Gamification of Instructional Design by Phylise Banner Recapped by Jonah Schwartz

1. Phylise Banner
GAMIFICATION OF INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN
Presented by: Jonah Schwartz, 2017
*Content taken from Phylise’s slides

2. *Our Goals for Today
1. Learn
2. Play
3. Share
4. Win

3. “Anything that spontaneously
is done for its own sake”
He also says that play:
“Appears purposeless,
produces pleasure and joy,
and leads one to the next
stage of mastery”
*As defined by Stuart Brown, the founder
of the National Institute of Play:

4. Play can help us regulate
our emotions by providing
an outlet to exert control
over our environments
and deal with stress in
the moment.
*RESEARCH TELLS US

5. To promote rich LEARNING, or (maybe even
better) to promote a rich Instructional Design
process based on the understanding of a large
VARIETY of training and development methods.
To train the trainers; give educators
INSPIRATION, knowledge, and a FRAMEWORK
of thinking in a Learning Battle Cards way.
*The XYZ Learning Team

6. *Anatomy of a Card

8. Game 1 (5 Minutes) Game 2 (15 Minutes) Game 3 (5 Minutes)
Appoint a DEALER and a LEAD VOCALIST in your
group
The DEAL passes to the left The DEAL passes to the left
Deal ONE card to each person Get into groups of 5. Appoint a VOCALIST and
REALIST
Deal FIVE cards to each person
Each person needs to share 2 benefits and 2
drawbacks to implementing the approach on their
card
REALIST worry about budget, time, client
demands. IDEALISTS shoot for the moon, dream
big
Who has the best HAND for
building a learning community?
Deal out 7 random cards to each group
Each group needs to design a LEARNING solution
using at least four approaches in your hand, while
being “inspired” by the REALIST.
Each group needs to design a LEARNING solution
using at least four approaches in your hand, while
being “inspired” by the REALIST.
SCENARIO
A worldwide travel agency recently switched to a new computer system, and all bookings that agents handle will go through the new
system. This entirely new system will be put into effect three months from now. There is no gradual transition, simply a switch over on that
upcoming date.
Your team has been hired to design, develop and deliver a solution for training agents on this new system. Basically, you need to get a
global team up to speed with updated skills in a short period of time.

9. is THE Designing learning a game?
START
Organizational
goals define
the “win”
of the game.
Organizational
or project
constraints
define the deck.
Time and budget
scope out the
rules of the
game.
Ideas and
approaches are
thrown around
throughout
the process.
Strategies are
used to
continuously
revise and adapt.
There is a finish
line for delivery. WIN
*

10. Doing the thing, having the power
Phylise Explaining The Game One of the teams explaining what they came
up with

11. Learning Battle Cards
Pros Cons
Promotes teamwork No specified rules
Fosters creative problem solving Unstructured gameplay
Channels new ways of thinking Ineffective card design:
hard to interpret.
Sometimes the icons
don’t seem to signal
anything and the word
either has no meaning
or multiple meanings;
it’s up to you to figure
it out.

12. • We were divided into 4 teams of 5-7 people.
• We played 3 games, all of which revolved around the same hypothetical travel site scenario.
• For each game, we used the cards and map to develop a strategy.
• With no real structure, unspecified meanings of the cards, and conflicting interpretations of their meanings among
• Teammates interpretation of the cards, it forced us to work together to come reach an agreement and make a decision
even if the outcome of those were unknown
• The Lack of specificity in the rules and card meanings made teamwork the compelling element. The game is better at
• Interpersonal and inter-organizational communication issues than actual problem solving.
I don’t know how effective this would be for addressing an actual issue.
SUMMARY

13. Overall Conclusions:
• It was a fun, engaging exercise that fostered thinking which was
o Creative
o Spontaneous
o Out of the box
• I learned about how to work collaboratively with people from disparate backgrounds and adapt my thinking
BUT
• Though the game was fun, I’m not sure how practical it is on real-world, mission-critical projects
• I was nervous because I felt like if this was real, the quality and quantity of my input would determine my job stability
• I would like to see how this is used in actual settings
“PLAY makes learning something that happens
naturally and joyfully, when we laugh, wonder,
explore,
and imagine.”
*