Educational content and homework exercises can often be composed of relatively dry material that fails to engage and motivate learning in children. By placing a layer of gamification over the top, designed to encourage pupils to carry out homework exercises by rewarding them with achievements, we can prompt increased participation in educational exercises.
Plantyn, a division of Infinitas Learning, is a renowned Belgian publisher, providing educational resources for primary, secondary, and higher education. Scoodle is the Learning Management System (LMS) used to deliver this educational material to schools and Scoodle Play is the gamified educational hub layered on top of the LMS that rewards students for completing digital learning activities. Students earn coins for completing learning activities and use these to customise their own avatar, adding new outfits and personal items, they can send stickers to classmates, and can earn rewards in real life for their entire class.
When we built Scoodle Play, we tied it into the existing Scoodle LMS architecture and systems. All the educational exercises and existing content are delivered by Plantyn’s LMS, with all sensitive user data held securely on their servers. We were able to deliver the gamified layer without requiring access to any of this information, nor did we need to rebuild their teacher portal or management systems. The ability to build on top of existing backend architecture means we can use the system already in place and enhance the content currently being delivered by making it more popular and effective.
At home or in the classroom, Scoodle Play makes education fun.
Scoodle Play was built to be a stable, sustainable platform that allows users to access content from web browsers and apps from the Google Play and Apple App stores. The same profile is used across each so that the student can use the web browser and the app, and it all contributes to the same learning profile that the homework is set through.
The student’s avatar changes depending on whether the answer is correct or wrong
During the Covid-19 pandemic, like much of the world, schools in Belgium were closed. Teachers transitioned their students from the traditional learning environment to Scoodle Play, set more homework, and encouraged them to complete more exercises. Traffic on the Scoodle Play education hub increased approximately sevenfold in a single day. However, due to careful engineering and robust testing, the servers scaled appropriately, the APIs linking the Scoodle LMS and the Scoodle Play Hub handled the increase in traffic, and the user experience remained unchanged for both teachers and students.
“For the past five years, Fish in a Bottle has been an invaluable partner in the development and ongoing support of Scoodle Play, the flagship educational hub experience from Plantyn, a member of the Infinitas group. Utilised by primary schools throughout Belgium, Scoodle Play offers a dynamic platform where students can engage with a diverse range of digital educational content, starting with the personalisation of their avatars. The team at Fish in a Bottle has not only created a robust and interactive educational environment but has also shown an unwavering commitment to enhancing and evolving the platform over time. Their collaborative approach, combined with their passion for infusing education with fun and creativity, has been instrumental in delivering an experience that resonates with young learners. This success is a testament to Fish in a Bottle’s ability to craft engaging educational experiences that align with the needs of modern students and educators.”
Carl Verhoest – Head of Engineering – Infinitas Learning
