Virtual Training Gamification Techniques to Increase Engagement

The events of this year have caused some changes, but trainers and teachers everywhere have shown great resiliency by shifting their classrooms to online! Even so, the challenges of shifting to virtual classrooms remain unchanged:

  • Keeping learners engaged and active throughout the entire session
  • Duplicating in-classroom activities into the virtual classroom
  • Getting creative with visuals and activities without losing site of the training content
  • Creating a collaborative environment for participants with one another

The good news is that incorporating gamification to virtual sessions can tackle these challenges! Thanks to technological enhancements and innovative new apps, instructors have been able to easily integrate modern gamification techniques like these to enhance their virtual training classrooms.

4 Gamification Techniques for Online Classrooms

 

1. Identify an overall mission and create game stages

Begin by setting up a mission (goal) for every virtual classroom session (instead of a training agenda) to keep learners curious. After you define the main mission, divide the session into stages (milestones). This keeps the lesson paced out, and learners will have a sense of immediate gratification as they pass through each stage.

 

2. Add in puzzles and quizzes

Use puzzles, quizzes, trivia, crosswords, and word searches to break up the monotony of non-engaging assessment questions. Use these as icebreakers at the beginning or after each learning milestone. You can even replicate popular real-life game shows that learners are familiar with and excited to join in on!

 

3. Offer real-time feedback with real-world rewards

It’s still possible to mimic the “real-time” environment a classroom provides. Utilize virtual training features like polls and whiteboards to capture learners’ responses and where you can offer your own quick feedback right away. Remember that real-time feedback motivates learners to move forward. Encourage learners to use the “raise hand” feature if they have questions or comments or add in mini breaks to let learners interact with each other. Use a leaderboard to highlight top performers, and offer real-world incentives, credits, or discounts to keep them motivated!

 

4. Make it social

Remember one of the main perks of in-classroom learning is the energy that comes with being collaborative with one another! Help learners knowledge share and build relationships by adding in a social element that encourages collaboration. As you design your course, build in virtual study groups where learners can interact with one another before or after the virtual session. Collaborative learning in a social media setting encourages learners to work with each other and combine their skills to problem solve and master the course content. You can also develop creative assignments that learners can create and post on their social media profiles—self-shot videos or blogs, for example. The person with the highest number of likes, views, shares is the winner!

Whether you’re a K-12 educator or corporate trainer, incorporating a few gamification techniques like these will make your virtual sessions much more effective and engaging.

Get even more help bringing your classroom online with e-learning and virtual training resources and workshops created exclusively by The Bob Pike Group team.

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