creating learner engagement through gamification

By Karl M. KappBloomsburg UniversityGamification of Learning &Instruction EMAIL: kkapp@bloomu.eduTWITTER: @kkappBLOG: http://karlkapp.com/kapp‐notes/

Creating Learner Engagement Through 

Gamification

Covert Takeaway Challenge

NotesSlides

Additional Ideas

www.karlkapp.com/kapp-notes

We’ve learned and struggled for a fewyears here figuring out how to make a decent phone. PC guys are not going to just figure this out.

They’re not going to just walk in.

--Palm CEO Ed Colligan, 16 Nov 2006

This is our best iPhone launch yet — more than 9 million new iPhones sold — a new record for first weekend sales—Tim Cook, 2013.

Palm sold to HP in 2010, by 2011 Palm was done.

ENIAC's main control panel

4 23

What variables do I balance to keep my

person happy? Work Life Harmony

How should I manage my time?

What leadershipstrategy should I

use?

Not another online lecture.

Sorry, had you on mute, could you repeat the 

question.

I am going to need more coffee.

“Study of 2,300 people found only 6% of organizations are successful in influencing behavior change among employees.”

‐‐Al Switzler

are Needed

New Instructional Approaches are Needed

Gamification

Gamification

Lots of Hype

Gartner Group predicts by 2015,  40 percent of Global 1000 organizations will use 

gamification as the primary mechanism to transform business operations.

Gartner Group predicts that by 2014, 80 percent of current gamified applications will fail to meet business objectives, 

primarily due to poor design.

Gamification is the use of gaming elements integrated into a training program aligned goals to promote change in behavior

Game-based Learning is the use of a game to teach knowledge, skills and abilities to learners using a self-contained space.

What is this “game” stuff?

Simulation Learning is a realistic, controlled-risk environment where learners can practice specific behaviors and experience the impacts of their decisions.

Adding points, badges and leaderboard to any training does not instantly make it awesome!

Fishy… if it was that easy…this would be the most engaging game in the world.

20% increase in profile completion.

What can you do?

Intelligently add game elements to instruction. Use points, rewards and badges to convey meaning…not simply completion.

GamificationElements that Aid Learning

1. Story2. Challenge3. Mystery4. Characters/Avatar5. Challenge6. Levels7. Feedback8. Replayability9. Freedom to Fail10.Asethetics11.Time12.Rewards

GamificationElements that Aid Learning

1. Story2. Challenge3. Mystery4. Characters/Avatar5. Challenge6. Levels7. Feedback8. Replayability9. Freedom to Fail10.Asethetics11.Time12.Rewards

NOT Enough Time 

The Dragon Slayer Mission

Rules• A statement is presented

– Choose the best response

• Text Keyword Response:– To 37607

Take out your text‐machines

Standard Texting Fees Apply! 

How To Respond via Texting

1. Polleverywhere has no access to your phone number2. Capitalization doesn’t matter, but spaces and spelling doTIPS

Amaze

Inamaze

alright

Amaze

The Dragon Slayer Mission

You are a game designer at ABC Corporation which has hit some hard times lately. 

As a game development company, we are competing for a major project. So we are going to break into teams and see which team earns the right

to work on the project.

The game is about slaying dragons.

Each team will be confronted with a series of questions. The team that answers the questions correctly wins

the work.

What about the other team?

Losers polish off their resumes and hit the pavement. Times

are tight.

Harsh!

Let’s get started. Divide into teams.

Two Development Teams

teama teamb

First decision about this dragon slaying game is how to start the game…what

should the players first in-game experience be?

We have two choices, Begin:

by telling the player three things he/she needs to know about slaying dragons.

or

with a fight between the player and a small, dangerous dragon.

Why does this answer make sense?

Action draws in the player right away.

Slaying dragons is fun.

Creates an awareness of the unknown.

Good game designers know that games are engaging because they require action

right away.

Action is not passive, it draws in the player and encourages further

engagement. Start by battling the small dragon.

Ok, next decision.

Provide a map with the location of all the dragons.

or

Reveal location information about the dragons only discovered.

A sense of suspense, mystery and intrigue draws people into games. Inevitably, when playing a game,

players become curious. It is always a good idea to build curiosity into a

game. Reveal locations and information “as needed.”

Why did you make this choice?

Curiosity evokes cognitive dissonance.

or

Not knowing everything at once is fun.

Here are some of my notes on the subject.

OK, next decision, should we:

Make the game easy so we don’t discourage the players.

or

Make the game challenging, knowing some players will fail the first few times.

Jones, B., Valdez, G., Norakowski, J., & Rasmussen, C. (1994). Designing learning and technology for educational reform. North Central Regional  Educational Laboratory. [Online]. Available: http://www.ncrtec.org/capacity/profile/profwww.htm and Schlechty, P. C. (1997). Inventing better schools: An action plan for educational reform. San Francisco, CA: Jossey‐Bass. Chapter 2 “The Gamification of Learning and Instruction.”

It needs to be challenging.

In fact, give them the Kobayashi Maru of challenges.

Harsh!

Look! Good games give players a set of challenging problems and let them solve those problems until they can do it automatically.

Then those same games throw a new class of problem at the players requiring them to re-think, their now—taken for granted—mastery. They must learn something new and integrate

into their old mastery.

Well said!

Actually, my good friend James Paul Gee said those words, I’m quoting

him.

Always good to cite sources!

Well, the next decision, should we:

Put the player at risk, they could die at any moment.

or

Let the player safely explore the environment.

Seriously, you are asking me this question. The player needs

to be at risk.

No risk, or danger equal no skin in the game.

Get the player emotionally involved by putting him or her at “mock”

risk.

Last decision, should we:

Give player choices about what level to enter the game.

or

Create one path for every player.

Choices, players need choices. Look, let me tell you what motivates

people.

People are motivated when they have autonomy, mastery and relatedness.

Hey, isn’t that the Self-Determination Theory?

Why, yes…yes it is.

Ok, so which team won?

Well, there all winners to me….

Ugh….

How about a re-cap…

Here are five tips to help an instructional designer to think like a game designer:

1) Begin with activity2) Create curiosity, mystery, intrigue3) Create a challenge for the learner4) Put learners at “mock” risk5) Give learners choices

In addition, we used some other elements to help you learn about gamification:

StoryCharacters

Researchers have found that the human brain has a natural affinity for 

narrative construction.

Yep, People tend to remember facts more accurately if they encounter them in a story rather than in a list.

And they rate legal arguments as more convincing when built into narrative tales rather than on legal precedent.

Carey, B. (2007) this is Your Life (and How You Tell it). The New York Times. Melanie Green http://www.unc.edu/~mcgreen/research.html. Chapter 2 “The Gamification of Learning and Instruction. 

Avatar as Teacher

Research indicates that learners perceive, interact socially with and are influenced by

anthropomorphic agents (avatars) even when their functionality and adaptability are limited.

Baylor, A. 2009 Promoting motivation with virtual agents and avatars: R ole of visual presence and appearance.Philosophical Transactions of the Royal B Society. 364, 3559–3565

Putting it All Together

ExactTarget is a global marketing organization focused on digital marketing tools – email, mobile, and web and was recently purchased by Salesforce.com. ExactTarget is a leading cloud marketing platform used by more than 6,000 companies including Coca‐Cola, Gap and Nike.

Introducing a new product, MobileConnect and wanted to bring the sales force up‐to‐speed on the features and functionality of the product.

VENDORhttp://www.theknowledgeguru.com/

“I can’t tell you how many people are coming to me wanting another game solution.” 

“The repetition of the different paths helped me retain the information.”

“I’m a pretty competitive person so challenging myself to get one of the top scores added a layer of fun to learning about the MobileConnect product.”

“The game was a fun way to learn about MobileConnect. I enjoyed the scenario‐type questions, which put it all into context.”

Player Results

Business Results

Average contract value 2x higher than for previous mobile product.

First call resolution ($35 a call/average) is up 45%.

Of all the launches done in the previous two years prior to MobileConnect, the sales team built the quickest pipeline for this product.

Business Results

Average contract value 2x higher than for previous mobile product.

First call resolution ($35 a call/average) is up 45%.

Of all the launches done in the previous two years prior to MobileConnect, the sales team built the quickest pipeline for this product.

Larsen DP, Butler AC, Roediger HL 3rd. Repeated testing improves long‐term retention relative to repeated study: a randomized  controlled trial. Med Educ 43: 1174–1181, 2009.

Dobson, J. L. (2013) Retrieval practice is an efficient method of enhancing the retention of anatomy and physiology information Advances in Physiology Education  37: 184–191, 2013; doi:10.1152/advan.00174.2012.

Dobson, J. L. (2013)    Retrieval practice is an efficient method of enhancing the retention of anatomy and physiology information Advances in Physiology Education  37: 184–191, 2013; doi:10.1152/advan.00174.2012

One study revealed retention benefits of between 35% and 61% 

with average of 41%.

Agenda

• Five Bottom Line Case Studies– Retail– Marketing Product– On Boarding

• Quick Engagement Case Studies• Lessons Learned

Pep Boys has over 700 stores in 35 states and Puerto Rico; those stores have more than 7,000 service bays. Does over $2 billion dollars of 

business a year by focusing on meeting the needs of the do‐it‐yourself crowd as well as people who come in for routine and emergency services and 

sales to professional garages. 

Associates received daily reinforcement of the monthly safety and loss prevention 

training.

In a quiz‐type game, associates answer quick, targeted questions related to risk, loss 

prevention, safety, and operational policies and procedures—standard questions in these 

areas. 

If they answered correctly, they played a slot‐machine game titled “Quiz to Win” for a chance to 

win cash prizes

If answered incorrectly, the system immediately presented a short training piece designed to 

specifically address the topic covered in the initial question. Questions repeated at various intervals until the associate demonstrated mastery of the 

topic. 

Business Results

• Voluntary participation rate of over 95 %. 

• Safety incidents and claim counts reduced by more than 45% with an increase in the number of stores and employees. 

• Reduction in shrinkage has been at a level of 55 %.

• In the case of internal loss, each time a burst of content related to employee theft is pushed out, they see at least a 60% increase in their “Integrity Pays” hotline calls, resulting in a direct reduction in inventory loss.

A study using a randomized control group conducted a trial between Aug 10, 2009, and Nov 30, 2012, at ten sites in southeast India with over 500 subjects.

Working Indian men (aged 35—55 years) with impaired glucose tolerance were randomly assigned to either a mobile phone messaging intervention or standard care. 

Ramachandran, A.  et. al. Effectiveness of mobile phone messaging in prevention of type 2 diabetes by lifestyle modification in men in India: a prospective, parallel‐group, randomised controlled trial The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, Early Online Publication, 11 September 2013 doi:10.1016/S2213‐8587(13)70067‐6

Ramachandran, A., et. al.., Effectiveness of mobile phone messaging in prevention of type 2 diabetes by lifestyle modification in men in India: a prospective, parallel‐group, randomised controlled trial The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, Early Online Publication, 11 September 2013 doi:10.1016/S2213‐8587(13)70067‐6

“Use stairs instead of an Elevator”

“Avoid snacks while watching TV;  you may overeat. “

Lowered risk of developing Type 2 diabetes by 36%.

Ramachandran, A., et. al.., Effectiveness of mobile phone messaging in prevention of type 2 diabetes by lifestyle modification in men in India: a prospective, parallel‐group, randomised controlled trial The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, Early Online Publication, 11 September 2013 doi:10.1016/S2213‐8587(13)70067‐6

Covert Takeaway Challenge

Copy of Slides and Notes available at www.karlkapp.com

Contact Karl at:kkapp@bloomu.edu

Covert Takeaways

• Learning should be engaging.• Stories provide a context for learning.• It is ok for a learner to struggle.• Simply adding points, badges and leaderboards does not make learning effective.