Workshop: What Instructional Designers can Learn from Game Design

Learn the underlying structures of game design to not only engage learners, but also to improve skill development.

Games engage people in ways that curriculum designers can only dream about but attempts to implement “game-like” elements in classrooms often fall flat, largely because trainers attempt to leverage the style of a game without really understanding how games actually work.

This workshop will look at how games get it right, what can be transferred to classrooms, and what research in motivation psychology, neuroscience, and evolutionary psychology can tell us about exactly why people are so drawn to games. We’ll also look at the difference between game-based learning and gamification, how game design can be used as a learning activity, and how a gameful approach can be used to improve grading and assessment.

Who is it for?

Any level of instructional design or content expert can benefit from understanding this topic better.

What does it include?

The workshop will look at the underlying structures of games and how to turn those into specific, practical strategies that you can incorporate into your classes to make them more effective, useful, and fun. 

You will learn: 

  • What types of feedback create compelling game play and how to implement that in e-Learning 
  • How to structure courses using game leveling to create cycles of expertise 
  • What the science of motivation tells us about video game rewards, and how us that to create compelling and memorable learning experiences 
  • The good, bad and ugly about gamification 

What is the format/schedule?

  • Full day in-person workshop
  • Two virtual sessions (3.5 hours each) or four virtual sessions (2 hours each)

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