A picture is worth a thousand words’. This quote holds quite a relevance because it is a commonly observed behavior that people tend to forget almost 90% of what they’ve read. Just show them a graphic image or an infographic and they’ll remember almost twice the data. Hence, the e-learning gurus cashed upon this aspect of ‘photo-memory’ being better, and gave it another dimension by the way of adding the elements of a live game to learning, i.e. They introduced the concept of gamification in e-learning. To understand this concept better, you should take one of our LMS Demo.

Is Gamification in E-learning really Needed?

This gamification of non-game elements, especially learning is quite a unique idea. To simply put it, gamification takes boring out of the learning process and makes it fun and engaging. While an important catch here being that gamification helps the gamer (end-user) in retaining information better.

Remember, we discussed about photo-memory being better. To give you a breathing example, try to recall the story of your favorite movie. You’ll remember it scene by scene and dialogue by dialogue! How? Just because you saw the story being played. Now, try to imagine the entire story in a text-only format. Horrifying enough? Hence, the need for gamification.

Here we can say, gamification in e-learning is not just wishful thinking. Its rapid growth is backed by solid statistics that portray a definite need for such a concept. Let’s have a look at some–

1. Taking the overall digitally aware population into consideration, it is seen that around 75% people are gamers, i.e. They’ve played games on their devices at some point or the other. (50% casual and 27% moderate to frequent players). Hence, gamification makes sense!
2. It is normally seen that learners have the capacity to recall only a meager 10% of what they’ve read and 20% of what they’ve heard. If there are visuals/images/infographics associated with text or an oral presentation, this number increases to 30%. Yes, Gamification!
3. If they observe the narrator enacting the action while narrating the text, the figure of how much they can recollect rises to 50%. Again an important factor that explains the need for gamification.
4. It was seen that almost 80% of the learners agreed that their productivity would increase if their university/institution studies or work were more game-like, or gamification was incorporated.
5. Also, over 60% of learners said they would be motivated enough if they had scores/points associated with leader boards/dashboards and if they could share it while competing with other students. Gamification exigency! Take our LMS trial to understand better.

Reasons to Incorporate Gamification in E-Learning

Besides the above-given statistics, which give us a black and white picture on gamification being the need of the hour, there are a few other equally important reasons to incorporate gamification in e-learning. Leaf through the reasons below and you’ll  understand that games make learning not seem like ‘learning’ anymore.

1. Games can instill motivation powered by a sense of achievement – Incorporation of gamification aspects like ‘scores’ or ‘points’ in learning invoke in the learner a desire to achieve higher numbers when compared to one’s last score or that of the peers. Also, unlocking of new levels in the gamification lark gives the learner to go on playing/learning until all levels get unlocked.
2. Games enhance the cognitive abilities of a learner – It is the practice that goes into trying to unlock a level or achieve the desired score is what enhances the learning process by gamification. Let’s take an example of the software programming industry, wherein a programmer is trying to crack a code and make it work. Here, if the game scenario is applied, the programmer will have to redo it until he cracks the code, and this in turn would make him a master over that particular code. This gamification concept by the way of simulation will bear fantastic results in the mechanical industry as well, where precise eye-hand co-ordination is required to handle the machinery.
3. Concentration ability gets enhanced – Try interfering a kid who is engrossed in playing a game and you’ll understand the level of concentration that comes into picture while playing a game. It is seen that kids who perform poorly in academics are sometimes very acute gamers. Hence, learning via games i.e. gamification, can be elemental in teaching kids who seem to be utter scholastic challenges.
4. Abstract concepts can be put across quite simply – Besides the vocational skills, a professional also needs mastery over his behavioral or soft skills. Good communication, team behavior, interpersonal skills, ability to handle critical situations, control over oneself, one’s psyche and personality are some abilities that cannot be taught or be ‘learnt’. However, by the way of gamification, teaching such abstract concepts is also possible.

It can be said that today’s learner is no way satisfied with meager classroom training methods. His boundaries have expanded and hence, he is ready to experiment with sophisticated experiences that bring more quality into the limited time he has in his busy schedule. Therefore, given that gamification in e-learning is next big thing in the e-learning domain, it is high time that organizations adopt this method into their work processes and achieve the core learning objectives in double-time.

In this light, if you are looking out for an e-learning solution, namely an LMS, with the aspect of gamification ramified into it, then you should be getting in touch with us right away. Contact us Now!