Gamification and Game-based E-Learning

The use of Gamification and game mechanics for E-Learning is not a new phenomenon. With the growth of the gaming industry and new and improved Gamification techniques and methods, it is anticipated that sooner or later, every learning, development and training institution will deploy Gamification as an effective E-Learning tool. Various organizations at a global level are using Gamification as a tool to conduct staff trainings and motivational sessions while providing them with an enjoyable activity.

The Use of Serious Games
For every organization, the strategic objectives encompass staff training for optimum performance. This includes providing them with learning opportunities. And that’s where Serious Games are important. They encourage motivation and problem-solving abilities in employees and promote a culture of learning and achieving the desired outcome through the use of limited resources.

In the context of learning related to job, the use of Serious Games satisfies your employees’ urge to compete with others and achieve high targets, all while keeping them entertained. Serious Games employ Gamification to create real-life learning, critical thinking and decision-making scenarios. Compared to endless hours of traditional coaching, seminars and webinars, the use of Serious Games is an efficient and budget friendly method to boost your employees’ morale and encourage learning without making the process boring.

Rising Interest in Adults
At the workplace, we often associate learning with a serious attitude. Our perception of learning at work typically revolves around unending training sessions and seminars where we can retain and reproduce hardly 10% of the knowledge acquired.

According to recent studies and estimates, a huge population of adults is inclined towards playing games nowadays. Statistical research shows that games improve retention and learning. The use of Gamification for learning as an initiative for improving learning and performance should therefore be explored and encouraged at the corporate level.

Gamification of Learning Experience
When designing an effective game to enhance the learning experience, it is necessary to establish a relationship between the game dynamics and structure and the content. For example, if your company’s objective is to focus on devising successful sales techniques, then your Gamification process should incorporate designing all elements related to sales, commissions and bonuses in a learning module.

The next step is working on the interactivity of the game. A game can only be used as an efficient E-Learning tool if it is interactive and it engages employees in critical thinking and logical decision making. In this regard, you can easily create a game system that:

• Classifies and categorizes all your challenges based on whether they are action-based or behavioral-based
• Rewards your employees and learners for completing each successive challenge and achieving every goal
• Has a varying level for each objective, in terms of the difficulty, the resources available, and the time duration for completing the task.

To further enhance the experience of learning through Gamification, you can also create a feeling of urgency by introducing time constraints in your game. Each level can have a specific time duration within which the learner should complete it. Overtime could be linked to a penalty or disqualification in the game.

Over the course of time, the use of Gamification to enhance the learning experience of individuals is expected to revolutionize learning, teaching and training methods. Acquainting yourself with this method is, therefore, vital to the success of your organization.