Gamifying Adult Learning: A Step-by-Step Guide

A few years ago, I was allowed to join other educators in a week-long training program that aims to help us integrate technology in designing our students’ classroom experience. I was hesitant to attend at first, thinking it would be boring. However, the trainers incorporated gamification into the training, making it fun and engaging. I was in friendly competition with other educators, answering questions and completing challenges. By the end of the week, I had learned so much and made new friends with other passionate teachers. Let’s talk about gamifying adult learning.

Gamification uses game design and mechanics to get people of all ages interested and motivated to learn. It taps into our natural desire for competition, achievement, and rewards. Gamifying adult learning can aid in higher engagement and increased retention. If you plan to gamify your next training session, here’s a guide to help you get started.

Step 1: Define your Objectives

Define learning goals before gamifying adult learning. Before designing a game-based learning experience, set goals. What knowledge and skills do learners need? Setting clear goals is essential for creating a practical game-based learning experience. It helps to identify the specific knowledge and skills that learners need to acquire and ensures that the game is designed to meet those needs.

Step 2: Select the Appropriate Game Elements

Consider the various game elements that would facilitate your training goals. These elements should also be relevant to the origins of your learners. The game’s components include points, certificates, levels, and leaderboards. These parts of the game give the player a sense of accomplishment and progress, encouraging them to keep learning and improving.

Step 3: Choose a Game Format

After selecting game elements, choose a game format that suits your training. Remember that you must ensure the game format aligns with your objectives and learners’ interests and preferences. Some important things to consider in choosing the game format are the level of interactivity, the game’s complexity, relevance, and the resources needed.

Here are some examples of game formats that you can use:

a. Scavenger hunts

Ask your learners to look for specific items or complete tasks to Learners find things or complete tasks in a scavenger hunt. This can be an excellent way to encourage them to explore a new topic, technology, or process.

b. Simulation Games

Let your learners explore real-world scenarios through simulation games. This will help them practice skills, solve problems, and even look at different points of view and outcomes. These games can also provide a safe environment for learners to make mistakes and learn from them without any real-world consequences.

c. Quiz games

Challenge your learners by asking questions related to the topic covered. This can test their knowledge and reinforce key concepts. It also encourages active participation and engagement, making the learning experience more interactive and enjoyable.

d. Role-playing games

Let your students take on different roles in a role-playing game and work together to reach a goal. This can boost teamwork and collaboration. This activity can also improve communication skills and encourage creative problem-solving as students navigate challenges and conflicts within their assigned roles. It can be a fun and engaging way to promote social-emotional learning in the classroom.

Step 4: Design your game mechanics

After deciding on your game format, it is time to design the game’s mechanics. Your mechanics should include rules, challenges, feedback, and rewards. Keep in mind that game mechanics should support learning objectives and engage learners.

Step 5: Test and refine

After designing the game-based learning experience, test it with a smaller group first. This will help you find problems and improve the experience before releasing it to more people. Gathering participant feedback and observing their behavior during the testing phase is essential. This will provide valuable insights into refining and optimizing the game-based learning experience.

Step 6: Implement and monitor

After refining the game-based learning experience, implement it with your target audience. During the implementation phase, continuously monitoring the learners’ progress and gathering feedback to improve the game-based learning experience is essential. Monitor and collect learner feedback whenever possible to ensure a practical and engaging experience.

Gamification can improve adult training. Like when I went to that week-long training years ago, gamification made the sessions more exciting and interactive, which helped me remember what I learned and made learning more fun. Also, adding game-like elements like leaderboards and rewards can boost motivation and get people to take an active role in training.