We believe: Game-based approaches increase engagement and motivation of remote employees.

Since the outbreak of the pandemic, many have been asking themselves: “Why should I go to the office when I can do my job just as well from home?” And this question is justified, since the crisis has taught us that most work steps also work from the home office. Remote work is on everyone’s lips – and often already anchored in the employment contract. There is no doubt that remote work models and digital nomadism will continue to grow. Against this backdrop, companies must develop new strategies to continue to reach their employees – especially in the area of e-learning. In order to attract employees to digital training remotely, training methods need to be adapted. Monotonous frontal webinars or slide sets to click through have had their day. What is needed are e-didactic concepts that make use of the possibilities of digitization and focus on the target group. One example: Game-based e-learning. This refers to game-based approaches that create an immersive learning environment to increase learner engagement and participation. We think: Game-based e-learning is ideal for reaching remote employees with training measures in an accurate way.

There’s no question about it: the past year and a half has taken its toll on us. At the same time, this time has been a good teacher, showing the valuable opportunities of digital transformation for companies. Inevitably, many work processes have changed as a result of home office arrangements & Co. Some of this has been retained by the companies. Remote work is no longer regarded as an exotic contractual clause, but is part of everyday working life for numerous companies and their employees. In terms of e-learning, this means that the pandemic has created the perfect breeding ground for e-didactic concepts with a focus on game-based e-learning. Let’s illustrate this with an example.

In pre-Corona times, classroom training was part of the standard repertoire of in-house training. The best known method: frontal teaching. Now that home office and remote work have fully arrived in business life, face-to-face training is often no longer possible in the usual form. But since further training measures still have to be continued, there is only one option for companies: learning content has to be digitized. And this is the crux of the matter: It’s not enough to digitize classroom training. This usually results in monotonous webinars in which lecturers sit in front of twenty avatars while the learners have long been occupied elsewhere. What is needed are e-learning concepts that are worthy of the name and focus attention on learning content. The latter succeeds through game-based e-learning. The targeted use of gamification elements in contexts unrelated to video games promotes extrinsic and intrinsic motivation, keeps attention high, and provides a focused learning experience that, in the best case, is also fun. In short, traditional training strategies look pretty old compared to game-based e-learning.

One thing is clear: a remote workday is timed differently than a workday in the office. Employees are freer in their time management and can decide for themselves when they are productive and how. This circumstance plays a role that should not be underestimated, especially for e-learning. Therefore, in order for e-learning to have its full effect, one should not only think about the learning experience but also about the concrete preparation of the learning content. If employees can decide for themselves when they want to learn, the learning content must also be available at all times. And at their best, these learning packages are small bites that don’t overwhelm. The approach behind this is called microlearning. We think: Microlearning and game-based e-learning can be ideally combined. Small, adequately prepared learning morsels guarantee that learning is active, focused and regular. Gamification elements keep these short units fun and engage learners’ attention. We show how microlearning can work in detail with our e-learning format skillcube, among other things.

In the previous paragraphs, we prioritized the benefits of remote work and related them to game-based e-learning. Of course, it should not be ignored that remote work also brings disadvantages. Working remotely inevitably leads to a reduction in contact. Common coffee breaks or a chat in between are not or only indirectly possible. How good that game-based e-learning also offers a solution for this: Learning experiences can also take place synchronously in the group. Interactive and collaborative e-learning helps keep employees connected. A high gamification component makes the learning experience feel like a game that has to be mastered together. This strengthens the sense of togetherness and closes the social gap created by remote work.

See how we at skillbest create learning experiences based on game-based e-learning and take a look at our diverse e-learning formats.