eLearningIndustry_Logo
Sign In
  • Forever Free LMS
  • Join our Email List
  • eBooks
  • Webinars
  • Find Top LMS Software
  • Find Top Authoring Tools
  • Find Top Content Providers
  • Advertise
  • Articles
    All Articles Publish an Article Learning Management Systems Authoring Tools Trends Design and Development Instructional Design Best Practices Free Resources
  • Directory
    View All Categories Create Free Listing Free LMS Consulting
  • Events
    Webinars Event Listing All Events Conferences Congresses Events Seminars Symposiums Workshops Promoting Your Event Guide Free eBook
  • Press Releases
    Press Release All Press Releases Press Release Guidelines Press Releases Guide Free eBook
  • Jobs
    All Jobs Find Jobs Job Posting

How can we help you?

Loading...
Oups. Something Has Gone Terribly Wrong. Please Try Later

Sign In

By signing in with LinkedIn, you're agreeing to create an account at elearningindustry.com and accept our terms of use and privacy policy.
Learn more about how we use LinkedIn.

How we use LinkedIn

We use LinkedIn to ensure that our users are real professionals who contribute and share reliable content.

When you sign in with LinkedIn, you are granting elearningindustry.com access to your LinkedIn account, which is used to authenticate you without you having to enter a different user name and password. We also use this access to retrieve the following information:

  • Your full name.
  • Your primary email address.

You can revoke this access at any time through your LinkedIn account.

Sign In with LinkedIn

Already have an account? Login here
Table of Contents
What are the most effective tips for Successful Learning Management System Implementation?
Download eBook
  • An Coppens
  • Andrew Hughes
  • Anya Andrews, Ph.D., PMP
  • Austin L. Meredith
  • Bryan Austin
  • Dr. Panagiotis Zaharias
  • Introduction
  • James Bowen, Phd, PMP
  • John Carlos Lozano
  • Karl M. Kapp
  • Kirsty Chadwick
  • Marigo Raftopoulos
  • Marina Arshavskiy
  • Mario Herger
  • Michael Hugos
  • Michael Osborne
  • Natalie Denmeade
  • Roman Rackwitz
  • Ross Smith
  • Santhosh Kumar
  • Sharon Boller
  • Sherry Jones
  • T. Raven Meyers
  • Vicki Kunkel
Back to eBooks
How Gamification Reshapes Learning
How Gamification Reshapes Learning
8 Previous Article
Photo of James Bowen, Phd, PMP
by James Bowen, Phd, PMP Experiential Simulations
10 Next Article
Photo of Karl Kapp
by Karl Kapp Bloomsburg University
Photo of John Carlos Lozano
by John Carlos Lozano
SweetRush
Download eBook
9

What are the most effective uses of Gamification in Learning?

Basic gaming principles are well known: challenges, points, rewards. Yet, an important strategy that has the potential to revolutionize training and performance improvement is to approach gamification holistically. Let’s step into the shoes of the learner and think about his or her experience.

The first moment of truth occurs on a macro level when learners first interact with a learning portal. Within the portal, the curriculum (you might call it the portal’s nervous system) defines and connects all the learning paths. If the curriculum is difficult to understand, it’s a de-motivator: think back to college when you tried to figure out the right classes you needed to graduate. An easy and engaging user experience will guide and motivate learners, which we know is the key to the portal’s adoption.

This is where gamification is your friend. Gamification helps learners interact with the curriculum in a different way, and forces portal designers to think more critically about the user interface, improving the experience. Here’s just one example: allow learners to collect badges by completing certain courses. Badges, in turn, increase the learner’s overall rank and unlock other more challenging courses. Now, learners have a clear picture of the path ahead of them and have fun along the way.

The second moment of truth happens at the micro level when learners experience their first learning event. At this level, a reward system provides guidance and engagement similar to the portal (macro) level. A sales course we recently developed had the goal of dispelling misconceptions about a product line: if learners could correctly identify the client’s misconceptions, they would earn a medal and unlock a humorous 3D animated video.

When thinking gamification, think holistically. Create a fun and engaging user experience, while guiding and motivating learners to acquire the knowledge and skills that will improve their performance, and you will accomplish your overall business objectives. It’s a win-win situation!

Discover more effective gamification techniques from John-Carlos at the SweetRush website: Creative Design for Engagement.