Skip to main content

For the win: Why gamification and game-based learning are the future

A quick google of the terms ‘gamification’ and ‘game-based learning’ turns up a surprising lack of clarity about what these terms mean – and, crucially, whether they work.

They’re real buzzwords of the moment, and share the common ground of implementing the mechanics of ‘gaming’ to enhance learning, or encourage changes in behavior. Used in everything from marketing strategy to HR policies, various studies have shown the benefits of using ‘gamified systems’. IT staff are perhaps closer than most to the technology that’s shaping how game design and game interaction is revolutionizing professional education.

So, what is it, and can these concepts help to cut through some of the current problems with learning new systems and processes for datacenter managers and CIOs?

What’s the difference between gamification and game-based learning? 

‘Gamification is using game-based mechanics, aesthetics, and game-thinking to engage people, motivate action, promote learning, and solve problems’, wrote Karl Kapp, Lucas Blair, and Rich Mesh in The Gamification of Learning and Instruction Fieldbook. It takes common elements of competitive gameplay (scoring points, levels, leaderboards, feedback, rewards, and so on) to incentivize behavior changes in non-gaming contexts. For instance, ‘star employee’ schemes encourage staff to go above and beyond through healthy competition.

While gamification applies game mechanics to existing situations, game-based learning goes further. It implements game design, such as characters, storylines, interactive gameplay, and rewards to actively engage learners. It’s becoming increasingly popular as an alternative to the monotony of lectures, training manuals and PowerPoints. Studies actually even suggest that what makes gaming enjoyable is the built-in learning process.

Getting the mix right

Learners don’t want dry elearning, but they also don’t want childish games either. It’s about finding the right mix of technology and techniques to keep the audience engaged and encouraged. Simulations could provide the answer, by creating a virtual world that’s simultaneously recognizable – with all the challenges users already experience – but incorporating gameplay elements to make it both relevant and challenging.

Games and simulations both transport their users to another world where their maximum involvement is required through ‘active responding’, and the user is in control. For years now, game designers have actually been crafting highly motivating educational environments that their players love. As a team, we’ve worked on some of the biggest simulation gaming titles (The Sims, SimCity  and Monopoly: Here and Now Edition) and we saw the huge potential for simulation and game-based learning to confront old, stale ways of learning.

Simulcation Datacenter aims to defeat the decision fatigue many datacenter professionals experience, allowing them to experiment with their product and services decisions in a challenging and fun environment. Contact us to find out more about our groundbreaking approach, or preregister to be among the first to experience Simulcation Datacenter.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Why sales contests really work

Sales force compensation takes up the single biggest portion of marketing spend for most B2B companies, according to the HBR . Together, US corporates spend more than $800 billion on motivating their sales teams each year – that’s three times their advertising spend. Contests buck that trend by offering tangible, meaningful rewards that may, in some cases, beat cold hard cash. Whether it’s simply to drive revenue growth, encouraging new software adoption, or getting buy-in on changing processes, competition always breeds results. But the world of sales is changing. Now, managers need to look beyond motivating the individual, and devise contests that boost problem-solving and collaboration: the hallmarks of modern sales representatives. Keeping sales teams inspired, not just informed Where do you rank motivation in your list of factors that impact sales? Are raw sales skills more important? The truth is, motivation is the driving force behind all of your team’s

What pilots, surgeons and datacenter managers now have in common

Pilots and surgeons are responsible for the lives of those in their care. While that may not be quite as true for datacenter managers, they are the masters of balancing competing demands. On the one hand, they need to constantly improve efficiency and productivity, while at the same time keeping costs low and well-trained staff retained. That’s all in the context of an increasingly mobile end user, who wants more data and more availability. Then there’s maintenance, support and reducing the risk of failures and downtime. Given the huge financial, operational and reputational risks datacenter managers deal with every day, it should come as no surprise that a training simulation has been developed. Handling risk and complexity With the huge number of variables, making clear, well-founded decisions is one of the greatest challenges facing any datacenter manager. In the same way that a pilot or surgeon must make precise movements, datacenter managers must weigh up all the demands an

Why gamification should be the staple of your content marketing strategy

Content marketing and gamification are both in the limelight. But do their similarities run further – could marketers harness the power of gamification as part of an innovative, effective content strategy? What is gamification? Gartner predicted that gamified strategies would become the mainstay for cultivating brand engagement and customer loyalty by 2016. Now estimated to be worth over $10 billion by 2020 (ten times its market value in 2015), gamification shows no signs of slowing down. Gamification is defined as ‘the application of typical elements of game playing (such as point scoring, competition, rules of play) to other areas of activity – typically as an online marketing technique to encourage engagement with a product or service.’ What’s really in it for marketers? By appealing to our inherently competitive and playful nature through things like leader boards, missions, points and badges, marketers can foster deeper, longer relationships with custo