Gamification is a trend which is growing more and more within the eLearning industry. The term ‘gamification’ did not gain popularity until 2010. Gamification has grown to be popular within the education and eLearning industries.
Many people think traditional learning methods such as reading out of a book can be boring and gamification offers learners the opportunity to have a fun while learning. Studies show you remember less of what you ‘read’ and more of what you ‘do’. This is a good reason why gamification should be used within eLearning practices and strategies because it can enhance a learner’s engagement and provides a better learning environment. This is down to factors such as it gives learners a sense of achievement and it can offer friendly competition.
If you want your learners to succeed, it is best to provide them with an environment which is engaging and can hold their attention. Gamification provides instant feedback for the user so they can instantly know how well they’ve done, this will keep users more engaged than if they had to wait an extended period of time to get results back.
Some of the favourite gamification techniques are; progressing to different levels, scores, avatars, and virtual currencies. The most effective uses of gamification learning are; illustrating progress, increasing engagement, creating challenges, and instilling a sense of achievement.
The gamification industry is growing massively and is being applied by many eLearning companies around the globe. With a majority of the modern work force consisting of millennials, and more than 1.2 billion people playing video games worldwide, it is a really good and beneficial industry for e-learning organizations to implement into their practices. The total global revenue for the gamification market is estimated to reach $11 billion by 2020, making it a highly successful and profitable trend for the eLearning industry to follow.
An example of gamification within education is a game developed by Microsoft called ‘Ribbon Hero’ and is a free download. This game was made by Microsoft to teach people how to use Microsoft Office. The game makes the user do common tasks for Microsoft Office such as inserting graphs and pictures, and formatting documents. The game provides the learner with immediate feedback to keep them engaged and informed with their learning progress. It also tracks the user’s abilities in using Microsoft Office and sets the challenges and tasks accordingly.
Here at Good e-Learning we have gamification as one of our services on our own Learning Management System, The Learning Ecosystem. Visit our site for more details and view our other core services.
