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Fadi Salem

November 2018 - TD Magazine

New technologies are changing L&D and so should the lay you approach measurement.

It’s Time to Change Your Measurement Strategy

This is the second in a three-part series on Gamifiying Your Instruction. (Part one can be found here.) The series is written by Karl Kapp, professor of instructional technology and internationally known author of two books on gamification both co-authored by ASTD.While the term “gamification” has only been around since 2002 and did not really gained widespread adoption until about 2010, there are still a number of examples of successful implementations of gamification.  Looking at these examples, it is possible to begin to build a list of best practices around gamification of learning and instruction. This article doesn’t exhaust specific examples gamification. Instead, it discusses best practices. To see some examples of gamification, you can check out the following articles:The Gamification of Retail Safety and Loss Prevention TrainingThe Gamification of Sales Force TrainingThe Gamification of M-Learning.Also, to learn about some of the effective elements of gamification, see the article Games, Gamification, and the Quest for Learner Engagement.Here are the 10 best practices (plus a bonus):1. Identify success criteria firstBefore you begin to gamify learning events, make sure you know what constitutes success. Is it 100 percent participation? Is it measurable business results? It is a score on a test?If success is not defined before the initiative, it is hard to know if or when success is achieved. It is hard to nail down success. It is even more difficult to get everyone to agree that success was achieved. The idea of success can be changed and morphed for both good and bad over time, so make sure at the beginning everyone agrees what success “looks” like—and someone  writes it down.2. Seriously consider alternativesThis may sound strange coming from a gamification advocate, but too many times I have seen easy, simple solutions to learning problems passed over for the latest instructional fad. While I do not think gamification is a fad, I do think that the opportunity for mis-use is vast.Even if you eventually go with a gamified solution, the process of thinking through alternatives and carefully defending the decision for gamification to an internal or external stakeholder provides a solid foundation to pursue such a solution.  And, if an alternative solution is a better fit, use it.  Only use gamification as a learning solution when it makes sense and resonates with learners. 3. Create a tie to business needsAll training and learning initiatives should be tied to a business need but gamification even more. You need to make sure that you are legitimately moving the needle on business needs and not just using gamification as a crutch to support content that is meaningless to the organization or individual.4. Create a story/contextA particularly powerful way to motivate individuals is to give actions and ideas meaning by framing them within an appropriate context. Explain why the learners are earning points, who they are trying to save, why they are searching for a treasure. Remember, gamification works well when it is within a context—create a reason why learners should interact with the content you have created.5. Use science to advance learningThere are two powerful mechanisms embedded in many gamification efforts: spaced retrieval and retrieval practice. Retrieval practice requires learners to recall information rather than simply re-read or re-listen to it.A review of scientific literature reveals that the benefits of retrieval practice have been known for at least 100 years, and they have been demonstrated with many diverse groups \[1\]. Retrieval practice alone can provide improved recall performance by as much as 10-20 percent.\[2\] So, ask learners to recall content and act on that recall—answering questions about content is a great way to have retrieval practice.Spaced retrieval involves providing learners with a quiz or course content spaced over time. It too is among the most robust findings in educational psychology research \[3\]. It turns out that the greater the amount of spacing between retrieval events, the greater the potential benefit to retention (24 hours is optimal).Spaced retrieval helps learners retain access to memorized information over long periods of time because the spacing promotes deeper processing of the learned material.  It also avoids two inherent problems with mass practice (learning all the information at once); the problems of learner fatigue and the likelihood of interference with preceding and succeeding learning.6. Make scoring and winning transparentFirst, make the scoring easy. Avoid complicated algorithms or formulas. The learners should be able to directly link their actions and activities to a score so they know what they need to do to be successful. Second, determine what happens in various scoring scenarios ahead of time. Run various scenarios to see what happens—what is a learner gets every question wrong or right or skips every question. Yes, it might be a scenario that will never happen but, if you can imagine it, the learners will do it. You want to know of any potential problems ahead of time, not during the process.7. Keep the rules simpleComplexity is not an ally in creating gamification. When developing gamified solutions, a tendency of the design and development team is to add complexity, avoid that tendency.  Also, provide a tutorial level or experiences so that the learners are able to learn the rules in the beginning with little to lose. You don’t want the experience to be about who knows the rules the best, you want it to be about who learns the most.8. Keep leaderboards smallNo one wants to compete against the world’s best. Except, of course, if they are the world’s best. Otherwise keep leaderboards small. If possible, allow the learners to choose their own friend to place on a personalized leaderboard or structure the leaderboard by department or territory to allow individuals to contribute to a larger goal.Consider only showing a relative position on the leaderboard. This might mean showing the five scores above and below a learner’s score. But remember, regardless of what you show the learners on a regular basis always allow access to the top scores (don’t hide anything from learners).9. Use levels and badges appropriatelyUse levels to guide learners through linear content and tie each level to a specific learning objective (usually a terminal objective). Let the learner know how many levels they are going to need to complete before the learning is over.Badges, on the other hand, are good for showing non-linear progress. Badges can be tied to either terminal or enabling objectives. Also, if possible provide a place where learners can “show off” badges to leverage the social effectiveness of gamification. 10. Playtest the gamification experienceBefore releasing the gamification program to all 10,000 employees in your organization, playtest it with a small pilot group. You will find flaws, cheats and shortcuts you never imagined. Humans are among the most creative creatures on the planet, they will find things you didn’t anticipate. Learn about those elements beforehand, conduct a playtest (or two or three).Bonus: monitor learner progressOnce the gamification event is launched, you cannot sit back and let it unfold without monitoring. Most gamification platforms provide rich backend dashboards that allow for a close inspection of the process.Take advantage of these dashboards. Look for players moving unusually fast or slow through the content and then find out why. Look for people earning more points than you thought possible, look to see if interest is waning or if all the learners are getting something wrong or too much or too little time is being expended. One advantage of gamification platforms is that they provide rich, real-time data—leverage that data.In the next post, we answer the question: “How can you make learning more intriguing with gamification?”Want to learn more about game design? Join Karl and Sharon Boller for the LearnNow: Game Design event, September 22-23 in Atlanta or December 8-9 in San Francisco.References\[1\] Larsen DP, Butler AC, Roediger HL. (2009) Repeated testing improves long-term retention relative to repeated study: a randomized controlled trial. Med Educ. 43: 1174–1181.\[2\] Dobson, J. L. (2013) Retrieval practice is an efficient method of enhancing the retention of anatomy and physiology information. Advances in Physiology Education. 37: 184–191, 2013; doi:10.1152/advan.00174.2012.\[3\] \[4\] Carpenter SK, DeLosh EL. (2005) Application of the testing and spacing effects to name learning. Applied Cognitive Psychology. 19: 619–636, 2005. And Cull W. Untangling the benefits of multiple study opportunities and repeated testing for cued recall. Applied Cognitive Psychology. 14: 215–235, 2000. And Cull W, Shaughnessy JJ, Zechmeister EB. Expanding understanding of the expanding-pattern-of-retrieval mnemonic: toward confidence in applicability. Journal of Experimental Psychology Applied. 2: 365–378, 1996.

10 Best Practices for Implementing Gamification

As we move into the decade of the 2020s, we are already using our voices to command many functions of our everyday life. Our voices have become our passwords and means of creating actions, such as diming lights, opening doors, calling up our favorite music tracks, and placing phone calls. Is it possible for us to use this same premise to access our sales training? The answer is yes!As a training company with a 50-year history, Sandler Training has amassed thousands of sales recordings, podcasts, video role-plays, and planned curriculums for sales leaders. Accessing these things has (until now) become governed by websites, logins, passwords, and the need to sit before a computer monitor. But selling is a highly mobile activity that doesn’t lend itself well to being tied down when on the road, driving to a meeting, or in a hotel room. If it ceases to be convenient, it will also cease to be used. Enter My Sandler!My Sandler is a collaboration that couples the indexing of the thousands of training assets created by Sandler Training (podcasts, videos, and the like) that are now searchable by voice command—working with the power of Alexa and the My Sandler app that is presently in beta testing. So, with your mobile device or Alexa’s Auto Echo, you can be on the go and bring your favorite sales lessons with you. Imagine it being as simple as: “Alexa, open My Sandler,” and you receive a “Welcome back” message. Then ask for your topic—for example, “Alexa, play Negotiating by David Mattson,” and you are immediately entering training mode for your next call. Or it might be a refresher such as, “Alexa, remind me about the budget step,” and review the key ingredients you need to properly qualify an opportunity. And for your sales leaders, it might be, “Alexa, search the 49 Rules for Sales Leaders,” and challenge yourself to measure up.The adult learning model is best served by repetition and reinforcement, not one-day bootcamps where learnings begin to fade upon departure from the training. So, making continuous reinforcement triggered by your voice and your mobile devices removes the primary reason we don’t do it: It’s not convenient or easy. Now, whether it’s one of Sandler’s many courses or a favorite podcast, you now have the ability to call up training audio on demand. “Alexa, search for time management in podcasts” becomes your new gateway to on-demand reinforcement (and better time management).See this technology in action at ATD’s TechKnowledge February 5–6 in San Jose, California.

Fadi Salem

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