Gamification in eLearning enhances engagement by incorporating games and elements such as points, badges, and leaderboards into educational content.
Whilst learning with the involvement of games is certainly not new, gamification is quite recent, having been first used in its current form in the early 2000s. This was when educators and businesses began using game mechanics to improve motivation and retention within online learning platforms.
By fostering competition, rewarding progress, and creating immersive learning experiences, activities can certainly help students stay motivated and improve knowledge retention, making it a powerful tool for modern eLearning.
Gamification value – for students and educators
The global market for gamification in education had an estimated value at US$3.5 Billion in 2024. What drove this? The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the use of eLearning tools, platforms and student awareness. Another driver is the demand and expectation from students for a personalised experience, with adaptive learning paths, instant feedback and tailored challenges to meet individual student needs.
Learning designers, when faced with complex learning material such as heavy worded theory for students, or a subject full of legislation and acronyms can actually take the opportunity to present the data in a way for it to come alive, or simply present it in a different manner as an introduction.
Gamification in action
Let’s explore an example of creating gamification from a subject full of theory:
A class of engineering students are enrolled in a mass timber construction qualification, which includes comprehending a project scheduling theory called the ‘critical path method’.
Because mass timber construction involves the building of all timber elements (walls, beams, shapes) externally from the construction location, transportation is then scheduled into a precise vertical layering process with the trucks arriving on site, with each timber element erected on site before the next can arrive. Hence the need to comprehend layering, schedules, bad weather, cost, safety, customer and quality.
The subject material opens up an opportunity to gamify this scheduling theory to a sequential practice more immediately understood for a student to begin with.
What could that be? Pizza making and home delivery to a customer.
The student is given a range of drag and drop images representing a customer calling a pizza store and specifying the individual pizza ingredients.
The student works through the schedule of events as best designed for a delicious hot pizza arriving to a customer. Once the game is completed, the next game involved a drag and drop representation of mass timber construction, transport and building on a construction site for a client.
Gamification relativity
Gamification makes learning more relatable by connecting complex theories to real-world experiences.
Take the example of engineering students studying mass timber construction and the critical path method—a scheduling technique essential for coordinating the precise sequencing of prefabricated timber elements.
By gamifying this concept, students can first engage with a more familiar scenario.
Just like in construction, where each timber piece must arrive and be assembled in a specific order, pizzas require making and delivery following specific ingredient layers, and should have careful logistical timing to ensure they reach customers fresh and hot, even when there is a downpour of rain.
This hands-on, game-based approach transforms abstract scheduling principles into an intuitive learning experience, proving that gamification is a powerful tool for making complex subjects more accessible and engaging.
Where gamification benefits eLearning customers
At eWorks, our team of instructional designers may implement this method to better-engage your learners, whether it’s in the education or training content space.
And for our existing clients, that’s exactly what it does – engage to teach.
Ready to bring innovative gamification strategies into your eLearning programs? Speak to eWorks now.
