Gamification for teaching in a corporate context

Two weeks ago I was graced with the honor of listening to some fascinating insight that a game developer was sharing with me. I was outlining my great support for gamified environments and my personal passion in this area.

I asked him whether he felt that games were something that only young people played or very disturbed old people. His response was remarkable, he told me of a company that is using gamification within the corporate context to teach concepts to employees.

Conventional ways of teaching at corporate level

When we thinking of the conventional ways of teaching at a corporate level there is a preconception of sitting around camp fires and drinking gluvine. Alternatively there are "think tanks" designed to have a two-day intensive brainstorming session and then go back to the office where your idea is never heard of again.

Within an education context this rings true certainly for me. We are living in a hyperconnected society. For young people this is not merely a phase - it is a way of life. We are expecting them to learn from books, concepts and theory that is either archaic or does not appeal to their taste. Now more than ever we should be supporting the way young people think so the outcome from what they need to know is far greater than what is being achieved right now.

In both instances the way in which the objective is being achieved is ineffective to a large degree. What gamification brings to the forefront is the ability to not only teach someone something in an appealing manner but also to maintain their engagement for an extended period of time.

Track what we are teaching

The next step is we need to track what we are teaching to understand where the changes need to be made.

In the corporate environment this was made very clear when the participants using the gamified training model were being tracked in real time. Unfortunately this cannot be said for anyone drinking gluvine or sleeping outside near fires. Their results were being sent directly to their line managers and bosses.

The consensus revealed that they felt more comfortable learning with something they enjoyed using and continued to learn the more they participated. Their superiors felt that having real time analytical results on their staff helped understand why mistakes were being made and rectifying them faster.

In the school ecosystem this has an even greater impact. Because the use of the technology is highly centric to what learners enjoy and accept the in most instances engagement is improved. Through incorporating several types of gaming methods to appeal to a wide spectrum of tastes and interests better results are achieve faster.

As I said, this is something I feel strongly about. Within both B Smart's schooling and corporate model we have embedded a strong gamified approach. I am very exited to see the results improving over time and to gain further insight into the world of gamified training.

With performance increased, outcomes improved, and costs lowered for all stakeholders this is a win-win situation.

Now is the time to start preparing for this kind of approach don't you think?