Getting your people excited about learning is like putting toothpaste back in the tube. Almost half of business transformation programs fail due to poor employee engagement, and it’s easy to understand why: in-person training can be a slog to sit through, and poorly executed online learning can make even the most gung-ho students glaze over. What’s the solution? Gamification! Four out of five U.S. workers think game-based learning is more engaging — so why not make learning into a game?
Incorporating gamification into your corporate training program is an effective and fun way to help your people connect with educational content, but finding the best platform for gamification can be a difficult task (especially if you’re new to the game). Fortunately, it’s easy to get guidance from industry expert Craig Weiss when you sign up for a free account at FindAnLMS.com. FindAnLMS.com gives you access to Weiss’s in-depth knowledge along with a tool that makes it easy to research, compare, choose, and contact dozens of platforms that support gamification.
Who is Craig Weiss? Only a leading voice in the online education industry. Weiss is the CEO and Lead Analyst for The Craig Weiss Group, Inc., author of the e-learning 24/7 blog read in over 100 countries, and an expert whose predictions have proven accurate over 90% of the time since 2009. Weiss also has connections that give him exclusive insight into what LMS vendors are planning, so he’s aware of new gamification features before the general public. In this article, we’ll explore what gamification is and how Weiss can help you find a gamified learning platform.
What is gamification?
Gamification isn’t a word with a standard definition, but it’s intuitive enough anyway. Gamification leverages game mechanics such as points and leaderboards to increase student engagement at all levels of education. It’s especially beneficial when students are studying dry topics that may not hold their attention. While gamification is more often associated with higher education than the workplace, that’s changing as employers realize the many benefits of gamification.
For example, giving new hires a mountain of boring onboarding materials to shift through is overwhelming. Awarding points for answering a quiz question or allowing a user to “level up” when they complete a chapter promotes engagement, boosts information retention, and helps your company give a positive first impression. Gamification may include interactive elements as well, fostering camaraderie and a broader culture of learning throughout your organization. Games are competitive, but they’re also a great way for students to forge social relationships and learn how to operate as a team. It’s all in the design of your gamification program.
How can I gamify training and make it more interesting for learners?
Saying you’re interested in gamification and actually taking a gamified approach to learning can be very different things, so it’s best to design mechanics in broad categories. Below, we’ll look at three types of game elements that are essential to any successful gamification strategy.
Incorporating game mechanics
Even the earliest video games allowed each player to earn points, fostering competition even before technology advanced to the point of simultaneous play. For online learning, tracking points or badges on a live leaderboard fosters competition even when students cannot play a game simultaneously. Anybody can check who’s “winning” at any time, encouraging others to play more games to catch up.
Similarly, any gamer will tell you that unlocking characters, cosmetics, items, and stages is a big part of why they enjoy games. Instructors can incorporate this into course design by gating some content until something easier has been mastered, giving students the same sense of progression. Of course, a social learning component that lets players celebrate their personal accomplishments is also a great motivational tool.
Offering rewards
Many video games incorporate “grinding,” or repeating a mundane task repeatedly to earn rewards such as rare items, money, experience points, or virtual trophies. Such incentives may seem minor, but you’ll be surprised by how much even a tiny incentive can motivate people. Allowing students to trade their points for gift cards, paid time off, or other bonuses can be a great way to take your gamification efforts to new heights.
If your organization doesn’t have the budget to offer tangible rewards, company-wide recognition may be enough to get the results you need. The important thing is that employees feel like the time spent on gamification was worthwhile.
Leveraging modern gaming elements
As video games have migrated to mobile devices such as smartphones, many people look at games differently. They may not go to a specialty retailer to pay full price for a game, but they will download a time-waster for their daily commute. Game developers have shifted toward “freemium” models to cater to these individuals, offering log-in bonuses so players never go too long without being tempted to buy something.
Gamification in the corporate learning world should work similarly. If you give employees a few points just for logging in, they’ll never forget about the learning opportunities available to them. Most will play more games as a result. Likewise, microlearning modules that can be completed without a significant time investment are an excellent fit for busy adults. Gamification also works best when players can choose which devices they want to play games on.
Choose a platform supporting gamification in corporate training at FindAnLMS.com
FindAnLMS.com focuses exclusively on one thing: learning platforms. The catalog includes over 100 learning systems, including learning experience platforms (LXP), learning management systems (LMS), and talent development platforms (TDP). You’ll see all the fine print in one place, making it easier to figure out which platform is right for you.
Your free account at FindAnLMS.com also lets you compare up to four different learning platforms head-to-head, giving you an easy way to compare systems that support gamification, from Totara Engage and eLucid to Growth Engineering and Docebo. All of the info you’ll be looking at will be sourced from an expert, so you’ll be able to trust everything you read.
Every company’s best option for a corporate gamification platform is unique, and picking the right one to gamify your organization can be a real challenge. FindAnLMS.com can help to take the pressure off. Not only are you provided with the most detailed information available, but you also can sort platforms by your industry, budget, audience, and best of all, Weiss’s personal rating.
FindAnLMS.com is also developer-friendly, allowing you to filter in (or out) specific aspects like deployment type, migration support, and more. For instance, you can limit your search results to gamification platforms with a sleek UX (user experience) for maximal accessibility. Alternatively, you can look for flexible course creation tools that will let you add games to existing classroom materials or design brand-new content with gamification in mind. A simple Google search wouldn’t be as trustworthy since you don’t know who is responsible for the content you’re reading.
What are the advantages of using FindAnLMS.com to choose a gamification platform?
At first glance, FindAnLMS.com might seem like a site that’s geared toward those who are starting a search from scratch. But the reality is, FindAnLMS.com can help anyone find a suitable gamification platform. Whether you’re approaching your search with a gamification-friendly LMS already in mind or you’re a complete newbie, you’ll get fair and unbiased reviews of leading LMS and LXP platforms like Absorb and EdCast. Finding a gamification platform becomes much less daunting as a result.
Gamification benefits admins as well by making it easy to track engagement and performance. If a learner is earning tons of badges, it’s safe to assume they’re engaging with whatever professional curriculum was assigned to them. If someone hasn’t earned any badges in months, it might be time to check in and find out why they aren’t playing more games. You’re getting actionable information to support learning in either scenario.
You’re free to take as much time as you like, too. If you’re especially interested in specific systems, you can save them for later or even contact them directly through FindAnLMS.com. The goal is to connect you with a gamification platform that everyone from upper management to new hires will love.
Choose a corporate gamification training platform with FindAnLMS.com
Many studies show that gamification in corporate training can be extremely effective when it comes to information retention. Participating in gamification-based training increased assessment scores by nearly 15% in one study! Plus, a whopping 95% of students actually enjoy learning using gamification elements. Increased engagement naturally leads to improved performance, and you’d be insane to ignore the potential benefits of gamification.
It’s well worth taking the time to find the gamification platform that provides your company’s people with the best experience possible, and FindAnLMS.com can help. You could try and go it alone, but you might not know how difficult it would be to add games to existing content or transform your vision into practical game design. Would the interface even support games?Take advantage of Craig Weiss’s expertise to make the most out of gamification in corporate training and sign up for a free account on FindAnLMS.com today. You’ll be comparing gamification platforms with expert analysis in no time flat!
