Gamification In Learning Through An Avatar-based Serious Game Concept

In one of my earlier articles published in eLearning Industry portal on Aug 30th’14, I had shared a case study on the benefits of Gamification in learning (through a serious game concept).

Gamification In Learning

In this article, I am sharing another case study using the same content (on Account Management Fundamentals) but re-designed using an Avatar-based approach. I will also share the gains that accrued with this enhanced approach.

While Gamification has been applied in several domains, our focus has been on its application in learning. The games that we design are therefore geared to meet definite learning outcomes and our Gamification strategies broadly map to:

1. 1. Tasks or concepts that are overlaid on the learning content but are not related to the content
   2. Contextual tasks or concepts that are overlaid on the learning content
   3. Partial Gamification (notably in inline checks and end of course assessments)

Background

We had to re-design a quick online training for Project Managers who were being groomed to handle Account Management practices.

The course on Account Management Fundamentals outlined the basics of account management and more specifically, what they must do to move their organization up the value chain. The learners needed to understand two aspects:

1. 1. Their organization’s view that was to scale the newly acquired/existing customer to an Account and then to a Key Account
   2. The need to work on changing the customer’s view and scale their organization from a service vendor to a strategic partner (This journey was mapped to four levels/quadrants and it represented the challenges that the learners must face to accomplish the required mandate.)

The new brief

The need for re-design arose on account of two aspects:

1. 1. The first was on account of varied backgrounds of learners. The target learners included Project Leads, Associate Project Managers, Project Managers, and Program Managers. The typical Project Management experience ranged from three years to 10 years.
   2. The second was to have learners face challenges that mapped to their experience. In the initial concept, all learners went through an identical learning path featuring identical questions. However, in real life, the more experienced professionals would face trickier situations as they will handle bigger and more challenging accounts.

The revised concept

After reviewing the new brief, my team came up with an Avatar-based Gamification approach. The highlights of this approach were:

1. 1. Creation of different learner paths
   2. Alignment of the learning and Gamification path to the proficiency of learners
   3. Presentation of a mix of questions in each path (mapping to real life challenges commensurate with the proficiency level of the learners)
   4. Non-availability of learning aids of theory (lifeline) for higher proficiency learners to make the challenge tougher. (The complexity and the nature of the challenges posed to the learners tested their cognitive proficiency to tackle the situation at hand, thereby resulting in immersive learning.)

What we retained

From the original Gamification concept, we retained the overall look and feel and the Introduction.

We updated the rules of the game to sync up with the new approach.

Then we added the Avatar selection frame.

For the learners choosing more than eight years of experience, we provided a different path. After the Avatar selection, a Jeopardy game was presented to test their fundamentals on Account Management. Specifically,

1. 1. A good score enabled them to move directly to Level 2.

2. However, if they scored less than 60%, they were provided with a friendly message nudging them to take up Level 1:

This is the landing page of Level 1. The Avatar chosen at the time of selection was in the middle. The challenges were presented on clicking or selecting the objects with the (+) symbol.

This was a sample question/challenge. On answering correctly, the learners were awarded a star as highlighted. We provided different question banks for each path that matched the challenges with the experience of the learners.

We also added surveys to seek inputs on the learners’ current understanding of Project Management.

The gains

We were able to match the learner proficiency to a specific learning path that gave them the right insight on how to handle customers. The Avatar-based approach helped us carry out this mapping.

Read More:

• Go Beyond Badges And Leaderboards: 5 Examples Of Gamification In Corporate Training
• Why Adopt Gamification For Corporate Training – 8 Questions Answered
• How Gamification Will Impact Corporate Learning

Source: https://www.eidesign.net/gamification-in-learning-through-an-avatar-based-serious-game-concept/

Why Adopt Gamification For Corporate Training – 8 Questions Answered

Today, gamification is poised to impact corporate training significantly. It is more than a buzz and is gaining momentum on account of increased adoption of mobile learning. This article addresses why adopting gamification for corporate training makes sense.

8 Questions Answered: Why You Should Adopt Gamification For Corporate Training

At EI Design, we have an established gamification practice and we have seen a steady increase in the last two years in its adoption for serious learning (for corporate training). Using this experience, I am listing the following 8 questions that will address your queries and concerns as you take a call on adopting gamification for corporate training.

1. What Is Gamification?

Gamification is an approach where elements and principles of gaming are used to create a more effective and engaging learning experience. Gamification can be used effectively to help the learners apply their learning on-the-job through real life situations in a controlled environment.

Gamification-based learning courses will typically have the components like a storyline, challenges, rewards, and analytics shown here:

2. What Are The Benefits Of Gamification?

1. Better Learning Experience.

When learner engagement is high, there is greater recall and retention. With gamification, learners show high levels of engagement as they learn and have fun at the same time.

2. Better Learning Environment.

The learning environment that gamification in eLearning provides is not just informal and effective, but also safe and apt to reinforce learning. Learners get to place themselves in circumstances similar to real life situations and the decisions they make here go a long way in helping them retain knowledge.

3. Instant Feedback.

The learning reinforcement is immediate as learners get instant feedback telling them whether the decisions they make are right or not. This is also a great way to up the learner engagement and retention quotient.

4. Prompting Behavioral Change.

Gamification is not just about points, badges, and leaderboards. When used wisely in tandem with scientific principles of repeated retrieval and spaced repetition, gamification can bring about the desired behavioral change effectively.

5. Can Be Applied For Most Learning Needs.

Who says gamification has a limited scope? It finds a fit in learning strategies for most learning needs – induction and onboarding, product sales, customer support, soft skills, awareness creation, compliance, you name it!

6. Appeals To The Millennial Workforce.

Organizations globally are seeing an increase in the millennial workforce and this group of learners needs an approach that is different from the traditional eLearning approaches. This learner profile relates well to gamification for corporate training.

7. Impact On Bottom-Line.

With all these benefits and factors contributing to a better learner experience, gamification for corporate training helps rake in a significant gain for organizations and their businesses.

3. Where Can Gamification Be Applied?

Specifically, gamification can:

• Be applied to address varied training needs (including induction, onboarding, behavioral change, soft skills, and compliance).
• Enhance the impact of traditional eLearning courses (through partial gamification and gamified assessments).
• Be used in ILT trainings (through gamified assessments).
• Be used to better the impact of learning through learning paths (with wide and varied range of learning assets).
• Gel well with the concept of collaborative learning (social learning).

At EI Design, we have expertise in creating learning material using “gamification for serious learning” and have gamified solutions for various corporate training needs, including:

1. Professional skills training.
2. Product training.
3. Soft skills.
4. Induction and on-boarding.
5. Compliance.
6. Social collaboration – featuring Performance Support Tools.

4. What Factors Contribute To Successful Gamification In Training?

For a gamification initiative to hit the bull’s eye, the concept that it is built on needs to be spot on. When gamifying a concept, one needs to check if it is:

• Capturing and retaining learners’ attention.
• Challenging them.
• Engaging and entertaining them.
• Teaching them.

This is how an effective concept of gamification in training looks like:

5. Can It Meet Specific Learning Outcomes Like Traditional eLearning Or Is It “Just Fun And No Specific Learning Gain”?

Gamification is not just about having fun. Much like traditional eLearning, it can be used to meet specific learning outcomes.We have used it precisely for this and we’ve done it through:

• Applying game mechanics in a non-game situation.
• Providing a platform and a safe environment for learners to face challenges that they would face in real life situations.
• Designing solutions with “serious game-based” concepts and mapping the game objectives to the learning objectives.
• Creating web portals that integrate the best of microlearning techniques, social learning, and customizable learning paths.

6. Can Gamification For Corporate Training Integrate With Social Learning?

Yes. The answer lies in designing a gamification concept that can leverage on social learning. Definitely, concepts like learner curated content can add value. Similarly, access to peers (as a helpline) to clear questions/challenges can be integrated into the gamification concept.

Besides, the concept of “online gaming” has been around for a while now where users from various parts of the world compete against each other/play together online on the same gaming platform (some online games even come with an in-game chat feature) – striking resemblance to the collaboration/networking bit that social media provide today, one may feel. There’s no reason why this element cannot be leveraged on through the marriage of gamification and social learning approaches.

Here is an example that showcases how elements of social learning and gamification can be used together to create a high impact learning experience:

7. How Can Gamification Leverage On Microlearning?

With dwindling attention spans, the power of microlearning-based training is gaining momentum. Microlearning nuggets are of short duration and tailor made to address the challenge of short attention spans.Today’s population does enjoy the gaming experience in short bursts (think mobile games) as opposed to keeping track of their “saved” levels and picking from where they had left in the long series of TV video games a few years ago. Gamification concepts can be easily adapted to microlearning to further increase the engagement and impact.

8. Is Gamification For Corporate Training Development Expensive And Time Consuming?

Certainly, gamification-based training is more expensive than traditional eLearning based training. However, its benefits will clearly help you maximize your ROI (the business gain) and learner engagement, besides helping you achieve higher completion rates and better recall and retention (the learner’s gain).

Final Thoughts
I hope this article provides answers to your questions or concerns and provides enough ammunition to help you adopt gamification for corporate training.

You can embark on this journey with partial gamification techniques (these are inexpensive, improve the stickiness of learning, and add tremendous punch to the learning experience).

You can also opt for portal based approaches (using microlearning– and learning path- based approaches).

These approaches allow you to build over time (rather than a huge investment upfront) plus provide the flexibility in updating your learning assets.

Do contact me if you need any assistance in crafting your strategy to adopt gamification for corporate training.

Source: Why Adopt Gamification For Corporate Training – 8 Questions Answered