How to Choose the Best Games for Your e-Learning Courses

Grab learners’ attention and keep them engaged with dynamic, interactive games in your online e-Learning courses. In their popular session at the 2012 Lectora® User Conference, Lectora experts Tanya Seidel and Daryl Fleary shared tips for selecting a game type and what learning mechanisms are the best ways to reinforce and evaluate online learning through game play.

Questions to ask before you begin the game creation process:What is the learning objective?Based on the learning objective, what game type is appropriate?What structure is necessary for the game?How is performance measured/tracked?What are the rewards and intended results?

What games are best for your training? Design games that tap into the needs of your learners with styles that best fit your training content. If you want your learners to understand:

Facts (policies, product specifications, laws)Learn Best Using: Questions, memorization, association, drillGame Types: Competitions, flash cards, sports games

Skills (interviewing, teaching, selling, running a machine, project management)Learn Best Using: Imitation, feedback, coaching, continuous practice, increasing challengeGame Types: Persistent state games, role-play games, adventure games,

Judgment (management decisions, timing, ethics, hiring)Learn Best Using: Reviewing cases, asking questions, making choices (practice), feedback, coachingGame Types: Role-play games, adventure games, detective games, strategy games

Theories (marketing rationales, how people learn)Learn Best Using: Logic, experimentation, questioningGame Types: Open-ended simulation games, building games, constructing games, reality testing games

Reasoning (strategic and tactical thinking, quality analysis)Learn Best Using: Problems, examplesGame Types: Puzzles

Procedures (assembly, bank teller, legal)Learn Best Using: Imitation, practiceGame Types: Timed games, reflex games, role-play games, simulation

Language (foreign languages, business or industry jargon)Learn Best Using: Imitation, continuous practice, immersionGame Types: Role-play games, reflex games, flash card games

You can quickly create several different types of games in Lectora® e-Learning software:

  • Game show competitions
  • Flash card games
  • Role-play games
  • Detective games
  • Timed games
  • Reflex games
  • (Controlled) simulation games

In addition to the games available in the Lectora Media Library, you can create your own custom games in Lectora using actions and variables that will work on any smartphone or tablet including iOS devices. To learn how to create custom, engaging games in Lectora, watch this recorded online webinar: Create e‑Learning Games in Lectora.

What are you waiting for? Tap into your creativity and design some fantastic, interactive games for your learners with Lectora e-Learning software.