Gamification within elearning has been described as an important way to tap into your learners natural desire for socialising, competition, achievement and status. Advocates say gamification rewards players for engaging with learning resources, and can boost their performance whilst offering tangible value for both individuals and businesses.
There are some who remain cautious about the true impact gamification can have on the ROI of learning and development – after all, isn’t it just a virtual pat on the back?
Well, there will no doubt be employees who see it this way, but don’t underestimate the psychological power of a gamified approach, constructed around high quality, engaging resources. Competition is a strong motivator for many, and the ability to shine above and beyond colleagues, regardless of the activity, will be enough to create a shift in the attitude of your learners.
This is perhaps the most valuable benefit of gamification – creating a cultural change amongst your learners which views L&D as a positive and rewarding experience that also offers them an opportunity to be recognised!
Open eLMS has included numerous gamification features for some time in both our LMS and in the courses we build (and can be built with Open eLMS Creator). These include progress bars (for overall tasks completed, and for individual courses) and leaderboards, which are built into the interface itself, and what you would recognise as “gamified” resources, including quizzes, drag and drop exercises and a general level of interactivity that draws a clear distinction between our elearning and glorified powerpoint presentations.
Now, we’re happy to add badges to this list through our brand new Badgr integration – Badgr is the fastest growing digital credential network globally, and offers a number of unique features and benefits. Firstly, as the fastest growing network, Badgr Badges are uniquely valuable in their ability to be interoperable between different businesses – meaning that your learners can be confident that their effort will be rewarded in the long term. It offers unlimited awards at any level of granularity, meaning you can encourage participation in small tasks as well as large. These credentials are shareable via social media and can even be stacked into pathways to incorporate professional certifications or achievements from third party organisations. If you are delivering a programme of blended learning, (as many apprenticeships do) you can even create “place-based awards” – these are QR codes that can be scanned in the real world (after completing real world activities) and automatically attribute the appropriate badge to the learner!
If you’d like more information on gamification within Open eLMS, or have a question about badge specifically – book a 15 minute meeting!