Educational games must adapt to India's linguistic and cultural diversity
Designing effective game-based learning requires understanding regional dialects, local curricula, and diverse socio-cultural contexts across different states.
Writing for Telangana Today, Manish Narvade argues that a single model of educational gaming cannot work equally well across all Indian states due to diverse linguistic and socio-cultural contexts.
The author notes that integrating game-based learning (GBL) into foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN) requires more than just translating instructions or adding digital rewards.
In Telangana, for example, the standard Telugu word 'veḷtāḍu' may be pronounced 'eltāḍu' in colloquial speech, presenting a challenge for literacy games that must account for the relationship between spoken language and written text.
While numeracy games can draw on shared mathematical concepts like addition and multiplication, literacy games require careful attention to regional pronunciation, scripts, and meaning.
Narvade suggests that the central government could establish common technical standards and objectives, but implementing them requires state governments and institutions like State Councils of Educational Research and Training (SCERTs).
The piece concludes that experienced teachers and headmasters are essential to ensure that game mechanics and questions are age-appropriate and reinforce intended learning outcomes.