Microlearning Gamification – Daniel Belhassen

Gamification of eLearning CAN exist without games! In Daniel Belhassen’s session we learned some tips and tricks for including some game features without turning your course into a game:

  • Create a ‘Mastery Board’ and award points to learners for mastering and retaining information, and therefore measure growth. A ‘Leaderboard’ awards points for course completion and only motivates learners to try to get to the top 3-5 on the board.
  • Instead of penalizing learners for failing, give them the freedom to fail. This will increase engagement with learners being more likely to return.
  • Rewards are most effective if they’re unexpected and meaningful.
  • Understand the ‘WHY’ of learning, this can be just as if not more, important than the ‘WHAT’.

What Fortnite can Teach us about Memory, Motivation & Learning – Jeremy Medrano

Fortnite is a popular and engaging phenomenon, I know my son is a HUGE fan. Game developers have developed strategies for effectively capturing a gamer’s attention and retaining it over long periods of time. Imagine what you could accomplish by applying these methods in your e-learning?

These are the proven methods that we learned about, all of which we can apply to our own learning initiatives.

  1. Accessibility – Fortnite is the only/first game to be accessible from multiple different gaming platforms and it is free to play.
  2. The Skinner Box – a player can pay say $10 to purchase extra gear OR pay nothing and receive the same gear for free, the only ‘cost’ being the time spent playing. This seems like a great deal and therefore makes the game addictive.
  3. Loss Aversion – no one wants to end a gaming session on a loss, and as losses are felt more strongly than wins, a player wants to play again and again, to try and end on a high note.
  4. Sunk Cost – having already spent, and lost money (or a reward) in a game, the rationale is to continue playing/spending, as the lost money would never be retrieved anyhow.
  5. Endowed Progress – the feeling that you’re making measurable progress towards a distant goal motivates people to persist and keep trying. If you never get specific feedback about your progress, you’re likely to stall out or adopt another goal.
  6. Incentives – character empowerment, time, advanced skills, gear and weapons, are all earned as a result of time spent playing.
  7. Social Proof – user ratings and messages such as ‘6 of your friends are currently playing’ are prominently displayed. Game developers encourage players to network to increase the impact of these tools, and players are influenced by the actions of their peers.
  8. Exclusivity – limited time availability of emotes, skins and weapons make their acquisition even more desirable.
  9. Hedonic Adaptation – continual updates by the developer maintain a heightened state of happiness.