relationships for responsive pedagogy (Berryman et al., 2018; Poutama Pounamu, n.d.) as a liberatory process.

The importance of fun

Māui-tikitiki-a-Taranga, an ancestor hero greatly admired for his cleverness and exploits embodies many of the characteristics that are held in high regard in te ao Māori. “He was quick, intelligent, bold, resourceful, cunning and fearless, epitomising the basic personality structures idealised by Māori society” (Walker, 1990, p.15). Another of Māui’s valued characteristics is whakatoi. Rameka (2021) describes whakatoi as cheekiness, spiritedness, having fun, displaying and enjoying humour. She proposes that this characteristic holds a particularly important place in the growth and development of Māori children.

For Māori, cheekiness is what helps tamariki to explore, be curious, and socialise. The humour of whakatoi is also highly regarded in Te Ao Māori for both social and speaking skills. People who are adept in this skill can lighten a difficult situation without losing focus.(Ministry of Education, n.d., para.8)

This prized cheekiness, sense of mischief, and witty humour, often delivered through provocative questioning with a sparkle in the eye and wry smile is aptly demonstrated by many kaumātua and kuia.

So what is fun?

What is fun? This is a deceptively simple question. While Māui provides us with an archetype of fun the Oxford English Dictionary (Oxford University Press, n.d.) adds that fun is “Light-hearted pleasure, enjoyment, or amusement; boisterous joviality or merrymaking; entertainment.” Fun can be described as laughter and joking, freedom and creativity, and playfulness (Barrett, 2005). However fun is something we each experience and therefore understand in ways that are unique to us as individuals (Kim and Mardis, 2017). Our particular sense of humour, our experiences, culture, whānau, understandings, beliefs, and interests all contribute to how we each understand fun. It is a very personal and voluntary experience that cannot be forced on another – you cannot make someone else have fun. We tacitly know what fun is. We know when we are having fun and we can see and hear when others are too.

The connection between fun and learning

In pre-European times, whare tapere were an integral part of pā life. People would gather regularly in these spaces to learn with each other through various waiata, kōrero, haka, taonga pūoro, and tākaro (Royal, 2020). Māori children were encouraged to play and explore, having fun while often mimicking adult activities (Hemara, 2000). It has long been seen in te ao Māori that having fun while learning is a natural part of everyday life. At any Māori event such as Te Matatini, waiata practice, a celebration at the local marae, or just getting together with friends and whānau, the cheekiness, banter, and laughter are ever present.

Fun is a natural by-product of, and an intrinsic part of play (Rucker, 2017). Joseph Chilton Pearce makes the connection between the optimal state of learning, playing, and having fun (Touch the Future, 2012). Real playing is how real learning takes place. He goes on to say that much of what we call learning in schools is actually conditioning or behaviour modification. Although some conditioning is needed to create boundaries in which a child can safely explore their world, the importance of play to a child’s learning and development cannot be overstated (Touch the Future, 2012). As Willis (2007) explains, “brain research tells us that when the fun stops, learning often stops too” (para.1).

Cognitive research suggests a significant link between fun and learning. Tisza et al. (2021) explain that any learning activity can be fun when participation is intrinsically motivated, immersive, allows for a sense of control, is at the right level of challenge, supports social connection, and evokes positive emotions. Learners often feel a greater sense of control over their own learning when they experience it as fun (Shukla, 2020) Student agency may also be fostered when the rigidity of the curriculum is lessened through fun and play in the classroom (Shukla, 2020). Drawing from research, Shukla (2020) explains that “having fun while learning avails unique cognitive resources, associates reward and pleasure with information, strengthens and broadens memory networks, and toggles between two basic neural modes—one for diffused mind-wandering and the other for focused attention” (para.4). The positive emotions experienced through fun can broaden people’s attention and cognition, building physical, socioemotional and intellectual skills, and fuel brain development (Fredrickson & Joiner, 2002).

The connection between fun and flow

A positive, immersive learning experience can be described as a state of flow. Csikszentmihalyi (2014) describes this state as one where concentration, interest, and enjoyment are experienced simultaneously. Flow is a full-bodied, joyful state where a person is completely engrossed in what they are doing, unaware of anything else but the experience. Thought, feeling, action and the body are all completely focused on the activity, creating an optimum state for learning (Touch the Future, 2012). Young children instinctively know how to learn, following their curiosity, easily moving into this state of flow.

Flow is also connected to the level of challenge of the activity. If an activity is too easy boredom and subsequent disengagement occurs; conversely, when it is too difficult learners will often experience anxiety (Preston, 2016). It is important, however, that the level of challenge within the tasks shifts and changes in response to the development of new skills and understanding (Preston, 2016). Papert (2002) names this concept “hard fun” after a colleague of his recounted an exchange she had overheard between two 4 year olds at a kindergarten. One of the 4 year olds saw his friend coming out of a session around learning to use a simple computer programme, and asked what it was like. The friend answered, “It was fun.” Then paused and added, “It was really hard.” Papert (2002) says this exchange left him in “no doubt that the activity was fun because it was hard rather than in spite of being hard.” (para. 2). When we begin to look for them, examples of “hard fun” can be seen everywhere which suggests that everyone enjoys doing hard challenging things, but only if they are responsive to the individual’s current development, interests, and culture.

The state of mauri ora

Being in a state of flow invites mauri ora. Mauri ora is the state of wellbeing where words such as capable , confident , engaging , wholehearted , and satisfied may be used to describe the life force of the person, the person’s family, or place (Kennedy et al., 2015, p. 99). Durie (2016) characterises mauri ora as being in the state of holistic wellbeing encompassing the particular vitality, integrity, uniqueness, and energy that exists within every person and the relationship to the wider environment. He makes an important point that mauri ora cannot truly be experienced unless the person has a secure cultural identity.

This understanding challenges educators to realise and centre learners’ identity, language, and culture so that they are positioned to experience enjoyment and success in their learning as culturally located beings. When the learning is connected to learners’ reality and experiences, and draws on their cultural toolkit (Bruner,1996), it sets them up for success, building on what they know and understand, allowing them to engage with confidence. It creates a context that is low risk, a place of safe exploration and learning through connection, whakapapa, and within their zone of proximal development.

Cultural relationships for responsive pedagogy

Cultural relationships for responsive pedagogy (Berryman et al., 2018; Poutama Pounamu, n.d.) draws from Māori student voices around the pedagogical practices that most effectively support Māori students’ learning and engagement (Bishop & Berryman, 2006; Bishop et al., 2007). Within this pedagogical approach, whānau-type relationships are typified by shared laughter, collective success, and creativity. In such contexts, “fun can motivate learners to try new things without fear of making a mistake, looking silly, or feeling awkward” (Bisson & Luckner,1996, p.110), creating supportive and caring relationships that recognise everyone as powerful, worthwhile, and loved (Zinn, 2008).

Fun within cultural relationships for responsive pedagogy is connected to care for learners and their learning. By demonstrating this quality of care, teachers actively invite and engage with a child’s prior knowledge, their interests and motivation to learn, understanding that these are critical to their engagement in learning. These types of relationships set the scene for flow to be experienced not only in the students but within teachers also, requiring teachers to be physically and emotionally present in order to respond in the moment. This state moves beyond a planned set of strategies to a way of being in which a teacher’s adaptive expertise draws on multiple ways of creating meaningful contexts for learning.

Through mahi ngātahi—working in unison—control and decision making is shared, supporting the realisation of self-determination within the group. When a teacher creates contexts that invite fun, this positions the power with the learners in regards to how they will engage with and experience the learning. Learners are able to follow their interests and curiosity with the teacher positioned to follow their lead and facilitate when needed.

A group of students are deeply engrossed in a conversation gathering ideas to use in a piece of writing on courage. Their kaiako sits amongst them, listening intently.

“Being courageous is hard”, says Sam, striking a superhero pose.

The students laugh and nod their heads in agreement.

“Yeah”, says Paora, he describes the day he attempted a manu in front of his mates and belly flopped instead. “I had to have courage to get out of the pool after that!” Everyone hoots with laughter and starts calling out similar stories to each other. As the students quieten, Nic picks up the conversation. “What about Māui? He did heaps of courageous things.”

“Yeah, like when he fished up the North Island, that must have been scary as but he did it anyway!”

“And the time when he took his kuia’s fire nails eh?” The students excitedly share other stories of courage when at the back of the room Fetu begins to speak in a low, strong voice …

All of the students turn to him with awe on their faces as he recites a poem about courage. “Whoa! That’s awesome Fetu!” Cheers and clapping break out.

Fun as liberatory

When we consider that fun allows us to “set free our inner self, try new things, trust others and take emotional risks” (Bisson & Luckner, 1996, p.110), we posit that fun, embedded within cultural relationships for responsive pedagogy can be a liberatory process. Liberation in this context understands that learning is something that children do themselves rather than something that is done to them (Shor, 1990). This understanding necessitates relationships of mutual trust and reciprocity in which teachers and children learn from and with each other.

Teaching approaches that control a child’s engagement with the world limit the possibilities of new learning and liberation. They hold us all confined within the power dynamics and socialisation of the status quo. We suggest such confinement and control is not conducive to fun nor does it bring both joy and hope in pursuit of new knowledge and ways of being. In particular we suggest that liberation through such educational experiences is the right of Māori.

As educators we cannot make our learners have fun but we can create contexts for learning that create space for fun. By centering and privileging learners’ identity, language and culture, educators can create contexts in which all learners can experience states of mauri ora and flow in their learning. Therefore we propose that fun, in the context of learning, is a state of being that is entwined with mauri ora and when embedded within cultural relationships for responsive pedagogy is a liberatory process.

Reflection questions

• To what extent do you agree with the provocation we began this article with: We understand fun, in the context of learning, as a state of being that is entwined with mauri ora and embedded within cultural relationships for responsive pedagogy as a liberatory process.

• What connections do you see between fun and ways of relating for ako to occur?

• In what ways might fun provide opportunities for teachers to demonstrate care and high expectations of their learners?

• How might fun within the learning context provide opportunities for learners to be self-determining?

• How do you create contexts for learning in which your learners can have fun? How do you know they have experienced learning as fun?

1 . Rongohia te Hau uses four data sets (teacher survey, student survey, whānau survey and observed pedagogical practice snapshots) to consider the extent to which cultural relationships for responsive pedagogy are implemented and how this is experienced across a school/ early childhood centre from multiple perspectives. For more detail see Rongohia te Hau: Effective support for culturally responsive teaching (Education Counts, 2022).

2. The zone of proximal development (ZPD) is a concept developed by Vygotsky. It states that the most effective learning occurs when a learner is presented with tasks just beyond their current understanding, or capability, or both, along with the support of a more skilled other. (Shabani et al. 2010).

Te reo Māori as used in this article.

Barrett, T. (2005). Who said learning couldn’t be enjoyable, playful and fun: The voice of PBL students. In E. Poikela & S. Poikela (Eds.). PBL in context—Bridging work and education (pp. 159–176). Tampere University Press. http://www.rlillo.educsalud.cl/Capacitacion_ABP/PBL_In_Context.pdf#page=159

Berryman, M., Lawrence, D., & Lamont, R. (2018). Cultural relationships for responsive pedagogy : A bicultural mana ōrite perspective. Set: Research Information for Teachers , 1, 3–10. https://doi.org/10.18296/set.0096

Bishop, R., & Berryman, M. (2006). Culture speaks: Cultural relationships and classroom learning . Huia Publishers.

Bishop, R., Berryman, M., Cavanagh, T., & Teddy, L. (2007). Te kōtahitanga phase 3 whānaungatanga : Establishing a culturally responsive pedagogy of relations in mainstream secondary school classrooms. Ministry of Education.

Bisson, C., & Luckner, J. (1996). Fun in learning: The pedagogical role of fun in adventure education. Journal of Experiential Education , 19 (2), 108–112. https://doi.org/10.1177/105382599601900208

Bruner, J. (1996). The culture of education . Harvard University Press. https://doi.org/10.4159/9780674251083

Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2014). Applications of flow in human development and education: The collected works of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi . Springer.

Durie, M. (2016, March). Realising Māori potential [PowerPoint slides]. Tauranga Moana SENCO Hui.

Education Counts. (2022). Rongohia te Hau: Effective support for culturally responsive teaching . https://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/topics/bes/rongohia-te-hau-effective-support-for-culturally-responsive-teaching

Fredrickson, B. L., & Joiner, T. (2002). Positive emotions trigger upward spirals toward emotional well-being. Psychological Science , 13 (2), 172–175. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9280.00431

Hemara, W. (2000). Māori pedagogies: A view from the literature. NZCER. https://www.nzcer.org.nz/system/files/8988.pdf

Kennedy, V., Cram, F., Paipa, K., Pipi, K., & Baker, M. (2015). Wairua and cultural values in evaluation. Evaluation Matters—He Take Tō Te Aromatawai , 1 , 83–111. https://doi.org/10.18296/em.0005

Kim, C., & Mardis, M. (2017). Are we having fun yet? Exploring definitions of fun for STEAM learning. Proceedings of the Association for Information Science and Technology , 54 (1), 720–721. https://doi.org/10.1002/pra2.2017.14505401130

Ministry of Education. (n.d.) Te ao Māori. Te Whāriki online. Author. https://tewhariki.tki.org.nz/en/teaching-strategies-and-resources/wellbeing/te-ao-maori/

Oxford University Press. (n.d.). Fun. Oxford English Dictionary , Author. https://www.oed.com/

Papert. S. (2022). Hard fun. http://dailypapert.com/hard-fun/

Poutama Pounamu. (n.d.). Cultural relationships for responsive pedagogy . [Brochure]. https://poutamapounamu.org.nz/assets/resources/site/PP-DLE-Cultural-Relationships.pdf

Preston, S. (2016). Applied theatre : Facilitation—pedagogies, practices, resilience . Bloomsbury Methuen Drama. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781472576965

Rameka, L.K. (2021). Kaupapa Māori assessment: Reclaiming, reframing and realising Māori ways of knowing and being within early childhood education assessment theory and practice. Frontiers in Education , 6 . https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2021.687601

Royal, T. A. C. (2020). Whare tapere . http://www.charles-royal.nz/whare-tapere

Rucker, M (2017, June 16). What is fun anyway? https://michaelrucker.com/having-fun/what-is-fun/

Shabani, K., Khatib, M., & Ebadi, S. (2010). Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development: Instructional implications and teachers’ professional development. English Language Teaching , 3 (4), 237–248. https://doi.org/10.5539/elt.v3n4p237

Shor, I. (1990). Liberation education: An interview with Ira Shor. Language Arts , 67 (4), 342–352. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41961742

Shukla, A. (2020, August 23). Why fun, curiosity & engagement improves learning: Mood, senses, neurons, arousal, cognition. https://cognitiontoday.com/why-fun-improves-learning-mood-senses-neurons-arousal-cognition/

Tisza, G., Zhu, S., & Markopoulos, P. (2021). Fun to enhance learning, motivation, self-efficacy, and intention to play in DGBL. In J. Baalsrud Hauge, J. C. S. Cardoso, L. Roque, & P. A. Gonzalez-Calero (Eds.), Entertainment Computing – ICEC 2021 (pp. 28–45). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-89394-1_3

Touch the Future. (2012). Joseph Chilton Pearce with Michael Mendizza: Play is learning. [YouTube Channel]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNVIGvoO8PE

Walker, R. (1990). Ka whawhai tonu matou: Struggle without end . Penguin Books.

Willis. J. (2007, June 1) What the brain needs to learn. The neuroscience of joyful learning . https://www.ascd.org/el/articles/the-neuroscience-of-joyful-education

Zinn, W. (2008). Making fun of school, or why does learning have to be such a drag? International Journal of Learning , 15(8), 153–160. https://doi.org/10.18848/1447-9494/CGP/v15i08/45911

Email : [email protected]

Email : [email protected]

Why Teaching is Fun

• An Introduction to Teaching
• Tips & Strategies
• Policies & Discipline
• Community Involvement
• School Administration
• Technology in the Classroom
• Teaching Adult Learners
• Issues In Education
• Teaching Resources
• Becoming A Teacher
• Assessments & Tests
• Elementary Education
• Secondary Education
• Special Education
• Homeschooling
• M.Ed., Educational Administration, Northeastern State University
• B.Ed., Elementary Education, Oklahoma State University

Full Disclosure: Inspiration can come from anywhere. This morning I was telling my seven-year-old son that I had to write an article. I told him that I did not even know what I was going to write about. He immediately said, “Why don’t you write about why teaching is fun.” Thank you Kaden for inspiring me!

Teaching is fun! If you are a teacher and do not generally agree with that statement, then perhaps it is time for you to find another career choice. I would agree that there are days when fun is not a word I would use to describe my profession. There are times when teaching is frustrating, disappointing, and disheartening. However, generally speaking, it is a fun profession for many reasons.

• Teaching is fun………because no two days are the same. Each day brings a different challenge and a different outcome. Even after teaching for twenty years, the next day will present something you haven’t seen before.
• Teaching is fun………because you get to see those “light bulb” moments. That is the moment where everything just clicks for a student. It is in these moments that students are able to take the information learned and apply it to real life situations.
• Teaching is fun………because you get to explore the world with your students on field trips . It is fun to get out of the classroom from time to time. You get to expose students to environments that they may not otherwise be exposed to.
• Teaching is fun………because you are instantly a role model. Your students naturally look up to you. They often hang on your every word. In their eyes, you can do no wrong. You have a tremendous influence on them.
• Teaching is fun………when you can see growth and improvement as a result of your time with your students.  It is amazing how much your students will grow from the beginning to the end of the year. Knowing it is a direct result of your hard work is satisfying.
• Teaching is fun………because you get to see students who fall in love with learning.  It does not happen with every student, but for the ones who do it is special.  The sky is the limit for a student who genuinely loves to learn.
• Teaching is fun………because you grow, develop, and change as you gain more teaching experience.  Good teachers are constantly tinkering with how they operate their classroom. They are never satisfied with the status quo.
• Teaching is fun…….…because you help students set and reach goals. Goal setting is a huge part of a teacher’s job. We not only help students set goals, but we celebrate with them when they reach them.
• Teaching is fun………because it gives the opportunity to have a positive impact on young people on daily basis.  Every day presents an opportunity to make a difference. You never know when something you do or say will make an impact.
• Teaching is fun………when you see former students, and they thank you for making a difference.  It is extremely gratifying when you see former students in public, and they share their success stories and give you credit for impacting their life.
• Teaching is fun………because you get to build close relationships with other teachers who share similar experiences and understand the commitment that it takes to be an excellent teacher.
• Teaching is fun………because of a friendly school calendar.  We are routinely discounted for getting summers off when most of us spend time honing our craft during those few months. However, having holidays off and a lengthy transition period between school years is a plus.
• Teaching is fun..........because you can help recognize, encourage, and cultivate talent.  As teachers recognize when students have talent in areas such as art or music. We are able to steer these talented students towards the gifts they are naturally blessed with.
• Teaching is fun………when you see former students grow up and become successful adults.  As a teacher, one of your major goals is to have every student eventually make positive contributions to society. You succeed when they succeed.
• Teaching is fun………when you are able to work collaboratively with parents for the benefit of the student. It is a beautiful thing when parents and teachers work together throughout the educational process. No one benefits more than the student.
• Teaching is fun………when you invest in improving the culture of your school and can see a significant difference.  Teachers work hard to help other teachers improve. They also work diligently to improve the overall school climate and provide a safe learning environment.
• Teaching is fun………when you see your students excel in extracurricular activities.  Extracurricular activities such as athletics play a critical role in schools across America. A sense of pride is developed when your students are successful in these activities.
• Teaching is fun………..because you are given opportunities to reach a child that no one else has been able to reach.  You cannot reach them all, but you always hope that someone else comes along who can.
• Teaching is fun………when you have a creative idea for a lesson and the students absolutely love it.  You want to create lessons that become legendary. Lessons that students talk about and look forward to having you in class just to experience them.
• Teaching is fun………when at the end of a rough day and student comes up and gives you hug or tells you how much they appreciate you. A hug from an elementary age or a thank you from an older student can instantly improve your day.
• Teaching is fun………when you have a group of students who want to learn and mesh with your personality.  You can accomplish so much when you and your students are on the same page. Your students will grow exponentially when that is the case.
• Teaching is fun………because it opens up other opportunities to be involved in your community.  Teachers are some of the most recognizable faces in a community.  Being involved in community organizations and projects is rewarding.
• Teaching is fun………when parents recognize the difference you have made in their child and express their gratitude.  Unfortunately, teachers do not often get the recognition for their contributions that they deserve. When a parent expresses gratitude, it makes it worthwhile.
• Teaching is fun………because each student provides a different challenge.  This keeps you on your toes with no chance of being bored. What works for one student or one class may or may not work for the next.
• Teaching is fun………when you work with a group of teachers whom all have similar personalities and philosophies.  Being surrounded by a group of like-minded teachers makes the job easier and more enjoyable.
• Strategies for Teachers: The Power of Preparation and Planning
• 50 Important Facts You Should Know About Teachers
• Strategies for Building Rapport With Students
• What Teachers Should Never Say or Do
• Pros and Cons of Teaching
• How to Know If Teaching Is the Right Profession for You
• 10 Pros and Cons of Being a School Principal
• The ABCs of Teaching: Affirmations for Teachers
• 7 Factors that Make Teaching So Challenging
• Tips for Student Teachers
• Essential Strategies to Help You Become an Outstanding Student
• 10 Characteristics of Great Students
• 15 Exceptional Things Great Teachers Do Well
• 24 Simple Rules All Teachers Should Live By
• Strategies for Teachers to Develop Positive Relationships With Students
• Personality Traits That Help Teachers and Students Succeed

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Resources and Programs

• Teaching the Four Skills
• U.S. Culture, Music & Games
• Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)
• Other Resources
• English Club Texts and Materials
• Teacher's Corner
• Comics for Language Learning
• Online Professional English Network (OPEN)

To acquire a language, students need many opportunities to practice and apply what they have learned in class. The English language classroom often poses challenges in this area due to rote teaching methods, dull curricula, or limited opportunities to use the language outside of the classroom. Practicing a new language can also be intimidating, especially for students with a high affective filter or negative emotional factors that may interfere with language learning.

A great way to give students meaningful opportunities to apply their learning and lower their affective filter is to make learning fun! When teachers use activities that make learning engaging and fun, students are more willing to participate and take risks. Having fun while learning also helps students retain information better because the process is enjoyable and memorable.

In this month’s Teacher’s Corner, we will examine ways to make learning fun, accessible, and meaningful in the English language classroom.  Each week, we will present activities to make learning fun in one of the domains of language learning: listening, speaking, reading, and writing.

Table of Contents

English language learners spend a lot of time listening, whether in classroom scenarios or the real world. Teachers know that being able to listen and comprehend content is a very important skill for students learning English. This skill is necessary not only to follow classroom instructions, but also to grasp important messages and information from what they hear.

In spite of the importance of listening skills, they can sometimes be neglected in the language classroom. Activities to isolate listening skills can be dry and boring.  This week in the Teacher’s Corner we will take a look at some easy ideas for making listening fun in the English language classroom.

Activity One: Listen and Buzz!

In this activity, students are divided into teams. Teams listen for specific information in a text, radio broadcast, or podcast and compete to be the first to buzz in and state the information correctly. The team with the most points at the end of the game wins!

Intermediate and above

To improve students’ listening skills by having them listen for specific information in a text, radio broadcast, or podcast.

• Any text or passage you want students to learn from (Radio programs or podcasts can also be used.)
• One ‘buzzer’ for each team (This can be anything for students to use to create a noise that signals that they are ready to answer. Ideas include party noisemakers, drums, whistles, empty water bottles filled with beans or pebbles, bicycle horns, or bells. Alternatively, students can also yell ‘buzz’ or another designated word, or even clap to signal they are ready to answer.)

1.     Prepare for the activity by reading or listening to the text you plan to use. As you examine the text, make a list of key information you want students to listen for during the exercise and use it to write questions. The questions should be about the main information or facts you want students to learn from the text. Here are some suggested questions for different types of texts.

If students will listen to a biographical passage, use questions such as:

·       Where was the person born?

·       What is his/her birthdate?

·       Where did he/she attend university?

·       What are two major accomplishments of this person?

·       Why was this person important in history?               

If the text is fiction, ask:

·       Who is the main character?

·       Where does the story take place?

·       What is the character’s problem?

·       How is the problem solved?

• Explain the activity to students. Tell them that they will hear you read a passage (or hear a radio broadcast/podcast) and need to listen for specific information. Note that they will be divided into teams.
• Give students the questions you have created so that they know what information you want them to find. These can be presented orally or written on the board. To challenge advanced students, present the questions in a random order, not as they will be heard when the text is read. For beginner students, the questions can be presented one at a time before reading the section of the text that contains the answer (perhaps one paragraph at a time).
• Divide the class into equal teams using any method you prefer. The game works best if the number of questions is close to the number of members on each team. Teams can line up in designated areas of the classroom. Be sure there is some space between the teams so that you can tell who is buzzing in during the activity. Teams should have a name for scorekeeping purposes.
• Once the teams are in place, distribute the buzzers (or noisy objects) and/or explain to students how you expect them to signal that they have heard an answer to one of the questions about the text.
• Tell students that only the person in the front of the line may buzz in. Explain that you will call on the first person that buzzes in to provide a response. Once they have attempted, they pass the buzzer to the next person in line and go to the end. If their response is correct, all teams must send the student at the front of the line to the back of the line. If their response is incorrect, other teams have a chance to buzz in and answer the question. This works best if you say “Incorrect!” to signal that other teams may buzz in. Teams earn a point for each correct response.
• Continue to read the text aloud or play the audio until all questions have been answered. If students were unable to answer some questions, read the text or play the audio again and give teams another chance to buzz in.
• Close the activity by reviewing the answers to all of the questions with students.

Activity Two: Secret Message

During this game, students line up in teams and whisper a secret message down the line. Each student must listen carefully to in order to recall, and be able to repeat, what they hear.

Beginner and above

To improve students’ listening skills by having them listen closely to pronunciation and recall phrases/sentences.

• A notepad or single sheet of paper for each team
• Pencils or pens
• Divide the class into two equal teams and have students of each team line up in a row. If the class is very large, you can form more than two teams.
• Assign each team a name and write the names on the board for scorekeeping purposes. At the same time, label each of the notepads or sheets of paper with a team name.
• Explain that the first member of each team will think of a sentence and secretly write it on the paper or pad for their team. They must be careful to do so in a way that does not allow the rest of the team to see it. If needed, you can ask that they come up to the front of the room to write down the sentence.
• The first person from each team (the student who thought of the sentence) must whisper the phrase or sentence into the ear of the next person in line, in a way so no one else hears. Then, the second person whispers it to the third. This continues until the sentence reaches the last person in line.
• When the last person hears the sentence, they must repeat it to the teacher, who will check to see if it matches the sentence written on the team’s paper.
• If the final member of the team repeats the sentence as it is written, the team earns two points. If it is nearly correct, the team earns one point. If it is very different from the original sentence, no points are earned.
• Once the score has been recorded, the first person in line goes to the end of the line, and the activity is repeated with the next team member. Continue until all members of each team have had a chance to create a sentence. The team with the most points wins!
• For beginner students, one word or a short phrase can be used instead of a sentence. The speaker can also whisper the word/phrase to the teacher instead of writing it down if needed.

With a little preparation, this game can be played with vocabulary words/sentences or key information you want students to review from a lesson. For example, if students have been learning about weather, you can ask them to form sentences with weather words and provide a list on the board. Words can be crossed off as they are used. If there is information you want students to review, you can prepare the sentences yourself and show/whisper them to the speaker to be passed down the line. 

Getting students to speak in English class is often a challenge. Many learners hesitate to talk in class because they have a lot of anxiety about making mistakes, especially in front of their peers. For this reason, it is important for teachers to plan activities that encourage learners to interact and relieve the pressure they often feel to speak perfectly. This week in the Teacher’s Corner, we will examine some fun ideas to get students talking in the English language classroom.

Activity One: Mystery Box

During this activity, students ask yes or no questions and compile information to try and determine what object is inside the mystery box. The activity can be completed in one session, until students guess correctly, or spread out over several class meetings.

High beginner and above

To improve students’ speaking skills by encouraging them to ask questions and seek information about an unknown object.

• A box that can be closed securely or has a lid (such as a shoebox)
• A chalkboard/whiteboard and chalk/markers
• A mystery object (suggestions in procedure)
• Prepare for the activity by choosing what you will place in the box. It should be something that is familiar to students, either at school or in their everyday lives. Ideas include classroom objects, popular packaged foods like candy or canned items, a mobile phone, a book the class has read, fruits or vegetables (that won’t spoil too quickly), or objects that represent familiar places like a popular area of your town or city. Keep in mind that students will be able to pass the box around, shake it, listen to any noise it makes, as well as feel the weight of the object.  
• Place the object inside the box and secure the lid. You can make this activity more fun by decorating the box with question marks and labeling it as the mystery box. This also helps if you plan to repeat the activity frequently.
• Explain to students that there is something inside the box and they must ask you yes or no questions to try and guess what it is. Tell the class that they will be able to shake the box, listen for noise, and feel how much the object weighs before the questioning starts.  
• Decide how you will keep track of the information during the activity. You will need to keep a list of the characteristics and other information that students learn about the object. You can either do this yourself on the board or chart paper, or assign a student to be the scribe for the duration of the questioning session.
• Students can sit in a circle or at their desks and pass the box around so everyone has a chance to examine it, but they must not open it.
• Once students have had a chance to hold the mystery box, the questioning can begin. You can either have students ask questions one at a time in a specific order, or allow them to raise their hands if they would like to ask something. Remember that the questions can only elicit a response of yes or no . Some examples of questions are:
• Does one use the object at school/home?
• Can a person eat it?
• Is it round? (other shapes)
• Is it hard/soft?
• Does it smell?
• Is it red? (other colors)
• Is it a fruit/vegetable?
• Does one usually buy it?
• Is it used for ________?
• As the class asks questions, write down what is learned about the object on a list or monitor the student scribe you have assigned. This list will help students, especially those who need visual support, to synthesize the information and make better guesses about what is in the box.
• After the allotted amount of time for questioning has passed, students can try to guess what the object is. They may solve the mystery quickly, or it may take several days of questioning to figure out what is inside the mystery box.
• Use the mystery box activity as a review of a text that students have been studying. For instance, if your class has been reading a novel, put something in the box that represents a character or part of the plot. Students then have to ask questions related to the story to figure out what is in the box and/or what it represents.
• This activity can also be used to review informational topics in different subjects, such as science. If students have been learning about different characteristics of animals, you can put a small toy version, figurine, or photo of an animal into the box. Students then have to ask questions about the animal’s habitat, diet, or characteristics to guess what is in the box.
• Make the mystery box activity completely student-led. Once you have repeated the whole process a few times with your class, you can get the students more involved by allowing each one to take turns placing a mystery object into the box. Then, the student who chose the object can lead the activity by answering questions from his/her classmates. You can even take a turn to ask a question yourself!  Another variation on this same procedure is to have students complete the activity in small groups.  Both of these are a great way to give students a chance to take on a different role, and to build a consistent discussion-based activity into your classroom schedule.

Activity two: “Find someone who…” Bingo

During this activity, students mingle and ask questions to determine if their classmates have had certain experiences or possess characteristics listed in spaces on a bingo board. The winner is the first person to complete a row on their card, shout bingo, and be able to verbally tell the class how their spaces were completed. This is an excellent activity to get students talking to each other at the start of a new school year or term.

To improve students’ speaking skills by encouraging them to ask each other questions and find out information about their classmates.

• A list of characteristics or experiences relevant to your class (see ideas below)
• Blank bingo cards
• Pencils/pens
• Prepare for the activity by brainstorming a list of characteristics and/or experiences you will include on the bingo card. It helps to have more ideas than spaces, so that the cards will all be different. Students can also help with the brainstorming if you explain the activity to them beforehand. Here are some ideas to include on the bingo card:

Find someone who…

• is an only child
• plays soccer/cricket/tennis/etc.
• has flown on an airplane
• was born in another country
• is a vegetarian
• has more than five siblings
• likes to dance
• walks to school
• has traveled to another continent
• likes spicy food
• rides a motorcycle
• speaks more than 3 languages
• has a computer at home
• likes to wake up early/stay up late
• has been to a concert
• loves/hates to eat ________
• reads comic books
• is the youngest/oldest child in their family
• has been to an amusement park
• knows how to swim
• Explain to students that they will choose twenty-five items from the list of characteristics and experiences and randomly write them in spaces on their bingo card. Tell them that during the activity, everyone will mingle throughout the classroom and ask each other questions using the bingo card. For example “Do you like to eat fish? Are you an only child? Do you play soccer? Are you the youngest in your family?” The goal is to find one person who meets the criteria in each space, write the person’s name, and be the first student to complete a row vertically, horizontally, or diagonally. It is important to inform students that they may not tell other classmates in which space to write their name. Instead, they must only respond to their classmates’ questions with yes or no .  
• Tell students they must yell “Bingo!” to signal that they have completed a row. In order to win, a student has to share with the class the information from the completed row on the card. For instance, “Juana has flown on an airplane. Li likes to dance. Nur reads comic books.”
• Give students time to fill their bingo cards with items from the list. If you choose, you allow students to include a free space on their cards.
• Once students have finished creating their bingo cards, instruct them to stand up and get ready to mingle. Remind the class that they must ask each other questions in order to complete their cards. Give students a signal to begin talking to each other. Circulate around the room and monitor students’ discussions during the activity.
• When the first student yells “Bingo!” ask the rest of the class to pause and listen. The student with a completed row must explain which of their classmates met the criteria on his/her bingo board. If the student has in fact completed a row, they are designated the first place winner. The game can continue until there are second and third place winners, so that students can get more practice speaking to each other.
• To wrap up the activity, ask students to share something new that they learned about a classmate. If needed, provide a sentence frame such as “I learned that ________ likes to eat ________” or “I learned that ________ has ________.” You can call on students individually or ask for volunteers.
• This game can be used to review vocabulary or information about a topic that students have been studying. The activity works well at the end of a unit or when preparing for an exam because you will have a lot of vocabulary to use. First, compile a list of definitions or information that you want students to review during the game. You will need to make a small card with the vocabulary word for each of the definitions you choose. The definitions should be relatively short, as they will fill the boxes on the bingo board. For instance, if you are reviewing vocabulary associated with polygons, the definitions could be has eight equal sides and angles or the prefix meaning six. The activity can be completed exactly as in the procedure outlined above, except that students will write definitions on their bingo board. Additionally, you will need to distribute a word card to each student. This will be their assigned word during the game. When people ask “Does your word mean has eight equal sides and angles ?” the students must answer yes or no . When the student finds a match, they should write down the word and the name of the student who had the card. Remind students that they may not tell their classmates the vocabulary word they have been assigned, or give information other than yes or no answers. If you have more students than words, you can make multiples of some of the word cards. When someone gets bingo, they can explain how they completed a row by saying “(Name of student) had the word ________ which means ________.” You can also make the review more comprehensive by requiring students to complete the whole card instead of a single row to earn bingo.

Students learning English can have differing reading abilities. Strong readers are more likely to enjoy reading in class, but those who find reading more difficult may not enjoy it as much or may even dread it. Planning activities that incorporate peer support and interactive tasks, and that can be adjusted for different reading levels, can help make reading enjoyable for all learners in your English classes. This week in the Teacher’s Corner, we will explore activities that can help make reading fun for all of your students.

Activity: Reading Relay

In this activity, teams of students will race to read a text and answer a set of questions about it. The first team to complete the questions correctly wins!

To improve students’ reading skills by having them answer comprehension questions and refer back to the text.

• Containers (a paper bag or shoebox) for each team
• Pencils and writing paper for students
• Text (previously studied or not)
• Questions about the text

Preparation

• Choose a text that you want students to use for the activity. This can be something they have been studying (such as a novel or part of a textbook) or a completely new passage.
• Prepare the questions you will ask students about the text. Keep in mind that students need to be able to answer all of the questions in the time available to play the game. You can write questions similar to those in the Listen and Buzz! activity from Week 1 of this month’s Teacher’s Corner. Depending on the level of your students, the answers to the questions can be things the students can locate within the text, or more challenging ones that require them to draw conclusions or use context clues.
• Once you have determined all of the questions you want students to answer, create one set of all of the questions for each team. For example, if your class will have ten teams, you need to create ten sets of all the questions. Cut out each of the questions and fold them up individually. Place each set of questions into a separate container for each team to use during the activity.
• If you have a lot of variation in reading levels in your classroom, group students into teams ahead of time. This way you can ensure that students who struggle can be on teams with strong readers. Teams with five or fewer members are best for this activity.
• Introduce the activity to students by saying, “You are about to take part in a reading relay race. During the relay, you will have to read a text and work with your teammates to answer questions about the text. You will need to write the answers down on a piece of paper for your group.” At this point, you can put students into their teams and distribute paper and pencils if needed. Have each team choose a name or assign each team a number.
• Continue giving students instructions by showing the containers with the questions and saying, “All of the questions you need to answer for the race are in this box/bag. Each team has its own container. Only one person from your team can take a question at a time. They can take only one question. They must return to the group, read the question aloud, and you all must work together to find the answer and write it down. When you finish writing, another group member may come get a new question.”
• Place the containers in a central location, such as a table in the front of the room or your desk. It is helpful to put each team’s name or number on the containers to avoid confusion during the race.
• Tell students, “The first team to write down the correct answers to each of the questions is the winner. If you believe you have done this, send one person from your team to me with your written work. I will check it and announce when a team has won the race.”
• Answer any questions students may have about the relay activity. Be sure that they know which member of their team will go get a question first and what order will follow after that. If you prefer, you can tell students to go alphabetically by first name, by height, or by birthdate.
• Once the students are ready, yell “Go!” Monitor the teams as they complete the activity to be sure all members participate and that everyone takes only one question at a time.
• When a team has finished and you have checked their work, you can announce the winner. To wrap up, the whole class can review the answers to the questions as well as where they found them in the text.

This activity can be adapted for students with different reading abilities or levels of English proficiency. Instead of dispersing strong readers and struggling readers, you can create homogenous (unmixed) groups by placing strong readers/advanced students on one team, intermediate students on another, and struggling readers/lower level students together. The tasks can be adjusted according to the needs of each group. Keep in mind that since the activity is a race, you will need to create tasks that will take groups about the same amount of time to complete. Ideas for differentiation include:

• Beginner students:
• Create a cloze passage for the text and cut it up instead of using questions in the grab bag. Students must locate the corresponding section of the text and work together to fill in the blanks in the cloze.
• Give students tasks to complete such as locating text features (headings, titles, captions, charts, etc.), finding dates or names, or counting how many times a specific vocabulary word is used in the text.
• If students are just learning how to read, you can place words with a specific spelling pattern or sound that you want them to practice in the grab bag for their team. Instead of a text, give them a set of pictures. Then they can take one word at a time from the bag, work together to decode it and match it to the correct picture. This can also be done with vocabulary words or simple sentences and a set of corresponding pictures.
• Intermediate students:
• You can modify the relay for intermediate students by making the questions multiple-choice instead of open-ended. To make questions more accessible, make them multiple-choice or provide only two options for answer choices.
• Cloze passages can also be used with intermediate students. Eliminating more words or using longer sections of the text can make them more challenging.
• Advanced students:
• Ask students to provide expanded responses to questions. For instance, if they are reading a persuasive essay, ask them to restate the author’s position and the three reasons used as justification. If they read a fictional text, ask for multiple examples of a specific literary element such as foreshadowing, symbolism, or metaphors.
• Create questions that challenge students to use information in the text to make inferences or draw conclusions about things that are not directly stated by the author.
• Have students use context clues to determine the meaning of unfamiliar or difficult words from the text.

For students learning English, writing can be a great way to express oneself, explore interests, and communicate opinions. However, writing can also cause anxiety about grammar, spelling, or making mistakes. Some students enjoy writing and some find it challenging or have difficulty thinking of topics to write about. This week’s activity, and its variations, can help inspire students who need fresh ideas or have concerns about creating perfect pieces of writing.

Activity: Grab Bag Writing

In this activity, students will choose story elements from grab bags and then write a creative story containing all of them. Stories can be revised and published, and students can share their writing with the class.

To improve students’ creative writing skills by having them incorporate random elements into a cohesive story.

• Grab bags/containers for each of the story elements you plan to use
• Paper cut into small slips
• Decide which story elements you want students to choose at random. This could include characters, setting, and a problem/conflict, or any other elements you would like to include.
• For each element, create a grab bag using any containers available that are large enough for students to reach into. Label each of the containers with one of the elements.
• Record ideas for each element on the slips of paper (one idea per slip), fold them, and put them into the corresponding grab bags. The ideas should be creative and out of the ordinary in order to encourage students to write unusual stories. Below are some ideas for what to include in the grab bags:
• Once the grab bags are created, explain the activity to students. Tell the students that they will be writing a story, but that some parts of the story will be things they choose from the grab bags. Show them the grab bags and explain that each has different slips of paper with creative ideas for characters, setting, and problems that they will need to include in their writing.
• If your students need explicit instructions, you can model choosing items from the grab bags and creating a short story on the board or chart paper to show them how to complete the activity.
• Here are some options for how to use the grab bags:
• Have each student choose an item from each of the grab bags and individually write a story.
• Allow students to choose only one element from the grab bag. For example, they may choose a random setting but create their own characters and problem in the story.
• Choose one slip from each of the grab bags and write them on the board for the whole class to use in writing individual stories. In this instance, every student will have the same character, problem, and setting, but their ideas for how the story progresses will be different.
• Group students and have each group select elements from the grab bags to use in individual stories. This way there will be several stories with the same elements, but different plots.
• After students have finished writing their stories, they can share them with the rest of the class or in small groups. The best part of this activity is hearing the creative ways that students have incorporated the different elements they chose!
• If it is appropriate for your class, you can continue the activity by allowing students to work in groups or pairs to revise and edit their stories. Have them create a final copy and even add illustrations of a scene from their writing. These can be displayed in the classroom or shared in a class book for others to read.
• Instead of having individual students choose one element from each of the grab bags, you can conduct this activity in other ways. One way is to choose characters, a setting, and a problem that the entire class must use in their writing. In this instance, every student will have the same character, problem, and setting, but their ideas for how the story progresses will be different. Alternatively, choose one of the elements, such as a set of random characters, for the whole class. Additionally, you can group students and have each group select elements from the grab bags to use in individual stories. This way there will be several stories with the same elements but different plots. Groups can also work together to write one story. All of these ideas create interesting pieces for students to share and compare after their writing is complete.
• Have students choose pictures or photographs instead of story elements. Students can find their own pictures in magazines or on the internet and then use them to write a fictional story based on what they see happening in the image. A grab bag of pictures can also be prepared ahead of time and students can randomly choose a picture to use for their writing.
• Place a random assortment of objects in a grab bag instead of story elements. Have students choose one object to inspire their story or a set of objects to incorporate into their story. As an added challenge, you can choose a setting where students’ object-based stories must take place.
• This activity can also be used for advanced students to practice argumentative writing. In this variation, prepare two grab bags. One contains community members/roles and the other contains questions about specific issues. This is challenging to students because they must consider the point of view the community member might have based on the question they choose from the second grab bag. Students must use their ideas to formulate an essay. Before students begin writing, allow them to meet in small groups to brainstorm their ideas with classmates. Some ideas for community members and questions are:
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• Speech Writing /

2-Minute Speech On What Makes Learning Fun

• Updated on  
• Mar 11, 2024

We all seek fun at school or work. There is no age limit on learning. Whether you are an elementary student or a high school teacher, there is always room for improvement and learning. As an adult we reminisce about our good old school days; all the hours we spend in the playground, music room, art room, and the classroom. Traditional classroom lectures were often boring, where everybody was supposed to sit for long hours and listen to what the teacher was saying. Will you believe me if I say that learning can be a fun and exciting experience? Today, I will guide you through what makes learning speech and some interesting ideas.

Check out our 200+ Essay Topics for Students in English!

Also Read: Essay on Knowledge Is Power

Also Read: Speech on ‘If I Had A Superpower’

10 Ways to Make Learning Fun

Here are 10 ways to make learning fun. Feel free to apply them to your academic realm or any other field to make things fun and interesting.

• Spending time outside the classroom can enhance learning productivity.

2. Using interactive technology such as interactive whiteboards and virtual reality enhances the learning experience.

3. Inviting a guest speaker from an outside community can encourage students to pursue different skills.

4. Using or creating songs or chants related to the subject matter can help students during lessons to keep them engaged.

5. Using play cards with interesting information outside the academic realm.

6. Work for a fun Friday to keep students motivated at the end of the week.

7. Encourage students to participate in science experiments in labs.

8. Create a hands-on challenge for students to complete in time duration with exciting rewards.

9. Perform experiments to spark interest in students about educational content.

10. Plan special days or festivals by dressing like your favourite character or any traditional dress.

2-Minute Speech on What Makes Learning Fun

‘Good morning my friends and teacher (s). Today, I stand before you to present myself on ‘What makes learning fun speech.’ As students, we all struggle to understand long lectures and theory classes. Sometimes, our teachers also find it boring due to a lack of engagement and participation from the student’s side. Learning is a lifelong process and to make it enjoyable, all you have to do is add some fun and engaging activities.’

‘Not everybody is born with good learning skills. There are endless opportunities to discover and it’s up to us how we see the challenges and turn them into opportunities. How we approach learning is the real challenge. What makes learning fun is our ability to tap into our natural curiosity and creativity.’

‘Engagement is one of the important elements in making learning fun. Being engaged and actively involved in the learning process allows us to understand all its dimensions and can be an exciting experience.’

‘During class lectures, teachers often ask random questions. What would your reaction be if any of your classmates gave a satisfactory answer to questions? You probably would be wondering if I should be the one answering that question. It’s all about engagement and it’s not just about class lectures, but hands-on activities and other interactive discussions.’

‘To add a little spice to our learning experience, variety can play an important role. Different teaching methods can enrich our learning experience. Students have their methods of learning things. Some like hands-on environment, while others prefer group activities. Embracing diversity in learning can ensure a chance to shine to everyone.’

‘Making learning relevant and applicable to real-life situations is another method. Learning is meant to provide a sense of purpose, and it can be possible by understanding the real-world implications of what we are learning. Knowledge is power and it becomes an effective tool when we can connect it to our daily experiences or future aspirations.’

‘Making learning a fun and interesting activity depends on our ability to infuse it with enthusiasm, engagement and relevance. Learning is an interesting journey with lots of challenges and opportunities. 

Thank you.’

Also Read: Speech About Life for Students in English

Ans: Learning is a lifelong process and it requires focus and determination. A lot of times learning becomes boring, especially long lectures. To make learning fun, enjoyable and engaging, we must incorporate some simple and easy activities. Engagement is one of the important elements in making learning fun. Being engaged and actively involved in the learning process allows us to understand all its dimensions and can be an exciting experience. Making learning relevant and applicable to real-life situations is another method. Learning is meant to provide a sense of purpose, and it can be possible by understanding the real-world implications of what we are learning.

Ans: Here are some easy tips to make learning fun: Using interactive technology such as interactive whiteboards, Inviting a guest speaker from an outside community, Using or creating songs or chants related to the subject matter, Using play cards with interesting information and Working for a fun Friday to keep students motivated.

Ans: Learning can be fun for reasons like personal interests, engagement and interactivity, relevance to real life, variety and creativity, success and achievement, etc.

Related Articles

For more information on such interesting speech topics for your school, visit our speech writing page and follow Leverage Edu .

Shiva Tyagi

With an experience of over a year, I've developed a passion for writing blogs on wide range of topics. I am mostly inspired from topics related to social and environmental fields, where you come up with a positive outcome.

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Jun 24, 2022 | Education

What makes learning fun? How Little Inventors does it

Times have changed today. All we hear about nowadays is how kids always have to be market-ready. We want every student to be ecstatic about learning and schooling. But unfortunately, this is not always the case. Very often, we do come across the saying that ‘learning is fun’, but we have to remember that it is our duty to make the kids want to learn. So, we at Little Inventors have come up today with five such techniques to find out what makes learning actually fun. Not only we do love to incorporate these techniques into our curriculum but also would like to share them with y’all. So, let’s explore some of the ways in which we can spark interest in their minds and make learning much more engaging.

1.   Encourage Group works

Whenever students work together, they recollect information quicker and longer. They develop critical thinking, build their communication skills, and foster cooperative learning. So, start encouraging group works among kids and let them work on simple yet interesting projects in a group, minus the pressure.

2. Involve hands-on activities in the curriculum

Enter: hands-on learning. Hands-on activities are an extremely fun way to learn and interact. Try incorporating alphabet activities, science projects, or geography activities with 3D maps and props in your curriculum. The importance hands-on learning holds , for your kid’s career paths is endless.

3. Give your kids a quick Brain Break

What we chiefly try to incorporate into our curriculum at Little Inventors, is to let kids have a quick brain break between their lessons. For most teachers, it’s super easy to observe and feel when students are in need of a quick pick-me-up. And this small quick break eventually helps them to mentally rejuvenate and start again all afresh.

4.   Technology makes learning fun

What makes learning fun? There’s a one-word answer to this. The answer is technology. Go ahead with classroom apps, projectors, or tabletop computers. But make sure that they’re using these electronic gadgets, no more than a stipulated time duration, which otherwise, can result in certain health hazards

5. What’s more fun than a field trip?

Field trips are a great way for students to connect with what they are learning in school. Not only do they get a hands-on view of everything they learned in school, but also they try to understand what they learned from what they are seeing at the exhibit.

Final thoughts

Now that we know what makes learning fun, let’s just remember that childhood is a journey and certainly not a race. Keeping this in mind, we at Little Inventors have come up with an extensive number of STEM courses chiefly designed for kids, to motivate them with the basics of coding. This includes Python programming for kids , Programming in Scratch, coding courses for kids, best java certification course online, game development courses online , and several others.  Interested already? Visit our page and the kinds of services we offer for kids! Browse our classes by coding classes for kids near me and book your free trial class. Having live 1:1 best online coding classes for kids, robotics kits for kids , tech fests, and global courses over various time zones be rest assured that we provide the best coding classes for kids in India. Remember that learning can happen anywhere, and not just in the classroom! IImage by  Oberholster Venita  from  Pixabay  

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The Kansas City Chiefs were one of six NFL teams that held rookie minicamps this weekend, and the team’s first-round selection, Xavier Worthy, stole the show both on the field and in press conferences with the media.

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Every rookie has goals for their first week of team meetings and practices. The 21-year-old receiver wants to start with the fundamentals and establish a familiarity with the Reid’s system.

“[It is] just [about] establishing the playbook,” Worthy explained. “Getting a firm understanding of the playbook so I know where to line up come training camp, so I’m already affiliated, know what I’m doing, know where I’m lining up, and know the plays I’m running.”

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Slow Learning

This paper investigates what features of an economy determine whether convergence under learning is fast or slow. In all of the models that we consider, people's beliefs about model outcomes are central determinants of those outcomes. We argue that under certain circumstances, convergence of a learning equilibrium to the rational expectations equilibrium can be so slow that policy analysis based on rational expectations is very misleading. We also develop new analytic results regarding rates of convergence in learning models.

The analysis and conclusions set forth are those of the authors and do not indicate concurrence by the Board of Governors or anyone else. The authors thank Klaus Adam, George-Marios Angeletos, Ed Herbst, Albert Marcet, Damjan Pfajfar, Bruce Preston, Tom Sargent, Robert Tetlow, Ivan Werning and participants in a number of seminars for helpful comments and suggestions. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Bureau of Economic Research or anyone associated with the Federal Reserve System.

I am a consultant at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, as well as the Central Bank of the Peru, the Phillipines and Uganda.

MARC RIS BibTeΧ

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