Gamification in personnel development
Great thinkers agree: The game is essential for people and the development of their abilities. We can also use this feature for personnel development. Find out here what gamification is and how you can use it to increase learning motivation in your organization.
According to gamification expert Roman Rackwitz, playing means above all “letting yourself glide and immersively immerse yourself in an environment.” The need for it is profoundly human, just think of Friedrich Schiller's famous sentence “Man [...] is only completely human where he plays.” According to Schiller, this is Play the human effort that is the only one capable of bringing out the holistic nature of one's abilities.
The principle of gamification also attempts to make this usable for contexts outside the classic game. Learning and playing naturally go together! Nature has already instilled in children an almost inexhaustible urge and enjoyment of playing. Play serves one purpose: learning. Through play, the brain learns to understand the world, process experiences and acquire mental and motor skills.
What is gamification?
The term “gamification” was coined back in 1978 by British game researcher Richard Bartle. It is only since the 2010s that he has received greater attention in research and practice. Sebastian Deterding et. al. (2011) concisely describe gamification as “Integration of game elements and game principles in non-game contexts” together.
These are, for example, challenges that have to be solved in different levels. Progress indicators or points earned then signal to users how they are doing. Approaches from games are therefore transferred to everyday life, learning and work. As a result, real processes are designed in such a way that they promote the intrinsic motivation of people. A distinction is made between gamification and game based learning and serious games:
Gamification vs. Serious Games and Game-Based Learning
Gamification is the use of game typical elements in a non-game context. From this, we distinguish the so-called Serious Games and Game Based Learning. They work exactly the other way around — Learning content is inserted into a game context.
One example of this is digital flight simulators with which prospective pilots are trained in virtual scenarios and prepared for reality. Other examples include games that teach foreign language skills “on the side”. Serious games are usually More intricately designed and therefore significantly more expensive as gamified applications.
The learning context is crucial
However, gamification is not just about incorporating scoring systems, rankings and badges into actually non-gaming applications, says Roman Rackwitz. The founder of the first established gamification agency in German-speaking countries emphasizes: “It's no use just making the learning context more exciting. The most famous example is compliance training. I can make this as beautiful as possible, but that's only half the battle. If learners don't have the feeling that the material is important to them, then it doesn't matter to them how exciting it is. “So it's a matter of having a Create a context in which it makes sense to learn something specific
If this requirement is met, you can use gamification to design learning tasks or work processes in such a way that people want to become better at them of their own accord.
Where does gamification start?
The use of gamification requires a certain image of man, which we are most likely to call in personnel development as “Growth Mindset” be able to describe. After all, a game is nothing more than a voluntary attempt to overcome obstacles, says Rackwitz. He criticizes the glaring contrast that he observes time and time again: “We are constantly trying to identify obstacles from our everyday lives. We want to make everything predictable and efficient — that's the opposite of gaming. ”
Gamification is therefore not intended to make a learning environment as efficient as possible. That would lose tension. Rather, it is about the To design a learning journey with elements typical of the game. With various challenges and levels, learners are guided in such a way that they notice for themselves — and receive data-based visual feedback — about how they get better over time. This tickles learners' ambition and sets in motion a positive “hunt for the better me.” That is where the increase in motivation.
As a learning and motivational psychologist, I know: In addition to Self-improvement Are also coming more motivators to wear. Depending on the personality and environment of the learners, these factors, among others, have a different effect:
- Self-Efficacy
- People notice that what they have done (learning effort) has a quantifiable effect (they reach a new level).
- Self-esteem enhancement
- The increase in self-esteem comes either from comparison with others or from someone meeting the benefit requirement for themselves.
- graduation motif
- This is a social motivation—learners want to be part of the club of those who have reached a certain level.
- Employability
- Acquired certificates are also visible proof that you can do something. They can therefore play a role in the next salary increase, a job change, or the security of the current job.
A good example of motivating visualization of learning progress is the language learning platform Duolingo:
Designing learning incentives through gamification
Um long-term learning incentives To create, the learning platform and its content must be designed in such a way that they allow continuous development. This is possible, for example, by having to “unlock” more complex or in-depth learning content by users. They then act like levels in a computer game. Employees experience themselves as self-effective and their Motivation to develop personally increases.
At the same time, studies show that only value-free measurement of behavior already motivating and performance-enhancing works. The reward center of the human brain reacts to points gains, even if these points only have symbolic value.
The role of gamification for self-directed learning
Today, a large part of organizational learning no longer takes place formally through clearly defined seminars or training courses, the completion of which is required. Instead, the importance of self-directed learning is constantly increasing. modernism Learning experience platforms help learners find the learning content that is relevant to them. You receive personalized learning suggestions and knowledge can be accessed directly in “Moment of Need” can be purchased and used directly.
Die relevancy is significantly larger for learners in this case, as the learning trigger is intrinsically motivated. The basis for effective gamification has therefore been created: The material itself is important and meaningful for the learner. However, stressful everyday life sometimes requires additional push that still supports motivation. It motivates learners when, thanks to gamification, they can see their progress and, in addition to new knowledge and solved work problems, have something “in their hands” that makes the time invested in learning even more worthwhile.
Gamification and immersion — in search of flow
If we look at the basis of gamification — namely games, sports and hobbies — it is noticeable that it is always about solving a challenge. “Life there shouldn't be too easy, otherwise it'll be boring. If it's too hard, you're frustrated. Flow is the perfect balance between challenge and skill,” says Roman Rackwitz. This can also be observed neurochemically. The more challenging a task is, i.e. the more information flows in the brain, the more neurotransmitters flow.
Applied to the context of personnel development, this means that gamified applications must not be too easy. A productive sense of fulfillment only occurs when a challenge was mastered. It is therefore not surprising that the fascination of the game also lies in the fact that you do not immediately master the challenge. Instead, it is about repeatedly failing on the way to the desired result, but realizing that you are getting closer to the result. That's how you can say later that you've gotten better at something. And “Evolutionarily, we're only geared towards this one thing,” says Rackwitz.
The use of gamification is also a question of corporate culture
In the professional environment, there are always reservations about “gimmicking”. It therefore also depends on the corporate culture together, whether elements typical of the game can be used sensibly says Rackwitz: “Imagine: A company suddenly introduces an educational game, but from the employees' point of view, the company is not playing at all and their boss is the most uncreative and unfunny type. Then they don't think it's good to play the game. ”
In contrast to game based learning, however, gamification has one advantage: The basic idea is that Making reality better for people, not just to adapt the design. It's about the psychological mechanics behind games, not about the look. According to Roman Rackwitz, the productivity potential lies “not in people saying 'so now I've played and now back to work, 'but because they realize that the job or learning has become more intuitive. ” Gamification doesn't necessarily have to look like a game for users. This also means that no one is embarrassed to have to say to themselves “I'm serious, I'm not playing here. ”
Conclusion: Gamification can promote motivation to learn
Gamification in the sense of using elements typical of the game in a learning context can promote learners' motivation. Gamification shows the greatest success when the entire learning process is designed in such a way that it offers a real challenge and makes progress possible in the sense of “hunting for the better me.” Points and badges then serve as feedback tools for learners to assess their personal development. As a result, gamification can tip the scales so that a person's decision to learn something more often.
About Roman Rackwitz:
Roman Rackwitz is one of the pioneers of gamification in Germany. As founder of Engaginglab GmbH He heads the first established gamification agency in German-speaking countries. Following the “growth gamification” approach, he transfers success factors for personally perceived progress from gaming, sports and hobbies to the working world.
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