5 Things to Keep in Mind When designing eLearning Games

Gamification is fast becoming one of the more popular tools for training delivery. To increase engagement and make learning fun, organizations employ eLearning games to deliver an exceptional learning experience. Game-based learning plays a vital role in encouraging and engaging the workforce to access relevant courses, increase retention, and improve their skills. eLearning games aid employees to progress through levels, earn badges, compete on the leaderboard, and remain competitive. Additionally, corporates are also adopting theme-based approaches like childhood fantasies, car racing themes, and others to introduce the fun element in a training program.

To make game-based learning successful, factors like storytelling, gaming elements, and game design play a significant role. Among these, game elements are the most important ones. Let us explore some of the competitive elements:

• Goals

When designing a game for eLearning, organizations must first consider the training goals or objectives. An eLearning game can focus on short-term goals and long-term ones. Short-term goals are to complete a task, reach the next level, gain recognition, and more. Long-term goals revolve around training end goals like 'what learners are expected to achieve at the end of a game.' On successful completion of training goals, learners must be rewarded with badges and scores, motivating them to continue learning until they achieve success.

• Challenges

A game hurdle or challenge is a competitive game element that inspires learners to perform. Learners can start with easy problems and progress further to achieve difficult ones.

• Recognition
  

Rewards and badges are included in game-based learning courses to acknowledge achievement and incentivize learning. For instance, games that include points, scores, and badges motivate the learners to complete their tasks. Also, leaderboards aid learners to compare their progress and share accomplishments with their peers.

• Competition

Games drive the feeling of competitive success among learners when they participate as a team. For instance, introducing a leaderboard in an eLearning game for corporate training reflects the scores achieved by individuals at each level. So, employees strive to attain their goals faster and earn badges/points to reach on top of the leaderboard. As a result, employees sense the feeling of achieving a milestone, and the competitive element comes naturally. Moreover, corporates drive more competition by allowing the participants to share their achievements across social media platforms.

• Feedback

When employees engage with games in eLearning, then instant feedback is another significant element that improves their performance. Feedback can be instant notifications when learners complete a specific task or unlock a reward on achieving a level. Immediate feedback mechanism allows players to take corrective action towards attaining success and plan their strategy. It also aids employees in gaining better knowledge, which can be effectively applied in real-life workplace scenarios.

Ultimately, eLearning games will remain the popular buzzword in the future as well. As organizations are demanding for eLearning gamification approach, their focus is shifting towards designing innovative games for the targeted workforce.