Designing Digitally
02/19/2018
There’s a reason that people of all ages enjoy playing video games. They’re fun, engaging, and challenging.
When it comes to gamifying eLearning activities, it’s important the design is more than just a fun way to pass the time. Corporate training is serious business and, while it can and should be fun, engaging, and challenging, the content should be the focus.
A good design makes all the difference. Let’s look at some of the guidelines that can ensure your learning game is relevant and effective.
An engaging story is an important component to an eLearning game. The scenarios should be realistic enough that the learners find them relevant. The story is what will connect the employees to the activity and make them want to continue.
If an exercise is too far above the skill level of the learner, they will quickly become frustrated and give up. If it’s too easy, they can become bored and lose interest. Your game-based learning activity should be as personalized to skill levels as possible.
An engaging learning experience is great unless the focus is on the fun and not the content. It’s important to always keep the desired skills at the forefront.
Your learning goals should always be clearly defined. Each activity that the learner encounters throughout the training program should be closely tied to a specific skill.
In the design phase, it’s easy to get caught up in the fun of colorful graphics and let the theme take a back seat. Keep in mind that a screen that’s too visually busy will distract the learner from the important information and mask the point you’re trying to get across. Be conservative with graphics and make sure they align with the theme of the content.
As employees work through the interactive learning game, the skill level should rise. Each level or unit should prepare them for the next, getting a little more difficult each time. This gradual rise will help to keep employees motivated as they work through the program.
Asking your learners to just click from screen to screen isn’t going to do an adequate job of keeping them engaged. Ask the users to make decisions and use creative problem-solving.
Making your employees struggle to figure out the directions doesn’t add any value to the learning activity. Instructions should be clear and easy to understand. It’s also important to be specific. Set boundaries like time limits and number of times a user can repeat a level.
Each time a level is completed, the learner should be recognized for the achievement. These little pats on the back encourage your employees to keep going.
At each level, the employee should be allowed to see what they’ve done well and what they need to devote more time to. This method of immediate assessment is of great educational benefit. This information will also aid them as they move along to more difficult levels of the training program.
When interactive learning games are designed with all the necessary elements, they are extremely effective educational tools for employee training programs. Contact Designing Digitally today to get started on your next gamified learning experience.
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