Use Gamification In The Workplace For Efficient Content Delivery And Increased Learner Interaction
New-age learners access gamified eCourses, not with an intention to win but to learn and achieve. For instance, earning badges on completing a certain level is exciting, but not the end goal. Learners thrive to gain intrinsic motivation through an internal sense of achievements that appears after successfully accomplishing a task. Game-based learning is designed effectively, to drive the optimum benefits from an eLearning strategy.
What Success Through Gamification Looks Like?
With digitization, gamification is becoming the most preferred trend in workplace learning. It captivates learners’ attention through engaging games, ensuring the delivery of memorable learning experiences. Each gamified learning asset provides different benefits based on course, strategy, motivators, and more. But, while designing or executing an existing form of games, elements help to drive success. Few of these elements are listed here:
- Implementation of gaming concepts aligned with the psychology of gaming (determination, encouragement, and more).
- Effective strategies linked to defined objectives and training outcomes, which are directly connected to the workplace where learners apply knowledge and expertise.
- The inclusion of incentives, that do not focus on competition, but on achievement. The outcomes should always be that players know they have learned something new.
- Realistic, dynamic, and engaging tasks or scenarios that need critical decision-making and problem-solving skills.
- More focus on learning behaviors that highlight the customized needs of modern learners.
- Recognition of different ways people learn and get motivated to perform better in the workplace.
Effective Design Framework Of Gamification
With optimum marketing efforts, eLearning gamification needs a plan. It is significant to think about the business objectives, target audience, and their behavioral changes. Rather than implementing scores, points, and leaderboards, gamified learning is benefited by a well-structured gamified system. Therefore, gamification framework is designed to help organizations encourage a certain behavior that accelerates engagement and collaboration. Let us present the following 6 steps in this framework:
1. Define Goals
Like any other activity, even gamification approach starts with different business objectives. Few of these goals include increasing sales, customer satisfaction, quality of innovations with reducing costs of development on new products. Each objective can differ but all that matters is the end results from the overall gamified learning program.
2. Outline The Target Behavior
The next step in this design framework is to delineate the target behavior essential to attain the business objectives. If the business goal is all about boosting customer loyalty, then different forms of behavior can drive the overall learning experience. For instance, the level of engagement that a learner requires or if a customer promotes company’s products and services, these are the forms of target behavior in this regard.
3. Define The Participants
Before designing the gamification network, it is crucial to understand the learners. There are varied elements that decide which gaming elements will best suit the tailored needs of learners. For instance, the degree of innovation in eLearning or social engagement can be of influence.
4. Devise Different Activity Loops
The next step following that of defining business goals, target behavior, and knowing the target audience is to drive learner engagement. To get learners into a gamified program is one thing and to keep them engaged for long is another. Therefore, engagement loops are designed to motivate learners to access more courses and reflect the same type of behavior time and again. There are 3 stages in this loop—first, there needs to be motivation to depict the desired behavior, then the action in accordance with that behavior followed by an instant feedback.
5. Add The Fun Element
It is important to ensure that gamified eCourses are complete fun and exciting. Therefore, rewards and scores are given to the learners to grab the same level of engagement till the course is completed. For many of the learners, collaboration and competition are the important emotions that make them continue playing.
6. Game Elements
Lastly, different gaming components, including badges, avatars, achievements, virtual goods, leaderboards, and more are added to these eLearning courses. By choosing among these elements, a coherent and interactive experience is created.
The Final Word
The above-discussed gamification framework holds the capability to gamify eLearning courses in today’s digital learning environments. Fun is also a must-have! So, it has become significant to gamify the courses to incorporate strategies that engage learners in multi-faceted ways and reinforce the overall learning experience.
Suggested Further Reading: Game-Based Learning And Gamification
