Game for knowledge

Software and game theory have merged with education to create a host of innovative training tools. Matt Packer explores the benefits of gamified e-learning and finds out where it could be heading.

For decades, finding hints of gameplay in everyday scenarios has formed a fertile branch of science. Some of history's biggest brains have propagated what we now call 'game theory', and each of their contributions has focused on a specific type of behavior. For example, New Zealand scholar Charles E M Pearce studied queuing habits and road traffic, and John Forbes Nash (played by Russell Crowe in A Beautiful Mind) focused on our bargaining powers.

Game theory has been taken particularly seriously in the business world, where bosses and boffins have frequently collaborated to glean orderly patterns from the apparent chaos of fields such as marketing, sales and customer interactions, which gave CEOs a brainwave: 'Never mind studying this behaviour... why don't we just create it?'

In this way, the theory was turned on its head, spawning an array of ‘gamified’ business initiatives, such as Samsung Nation, the telecom giant’s points-based system for driving visits to its website and boosting awareness of its products; and giffgaff, a UK phone network that employed a rewards scheme to encourage its customers to help out with key business tasks, such as marketing. But, ultimately, how helpful are these platforms?

The scientific basis

Daniel Rowles is founder and CEO at Target Internet, an e-learning firm that runs online digital marketing courses.

“Gamification can be an especially valuable attribute within an e-learning programme,” he explains, “because it provides the student with a steady, satisfying acknowledgement of their progress. E-learning done badly often leaves learners feeling rudderless and unsure if they’re getting things right. But gamification can provide the reassurance that people crave in the form of familiar symbols of achievement, such as progress charts, badges and trophies.”

Now for the science bit: “Achievement symbols in gamified e-learning are also thought to release dopamine in the learner’s brain,” Rowles adds. “That’s the same feel-good hormone that’s activated by Facebook notifications.”

So far, so cogent. But Suzee Laxton, founder of e-learning firm Flick and a project management adviser for start-ups, argues that restricting notions of gamification to badges, points and leader tables amounts to a “fundamental misunderstanding” of what it is.

“There is a whole heap of learner-centric behaviours that gamification can tap into via different e-learning formats,” she says. “For example, game-based assessments, business simulations or – through augmented reality (AR) – a whole different form of learning. Imagine taking the Pokémon Go phenomenon and applying it to a business induction, whereby new employees can explore their environment and reveal the information they need based on context. That will improve recall.”

The implications for project managers are tantalising. Consider all the learning technologies that could be brought to bear on the preparations for an ambitious major project where different groups of staff in the managing organisation, and its partners, need to familiarise themselves with the venture’s shape and logistics. Some may need to upskill to carry out the required tasks en route to completion. The potential for gamified simulations and assessments of the type that Laxton mentions is clearly vast.

However, the design of the chosen model must be accurately judged – for misunderstandings about gamified learning can also arise among prospective end users.

Monopoly v utility

Bristol software studio MyOxygen has built e-learning apps and mobile-focused business solutions for numerous high-profile clients, such as the Royal Navy and the Clarks shoe brand. Its head of user experience (UX) Brendan James Arnold says that, while gamification is firmly on the company’s radar, he regards it with a healthy scepticism. The need for such caution became particularly pressing when a major healthcare provider asked the firm to create an e-learning app based on the look and feel of Monopoly. The idea was that the client would use the tool to train its staff in various stages of its procurement process – a hugely resource-heavy part of its work.

“The client had heard of gamification and that it could help engagement,” says Arnold. “It sketched out a literal representation of a Monopoly-like board game where you start at ‘Go’ and complete the steps around the board until you reach Go again. Essentially, it was a progress tracker that took the form of virtual pieces moving around a board.”

Arnold advised against it: “A Monopoly-type board is visually complex and would have dominated the screen. Given that it was intended for mobile, there would have been a lot of wasted space. Also, moving a playing piece around a board is not, in itself, engaging. What makes Monopoly fun is the competitive element. In short, the app would have absorbed all the boring bits of Monopoly and ignored the fun bits.”

In general, Arnold notes, the problem with organisations that are looking for custom-built e-learning solutions is that they tend to take gamification “too literally”. That, he stresses, “typically leads to a complex, fiddly user interface (UI) that isn’t focused on the task at hand”.

Arnold’s take on e-learning is utilitarian: “An attractive, well-polished, well-focused UI with good overall UX is almost always more important than achievement goals designed to keep you using an app.”

That said, Laxton foresees a glittering future for gamified e-learning, thanks to technologies that will enable it to evolve out of the mobile space.

“The potential is limitless,” she says. “E-learning has forever suffered criticism that it isn’t as good as real-world classroom training. But AR will take it one step further – out of the classroom and back into daily life. Wearable tech such as HoloLens and Oculus Rift is just the first step towards embracing this. The end goal may be that AR becomes so commonplace that we can finally drop the ‘e’ from e-learning and just accept it as another form of learning.”

Matt Packer is a freelance writer and editor.

Game for more?
• Read a fascinating study of how Pokémon Go has gamified physical exercise
• Explore a whole planet’s worth of gamified learning initiatives