The importance of gamification within online courses

Gamification has taken the world of online training by storm, proving itself as a powerful tool for increasing engagement, motivation and effectiveness of learning processes. In this article, we join Karin Bremer, Manager of Product at SkillsTown, to explore the role of gamification within online training and how it can make learning more fun and effective.

What is gamification?

Gamification is the incorporation of game elements and techniques into non-game contexts, such as online training. The goal is to increase participant engagement by adding game elements to the learning process. People are naturally attracted to challenges and rewards. Gamification capitalizes on these psychological drivers by awarding points, badges, levels and virtual rewards to participants when they reach certain milestones in their training.

Why is gamification so important within online training?

Karin Bremer: "Gamification is one of the building blocks for effective online training, and its importance cannot be overemphasized. It increases participant engagement and motivation, making learning a fun experience. Not only does this result in a significant decrease in dropouts during training, but it also stimulates the production of dopamine, the happiness hormone that encourages us to continue learning. This is why we at SkillsTown have conducted extensive research into gamification and are now integrating it within our online learning platform."

But every participant is different: "Gamification encompasses much more than points systems and leaderboards, as these game elements do not appeal to everyone. It is essential to keep the diverse nature of participants in mind, as described in the Bartle Game Type Theory. Consider the "socializer," who thrives on social interaction; for them, collaborating with a buddy, such as a colleague, will appeal much more. When developing online training, it is important to offer a variety of game elements so that the entire target audience can be motivated and excited."

What does gamification look like within online training?

There are 9 intrinsic game elements that you can use to ensure that you meet the needs of different Bartle Game Types. The 9 intrinsic game elements are:

1. Badges: Badges are visual awards that participants receive after completing specific tasks, revealing their progress and achievements. Think of the certificates we issue after completing an online training course from SkillsTown.
2. Levels: Levels represent the participant's progress in training and serve as milestones that challenge them to perform better and better. We do this, for example, by working with levels in a training course. Each new block in the online training is another level higher and the assignments become increasingly challenging.
3. Notifications: These are visual pop-up messages that provide participants with feedback, both positive confirmation for successful actions and guidance for incorrect performances. For example, we provide feedback when a question is answered correctly or incorrectly.
4. Challenges: With these, you challenge participants with specific tasks that both clarify what is expected of them and provide insight into their progress. Think of the practical assignments within SkillsTown's online training courses that employees can perform within the organization. In addition to practical assignments, you can also include other tasks, such as programming a piece of code, writing a piece for your business case or mapping the customer journey.
5. Status: Status gives participants a textual title or rank based on points, badges or their position in a leaderboard, which helps visualize progress.
6. Role play: Role plays involve participants in situations where they make choices to stimulate the practical application of knowledge. We do this, for example, with cases in which the learner has to make choices each time in order to move forward.
7. Storyline: A storyline creatively connects the learning pathway and emphasizes the value of the training. There is a common thread running through the training. At SkillsTown, we always make sure to take people through what they will learn and what a person will be able to do upon completion of the online training.
8. Avatar: Avatars are visual representations of participants and can help them express and identify themselves in the online training, often in combination with other game elements.
9. Collaboration: Collaboration promotes social interaction among participants and can be facilitated through challenges or missions, creating a sense of community and encouraging knowledge sharing.

In addition to intrinsic game elements, extrinsic motivating factors include awarding points, ranking, and providing rewards. Rewards can be particularly effective when awarded after successfully completing challenges, missions or reaching certain levels. In addition, rankings can work well for participants with a competitive spirit, such as the "killers" in your organization. Even consider introducing live rankings in the workplace to encourage competition and motivation.

5 tips for creating online training with gamification

Keep the above game elements all in mind when creating your own workouts. With the authoring tool Create you can easily incorporate many elements within SkillsTown's online learning platform. To get you started, Karin shares 5 tips you can consider:

1. Provide clear visualization of progress, both within the training itself and in relation to participants' individual learning goals. Employees can see the percentages of their progress within the training anyway, but when creating your training, also include texts that provide insight and highlight progress. For example, "You are already over halfway through this training, do you notice how much progress you have already made?"
2. Reinforce learner engagement by addressing them personally. Take advantage of the "user.firstname" code in the authoring tool Create and design assignments that are applicable in their own practice environment.
3. Make sure good feedback is provided in training so people know if they are on the right track, with special attention to providing feedback after answering questions and completing assignments. It is crucial to let participants know if they are on the right course.
4. Encourage collaboration by having participants work with a "buddy," such as a colleague, for hands-on assignments. This encourages an active exchange of knowledge and experience.
5. Integrate rewards and rankings strategically into your training, carefully weighing when and for whom to use them to boost motivation. What you can do as an organization is print certificates once your employees have successfully completed the training, or design a nice certificate yourself. Then you can frame it and hand it out so people can show it off in the workplace. For example, consider presenting a cool certificate to those who have successfully completed the annual privacy or AVG training, allowing them to name themselves the organization's privacy guru.

Do you want to get started with gamification?

Gamification has revolutionized the world of online training and is an invaluable tool for modern education. Want to create effective online training for your employees with gamification? The authoring tool Create gives you many great options!

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