In this webinar, Dr. Robin Sargent of IDOL Courses delved deep into gamification and how it can transform traditional learning methods into engaging, motivating, and compelling experiences.
She shared the key ingredients needed to effectively 'gamify' your curriculum, including clear objectives, reward systems, competition, and a sense of progression. Robin also showed real-world examples of successful gamified learning environments and provided practical tips on how to implement these strategies in your own setting.
Read on to learn how creating your own gamified learning experience can drive engagement, improve retention, and, ultimately, enhance learning outcomes.
In the webinar, Robin emphasized the importance of being mindful and strategic when adding game elements to your training.
Examples of Gamified Learning
Gamification involves incorporating game elements into existing instructional content to encourage specific behaviors.
Have you read the Harry Potter fantasy books or seen the movies? These popular young adult novels featured many examples of gamification in the classroom. The year-long House Cup competition is one such example. Students were sorted into Houses. Every good—or bad—action by students resulted in earning or losing points for their House. This competition increased the students’ motivation to study and to follow the school rules.
The First Step Toward Gamifying Learning
Before you can create a game or add gamification elements, you need to write your learning objectives.
Game characteristics can only influence your learner’s behavior and attitude. You still need solid instructional content in order to achieve your learning objectives. But you also need to be sure that your game elements aren’t driving negative behaviors, like demotivating learners by making things too hard.
Remember, if your instructional content cannot effectively stand on its own, incorporating points, badges, and leaderboards alone is ineffective.
In the webinar, Robin shared how to create your learning objectives and performance goals, for measurable content.
You want to be able to tie game elements to your different behaviors and objectives.
Watch the webinar recording to learn more about creating your gamified learning recipe:
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