The e-learning market has seen continuous growth, and is expected to surpass $800 billion by 2030. It has found its way into so many aspects of our lives, from language learning apps to driving theory practice. Done in interactive, gamified formats, these apps and courses help users absorb information and practice skills in their own time. And now, leading businesses are opting for gamification in their workplace training as well.

For almost a decade McDonald’s has leveraged gamified training, including 3D renders of their restaurants to train managers in an interactive way. On a corporate level, PwC uses gamification to teach digital skills to staff and enable them to win real prizes.

If major players know that gamification is key to successful workplace training, why isn’t your business following suit? In this blog, we delve into what gamified e-learning is, and how companies and organisations can leverage it for their blue-collar workers.

What is gamified e-learning?

Gamified e-learning refers to training that is completed online and contains game-like elements. Think minigames, interactivity, leaderboards, points, and more.

Unlike the old-school method of training through slide shows and simple videos, gamified e-learning often requires businesses to partner with a skilling solution provider that can produce custom gamified modules at scale in a cost-effective manner. More and more businesses are choosing to adopt gamification as the benefits outweigh the costs, and are relying on it to improve how they skill blue-collar staff.

Benefits of gamified e-learning

• Higher attainment rate: A study by Frontiers in Psychology found that gamification elements improved attainment in users compared to learning materials without gamification. This could be for a number of reasons, but one theory is that the user is more engaged with the training and has to use their memory and knowledge to answer questions and progress, making it harder to ‘switch off’ from the training.

• Higher level of satisfaction: Users of gamified e-learning have reported feeling a higher level of satisfaction, saying they feel more accomplished due to the leaderboards and points systems. The regular tests and metrics encourage users to engage fully with the training because they want to score higher on the leaderboard, and the points help users to see how much they have improved.

• Better monitoring and support: Gamified e-learning forces the user to take part in regular quizzes and tests, which allow the company to oversee and monitor performance. Leading solutions will offer a dashboard for you to see completion rates, attainment rates, and skills gaps, so that you can iterate upon your training and better support your workforce.

• Scalable learning: For large organisations hoping to train tens to hundreds of thousands of staff, gamified e-learning helps to keep your workforce engaged even when learning at scale. Plus, the ability to learn any time, anywhere means you aren’t wasting valuable time and resources scheduling training days. Some organisations who still prefer an in-person element would benefit from a solution that offers Train the Trainer support. This is where the skilling solution equips your L&D trainers with the tools they need to run in-person sessions where staff complete the modules but can ask questions and get support where needed.
• Accessible for all walks of life: When you’re looking to train blue-collar staff in developing countries, you have to consider socioeconomic factors such as gender, income, religion, and even literacy level. Gamified e-learning solutions can be customised to accommodate these factors, and the game elements mean users can complete them without having to read large chunks of text.

But it’s not just large companies that benefit from gamified e-learning. Even smaller organisations working with 21CC Education have benefitted from our custom modules that skill blue-collar workers, making them more employable, and giving them the means to build sustainable careers that support them and their families.

Gamified e-learning: a tool for the future of work

Gamified e-learning is helping businesses around the world to create a workforce that is highly skilled, motivated, and ready to drive growth. At the same time, it’s empowering these workers to build a career for themselves and to support their families, driving social mobility.

Whether you’re a foundation hoping to boost employment or a large corporation seeking to recruit and train tens of thousands of staff, gamified e-learning might just be the piece of the puzzle you have been missing.

Ready to upgrade your business and up-skill your workforce? Book a demo today.