How can gamification increase engagement in large group sessions?

1 Why gamify large group sessions?

Large group sessions can be challenging to facilitate and participate in, especially in virtual or hybrid settings. You may face issues such as low attention span, lack of interaction, boredom, or resistance to change. Gamification can help to overcome these challenges by creating a more fun, meaningful, and rewarding experience for the participants. Gamification can also help to achieve specific learning or behavioral outcomes, such as increasing knowledge, skills, collaboration, feedback, or innovation.

2 How to design gamification for large group sessions?

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to gamification, but there are some general steps and principles that you can follow to design gamification for large group sessions. First, you need to define your goals and objectives, and understand your audience and their needs, preferences, and motivations. Second, you need to choose the game elements and mechanics that suit your goals and audience, such as points, badges, leaderboards, quests, challenges, levels, rewards, feedback, or narratives. Third, you need to implement and test your gamification solution, and monitor and evaluate its impact and effectiveness.

3 What are some best practices for gamification in large group sessions?

To ensure that your gamification solution is engaging, effective, and ethical in large group sessions, you should align it with your session content and objectives, and make sure it supports and enhances learning or behavioral outcomes. Furthermore, you should balance intrinsic and extrinsic motivation of your participants, as well as design for diversity and inclusion. Additionally, provide clear and consistent rules and instructions to avoid confusion or technical glitches. Finally, encourage collaboration and social interaction among your participants to foster a sense of community.

4 What are some examples of gamification in large group sessions?

Gamification can be used to make large group sessions, both in-person and online, more engaging. For instance, Kahoot is a popular platform that allows you to create and host interactive quizzes, polls, or surveys with real-time feedback and scoring. Breakout EDU offers immersive learning games that require participants to solve puzzles or clues to escape a virtual or physical room. Miro is a collaborative online whiteboard that enables participants to visualize, brainstorm, or design ideas using various tools. Finally, LEGO Serious Play is a methodology that uses LEGO bricks and models to facilitate communication, collaboration, and innovation.

5 How to get started with gamification in large group sessions?

If you are interested in gamifying your large group sessions, you don't need to be an expert or have a lot of resources. You can start with simple and low-cost solutions, and experiment with different game elements and mechanics. You can also use existing platforms or tools that offer gamification features, or customize them to fit your needs. The most important thing is to have a clear purpose and goal for your gamification, and to design it with your audience in mind. Gamification can be a powerful and fun way to increase engagement in large group sessions, if done well.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?