9 reasons to replace traditional online courses with games for learning

1. Games give lots of choices to learners.

Games are doing a really good job for providing learning with a lot of choices.

2. It is what Amazon.com would do if they had your job.

Games customize your environments based on your profile or levels you are on a game.

It is just like the customization of Amazon.com in which you are provided with customized information about books and other products you are interested in based on your profile or your purchasing experiences.

3. There are no next buttons

  

There are 2 reasons that learners hate next buttons. The first reason is that it forces learners to be linear for thinking. It is like do this and this and this. Secondly, next buttons overuse context with too many materials for learners to read and do.

4. Cognitive psychologists dig it

The best instruction hovers at the boundary of a learner's competency (by Andy Disessa at Berkley graduate school of education).

<Zone of Proximal Development>

5. Sometimes it is good to fail

If you want to succeed, double your failure rate (by Thomas Watson, the founder of IBM).

6. Games immerse learners in context

For example, games do this. With this kind of games, learners know what to do and how to make it complete.

7. Get rid of learners once and for all

8. Games make data sexy

 

9. Nobody ever wanted to stay up until 2AM just to take your CBT one more time before going to bed.

Games are more fun and have surprises, collaboration, and most importantly mastery. If you master something, you would feel fun.

In other words, with games, 'Learning is the drug.' (by Raph Koster 'Theory of fun)

In short, there is no learning objective that can't be made into a great game.

But traditional online courses, there is no learning objective that can't be ruined by turning it into a 'nexter'.

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