You want to use gamification in your digital learning program. What are the most popular tools?

1 Why gamify your digital learning?

Gamification can offer many benefits for both learners and instructors in the digital learning context. For learners, gamification can make learning more enjoyable, interactive, and personalized. It can also increase their retention, performance, and feedback. For instructors, gamification can help them attract and retain learners, measure their progress and achievements, and provide them with more data and insights. Gamification can also support different learning styles, goals, and preferences, and foster a sense of community and collaboration among learners.

2 What are the key elements of gamification?

Gamification is not just about adding points, badges, and leaderboards to your digital learning content, but rather a holistic approach that involves various elements. Learners have goals they want to achieve through the learning process, which can be aligned with the learning outcomes, competencies, or skills you want to teach or assess. Challenges are tasks, activities, or problems they have to complete or solve to reach their goals. They can be based on the learning content, scenarios, or real-world situations. Feedback is the information they receive about their performance, progress, or results; it can be provided by the system, instructor, or other learners. Rewards are incentives or recognition they receive for completing challenges, reaching goals, or performing well; these can be intrinsic, such as satisfaction, curiosity, or mastery; or extrinsic such as points, badges, or certificates. Progress is an indication of how far learners have advanced in their learning journey; it can be shown by levels, stages, or milestones and related to the learning content, goals or rewards. Social is the aspect of gamification that involves interaction with other learners or instructors; this can be enabled by features such as chats, forums, groups or peer reviews.

3 How to choose the right gamification tools?

When selecting a gamification tool, there are several factors to consider. Your learning objectives should be taken into account, as well as the characteristics and preferences of your target audience. You will also need to think about the type, format, and level of your learning content, as well as the budget and resources available for gamification. Additionally, it is important to plan how you will evaluate the effectiveness and impact of gamification, in order to collect data and feedback for improvement.

4 What are some examples of gamification tools?

Depending on your needs and preferences, you can use different types of gamification tools. Gamification platforms are software applications or services that allow you to create, manage, and deliver gamified learning experiences, featuring templates, scenarios, quizzes, leaderboards, badges, analytics, and more. Examples include Classcraft, Kahoot, Quizizz, and BadgeOS. Gamification plugins or extensions are add-ons or integrations that enable you to add gamification elements to your existing digital learning tools or platforms. They usually work with learning management systems, content management systems, or web browsers; examples include H5P, Moodle, WordPress, and Chrome. Additionally, there are gamification tools for specific purposes; these focus on specific aspects or domains of gamification such as storytelling, simulation, feedback, or collaboration. Examples include Twine, Simformer, Reveal, and Padlet.

5 How to use gamification tools effectively?

Gamification tools can be used to design and implement gamification in your digital learning program, but they are not enough to ensure its success. It is important to align your gamification with your learning objectives and content, and to balance it with your learning content. Additionally, you should test and iterate your gamification, as well as involve your learners in the process. This way, you can make sure that the gamification elements are relevant and meaningful for your learners, and that they do not distract or bore them.