By Dulana Kodithuwakku
Gamification has become an evolved buzz word. Even it is not yet ubiquitous, the benefits of gamification are being reaped out by the corporate sector in a deluge of ways. We all have played different types of games through our lives. Sometimes we have played games physically. As an example, board games. Sometimes you might have experienced playing video games using computers or any type of a handheld device. There are numerous mechanics and dynamics we have applied when we were playing games, but were totally unbeknownst to us. Later, these mechanics and dynamics have been recognized as something we can use in real life scenarios such as learning, employee engagement of that ilk. Consequently, the application of game dynamics and game mechanics in real life scenarios has turned out to be the Gamification.
Mostly the online platforms or any sort of a software background is involved in setting up the background of the gamification. To help you to be au fait of the term Gamification, let’s think like this. Your Company or the University needs you to pursue online courses because it spurs autonomous learning. Most of the students or the employees are reluctant to follow online courses and that attitude restrains company reaching organizational goals. So, they take an action to develop a portal which shows you how many hours you have spent on learning, how many hours do your colleagues spent on learning, leader board, weekly target, badges you earn while completing courses, obtained certificates, your future pathway so on and so forth. Whenever a course is completed, a certificate or a badge will be bestowed to the employee of the student. Rather than just following the online course, this gamified portal is effective, enthralling, and have been proved high yielding by number of researches. The Gamification gives humans the zest as it targets the instant gratification. We all crave for instant gratification. So do the effects of gamification. Humans resonates very well with gamification in general.
What are the Game Mechanics which Uphold Gamification?
In a nutshell, the rules, regulations, and the rewards which have appeared in the gamified program are known as game mechanics. As an example, included points, completed levels, levels to be completed, leaderboards, earned badges, current progress, completion pace, user engagement measures and so on and so forth. Game mechanics give a real time snap of how the user is engaged with the program and the effectiveness can be measured easily tracing information radiators.
Game Dynamics
There is always a compelling cause for someone to do something. Having no reason is also a reason and these reasons are directly correlated with human emotions and urges. Having said that, humans tend to continue gamified programs due to emotions and the urges which resonates with them personally. Some may play to go up in the leaderboard. Some may play to obtain many badges. Some may play just because they find solace in the program. Like that the reason to continue (game dynamic) varies from person to person depending on emotions and urges.
How the Workplaces can be Benefited using Gamified Programs?
Dealing with employees is tormenting in some instances. Nevertheless, leading a team to win over a common goal is sometimes an upheaval. But gamification engenders organizations to be streamlined and thrived in empirical ways. A wrought Gamified program:
· Improves employee engagement
· Broadens attention span
· Recuperates company disputes
· Nudges employees to team up
· Flourishes knowledge and competencies
How Gamification Helps Students to be Better at Learning?
Learning is enthralling, even with a soft touch of gamification. Frankly, learning is the highest impacted domain of gamification. It helps students to build utopian visions and aims. Here is how gamification makes education and learning lucrative:
· Improves learning engagement, regardless of the age
· Makes learning jovial and depletes the hardness of lessons
· Helps students grasp knowledge quickly
· Gives the opportunity to see how theories are being used in the real world
· Enhances learning experience inspires students to tinker themselves
Nevertheless, the aftermath of the COVID-19 proved us distant learning going to be the future of education. In that sense, Gamification will be the biggest leap in the history of education as it has already begun making students’ life easy and productive.
Examples for gamification can be found easily in our own digital vicinity. Linked Learning is an exemplary gamified learning program. Let’s dive deeper how the LinkedIn learning has achieved gamification successfully.
Students can set weekly learning goals. The radiator will be filled as the learner continue learning using the platform. Setting up goals excites humans in the very beginning. That emotion helps students to improve will power. The graphical view shows the pace of the learner, which eventually compels students to toil away. There we can see how a game mechanic have been related with game mechanics.
Like previously, the web application shows how the learner is continuing course wise. This is also one of the game mechanics which motivates students to finish what he/she has started as it will help the student to garner certificates and badges.
Students can track their past learning experiences and results. Again, it shows the learner how he has done learning and what he has achieved? Which ultimately drives them towards continuing learning. At the moment when the emotions of fulfillment laurel the student, he is automatically compels to try out more. Either way learning happens.
Once a course is completed, the student can take up skill tests to prove his/her competency to the network which again improves social acceptance. The student becomes happy about himself/ herself whenever he/she sees his/her hardly acquired skill set, which helps him/her to apply for great job opportunities. Again a game dynamics have been adhered with game mechanics to fruit a startling learning experience.
Students can earn badges when they complete a course and each badge is coming with a certificate which has a unique credential ID. Which means the badge and the certificate are only for that user. Most importantly the learner can share the badge and credentials directly to his/her LinkedIn profile. Then the LinkedIn network can see the skills and the achievement of the learner, which exposes him/her into a myriad of opportunities.
As LinkedIn has become an amenity among learners, we can muse a better future because of the Gamification.
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