“The most important ingredient in any eLearning experience is engagement. Without engagement, you and your students can't succeed!"
Gamification helps motivate students to learn by using video game design principles in your learning environment (AKA eCourse).
The goal is to maximize enjoyment and engagement through capturing the interest of your students and inspiring them to continue learning.
Traditional forms of gamification in eLearning can include having a point system, community currency, badges, rewards, contests, challenges and there’s so much more.
Rule 1: Turn your lessons and course into a game-like experience.
Rule 2: Understand the mechanics of your game-like experience.
Rule 3: More important than coming up with badges, coming up with challenges and experiences that engage your students and inspire them into action.
No matter what your topic is, gamification can and will improve your engagement rate.
So use it!
Remember: If you don’t think it’s fun, your audience probably won’t either.
Make a list of FIVE different challenges, call-to-actions or game-like experiences you could incorporate into your eCourse that would make your student’s overall experience more enjoyable (and engaging).
Examples from Great eCourse Adventure:
You earn our community currency (“Bajillion”) when contributing in the forum. (you can spend that bajillion on REAL products and services)
You earn “GEAR” by completing tasks and checkpoints. (aka Badges)