Exploring the Significance of Incorporating Games in E-Learning
The development of online courses to meet diverse training needs of modern learners has become the prime goal for all industry experts. There are several challenges associated with workplace training that includes lack of communication between educator and learners, as well as interaction between peers. Basically, it takes more than just content and learning technology for an engaged learning experience. Learning professionals need to identify that engaging and motivating learners is the perfect key to lucrative learner engagement.
Learner engagement is one of the most crucial factors considered by organizations. Focusing on the development of good quality and interactive courses is a significant initiative to make this happen. Few questions may arise in your mind: What makes learners engage? Do you adopt efficient strategies to deliver engaging e-courses? Engagement is defined as the level of participation and inspiration a learner gets in a learning environment. The more engaged a learner, the better are the chances of employee retention and motivation. Few things that come to our minds when we think about engaged learners is that:
- They are more collaborative and show better involvement in learning-based activities.
- They seek help from others to attain organizational objectives.
- They put their best efforts to complete any task assigned to them.
- They are more passionate and optimistic about their learning behavioral curve.
- They respond efficiently well to industry challenges and figure out ways to address them.
- They are more interested in transforming learning into knowledge and using it at workplace.
Modern learners grew up in the digital era and have unique learning styles toward knowledge empowerment. Organizations adopt gamified e-learning approach to make it more fun and entertaining, thereby motivating learners to perform better at the workplace. Learner engagement is the door to a successful training program, so let us discuss the keys used to unlock this door for effective course development:
Experience
Learning starts from the prior knowledge about content, thinking of how to attain goals. Instead of focusing only on the content to be delivered, it is important to consider what learners already know. It is also essential to define learners’ training goals, what they will learn and how they will get benefits. Consequently, learner engagement is reshaped from the previous experiences of learners and their expectations from it.
Embed visuals
Attractive images and videos are embedded to captivate attention of majority of the learners. Then, learners also analyze how the content is relevant to them, resulting in improved learning experience.
Contiguity
Sometimes, awards and recognition help motivating learners to work more efficiently. In game-based learning, rewards and badges are given to participants during the program so that they feel encouraged and engage more with the course to finish it.
Best Gamification Practices to Boost Employee Engagement
No matter if the organization imparts training on organizational standards or workplace ethics, employees can be encouraged to learn when they are challenged and entertained.
Include content narration
While designing the concept of a training program, it is important to capture the attention of maximum employees. One of the best way is to embed narration to make the content lively and interesting.
Learner-centric
Customize the courses in alignment to the training needs of every learner. Employees should be encouraged to learn more by creating relevant courses.
Competitive
Integrate gamification into e-courses in the form of badges and reward points. This creates a competitive environment with increased learner satisfaction when the course is completed.
Employee engagement
Create interactive courses to boost learner motivation. Participants should engage in multiple game-based activities that show different results based on learners’ actions.
Customize the game as appropriate
Every organization is different, so incorporation of varied game elements should depend upon the organization’s culture, vision and goals. If there is too much deviation, then it is risky to encourage employees in an environment that is not appealing to them.
Create challenges
Lack of challenge is mainly boring to learners so they involve less in the program. It is better to design dynamic courses and present different challenges before the participants so that they find the content interesting till the end.
Employees engage more with e-courses when they feel that their professional growth is important for the leadership of the organization. E-Learning gamification helps both learners as well as organizations accomplish their training goals. So, it is not merely a strategy to engage employees, but also supported by managers and organizational leaders for improved business growth.
Suggested Further Reading: http://cdn2.hubspot.net/hub/159642/file-528694391-pdf/Engagement_eBook_FINAL_PARA_USAR.pdf
Author– Anubha Goel, G-Cube
Anubha Goel is a content writer at G-Cube. She loves to write about new technologies in eLearning industry and exploring novice ideas for the new-age learners.
