Lack of commitment or even boredom? To get learners more involved, gamify your training courses! Drawing inspiration from cognitive science, design thinking and the engaging elements of games (challenge, storytelling, collaboration, etc.), gamification is above all a method for creating engagement.
Here's how to successfully integrate gamification into training courses:
1/ Understanding learners' motivations
Best practice no. 1: Ask learners questions before the course
To "engage" learners, you first need to understand their motivations. This enables gamification mechanisms to be integrated from the levers of engagement that are most present in participants.
There are 9 levers of commitment corresponding to 9 motivational profiles :
1 - Competence and mastery
2 - Meaning
3 - Possession
4 - Scarcity and shortage
5 - Immersion
6 - Creativity and autonomy
7 - Curiosity and unpredictability
8 - Loss aversion
9 - Social influence
Best practice no. 2: personalise gamification for greater effectiveness
Role-playing games will appeal to the more creative, while league tables will appeal to the competitive. However, if only some of the participants are motivated by competition, incorporating a league table into the training runs the risk of disengaging the others. Or, if the participants are sensitive to two different levers, it makes sense to combine them.
Example :
The combination of the two engagement levers of "skill and mastery" and "immersion" is therefore ideal for creating challenges in the form of quests with a narrative element.
2/ Continuous improvement
Best practice no. 3: Test regularly and take learners' feedback into account
- Identify when the training lacks commitment
- Test prototypes with learners
- Take account of recurring feedback to improve content and graphics
3/ It's up to you!
Best practice no. 4: Have fun!
- Hijack games:
For example: take inspiration from the Timeline card game to create a project management game based on the order of priority of the actions to be implemented.
- Include a progress bar on the training material
- Use icebreakers
For example: the participant throws a die and introduces himself with an anecdote that echoes the drawing on the top of the die.
- Distribute random rewards for success
For example: unlocking tools, cheat sheets, saving time to finish a practical exercise...
