Gamification is failing as a mechanism for long-term learning

EdTech Founders

In this 7th episode of EdTech Founders from EdTech Garage we interview Eduardo Nunes, CEO of Kendir Studios, a company based in Porto, Portugal. Kendir Studios is a development studio for educational role playing and adventure games. They offer their services in the K12 segment in a B2C model.

We talk about: Impact of gamification on learning, the value of stories in games & learning, the challenge from investors and educators looking at educational gaming, being the first in a new segment and motivating teams in EdTech.

Outtakes from the conversation:

"We focused on why gamification was failing. Due to the pandemic, we saw a lot of platforms, a lot of tools coming out. And we noticed that those weren't having the effects that we wanted in students, especially young students."

"To build a game which has a story and a universe, which starts in one point, and at the end of the school year ends in a completely different point. And which took the students through a journey of 10 months of learning. It's something that no one did, and no one does."

"The biggest challenge is always the perspective from the investors and even educators. … All of these people are still in 2.0. visualization. So basically, they're looking at the EdTech world, and the technologies that are being developed about three or four steps behind what we're doing. … They usually struggle when they start thinking, okay, but if this is a full game, how are kids going to learn? And so we need to really dig deep and demonstrate."

"…we all want to be a part of something greater. That's why I started the company. That's why I keep pushing on this project, even when I feel like quitting. Because in education we're working for, I know this sounds cliche, but we're working for a better future for us and for our children. … And that's going to help you stay with the project for quite a while even when things get rough."

The EdTech Garage is a network for early-stage European EdTech startups where founders can scale up faster through the founder community, matchmaking and specialized resources. In this podcast series we interview engaged early-stage EdTech founders from across Europe who are a part of the EdTech Garage network. We get straight to the point in 20 minutes and publish new episodes roughly every 2nd week. You can find the transcript from each podcast on the site below.

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Host: Frank Albert Coates