As designers, we are aware of the power of interactivity, and games are among the most engaging interactive pieces we can create. Sure, creating a Jeopardy!-like question game may be interactive, but is this the most effective way to create engagement and, ultimately, behavioral change? Gameboard and gameshow design can create an initially interesting way of presenting questions, but they rarely motivate learners or lead to lasting change. In fact, these "games" ignore many of the fundamental concepts of gaming. So how do we plan and design games that truly engage the learner? What kind of elements should be included in a custom game? What are the concepts that must be known to drive learner engagement and behavioral change? How do we build games to accommodate these? How do we add more POWER to our games? These are some of the questions we will address in this session.

In this session, you will learn the fundamental concepts of game design and instruction, and how they are used in the creation of sophisticated, game-like learning activities. Utilizing a combination of live examples, group discussions, and polls, we'll examine and explore key concepts of gaming and the fundamentals of incorporating and then applying them into your learning designs. You will begin by identifying the common elements of games, what features make a game enjoyable to a player, and how these things intersect to provide context, motivation, and emotional engagement. You will learn the differences and design choices that go into games made for entertainment and games made for learning. You will explore the concept of cognitive flow and how it affects design considerations. Putting all these concepts together, you will then analyze and dissect preexisting game-like activities to determine the strengths and weaknesses in their design. You will learn key features of common developing tools like dominKnow | ONE, Lectora, and Storyline and how they can be used in the creation of customized games. You will leave this session with a better appreciation and understanding for how customized games are designed from start to finish, and leave with a new approach for how you can design your own customized games going forward.

In this session, you will learn:

• How to move beyond surface level games and integrate gaming concepts and mechanics into your eLearning
• How to design and create fully customized game-like learning activities using a development workflow
• How to leverage advanced design concepts, techniques, and strategies to create engaging game-like learning activities
• The concepts of cognitive flow and how to apply them to boost learner engagement
• Foundational concepts and best practices for programming

Technology discussed in this session:

dominKnow | ONE, Lectora, Articulate Storyline