Creating Gamified Learning Tasks: From Ingenious Ideation to Impactful Implementation

It is indeed a daunting task to engage learners in the online learning environment. During online teaching, many educators are struggling to motivate their learners to complete tasks due to the seeming lack of control as compared to teaching them face-to-face physically. Thankfully, there are some measures that can be taken in improving this situation. One is by re-examining and re-designing the existing tasks to create a playful yet meaningful online learning experience.

A. Steps to Gamify Solutions

It is important to note that tools and applications will not automatically transform your activities or tasks into something interesting. A careful ideation process is vital. In this post, I share five key steps that I believe are useful in creating gamified learning tasks that increase student engagement and improve learning attainment. The diagram illustrates the steps.

a. Step 1: Decide the Scope/Topic

It is important to outline your course or subject's existing scopes and topics. Then, from the list, decide which one(s) you would like to re-design as gamified learning tasks. Typically, you might want to choose a topic that is confusing students or more difficult for them to understand. While selecting the topic, remember to roughly list the tasks you want them to complete and align those tasks with the expected learning outcomes so that you can measure them later.

b. Step 2: Chunk the Tasks

Based on your initial list of tasks, chunk them into a series of manageable steps or “levels”. Imagine this process as similar to game challenges that one must go through at each level. You can name your “each chunk” as “mission”, “challenge”, “stage” or other suitable terms. This step is illustrated in the above table.

c. Step 3: Add Game Elements

This is where your task will be more engaging as you add game elements or mechanics. From the chunking you did earlier, you must add suitable game elements that would fit into each chunk. Typical game mechanics would be points, badges, and a leaderboard, but I highly recommend referring to the Octalysis Framework by Yu-Kai Chou, which outlines mechanics you could use. An example of this step is shown in the table above.

In the given example, the element of unpredictability and curiosity is added. Students who fulfil the task will be awarded a virtual mystery box. This creates a sense of excitement in anticipating “what’s in the box?” and students would be more motivated to complete the tasks. However, it is advisable not to add too many game elements in each mission as “too much of a good thing” would create annoyance. Also, ensure that you are planning it in progression so the series of tasks will not be disjointed. Ultimately, you still want your students to learn from the whole process and not merely collect “points” for each mission.

d. Step 4: Map to Relevant Tools

There are hundreds of online tools available that you could explore and select to include in your gamified learning tasks. It is highly recommended that you try and experience those relevant tools before deciding which ones to use, as familiarity would allow you to guide students better. In the case of the virtual mystery box earlier, you could do it using Genial.ly, Padlet or even Google Sites, whereby only the “winners” will access the page and get the extra clues. Essentially, you do not have to restrict yourself to a singular tool. Use the relevant ones that are user-friendly or have a gentle learning curve, something students could learn without spending too much time on the technical aspect.

When mapping in this step, remember to include spaces or rooms for you to assess the students progressively and provide timely feedback. For example, if you have chosen Padlet, allocate a section where students can ask questions about the task. You may also include a mini quiz as a form of a task or challenge. Progressive checking is key in encouraging students to engage with the tasks.

e. Step 5: Package as a Narrative

All your hard work in Steps 1 to 4 would be meaningless if you structured everything like a typical assignment. Hence, it is pivotal to think of a suitable narrative that is interesting enough to lure your students to complete each stage. Try talking to your students and learning what the majority of them love the most, or use issues that are trending as part of your narrative.

I have used the “Marvel Universe” as a narrative sample. Characters from the Marvel comics formed a whole storyline for the tasks assigned to them. I have also used stories from Netflix series and trending computer games to create my gamified learning tasks. Having such a narrative ensures all tasks are synced, and students understand the content at the macro level, giving them a bird' s-eye view of what awaits them.

B. To Gamify or Not to Gamify?

Gamification has been widely researched to show positive effects on learning. However, the most important aspect of this endeavour is still in the ideation process, which would eventually become an impactful implementation. It would be a fallacy if one thinks that adding content using “fun tools” would immediately make the tasks fun. Careful mapping of functions, learning outcomes, game elements and tools is inevitably necessary.

As Ken Eklund aptly said: “If you make a game about something that matters, your “players” will want to participate in that larger discussion. Making that participation meaningful in the game can also be meaningful in real life.” So, I hope the steps I shared will be useful for you to go on the “gamification” adventure in redesigning your learning tasks.

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This guest post was written by Kee Man Chuah, a senior lecturer at the Faculty of Language and Communication at Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, Malaysia.