Training Industry Magazine - Fall 2016 - 37

What gives? You did your research and
know that game-based learning enhances
student motivation, attention and content
retention. So why was your virtual game a
virtual face plant?

"What do I want my learners to feel?" (We
assume the instructional designer has
already completed the needs analysis
and identified the desired behavior
changes and learning outcomes.)

E-LEARNING COURSE INTERACTION:
WE HAVE IT ALL WRONG

Emotions are the engagement ignition
switch in online courses; without them,
there can be no motivation, no interest
and no learning transfer.

This example shows the fatal mistake
so many e-learning and online game
developers make: They focus on the
mechanics of the course first, and elements
and user motivators are afterthoughts.
Game mechanics (points, badges and
leaderboards) alone do not result in
learner engagement; you can't just add
those items to boring or rote activities
and think that they will result in fun. They
won't. And they certainly won't result in
behavior change.
Points, badges and leaderboards do have
a place in e-learning - if they are used in
a way that aligns with human computer
interaction (HCI) psychology.
WHAT IS HUMAN-COMPUTER
INTERACTION PSYCHOLOGY?
HCI psychology is simply the study of how
people interact with computers. Think of
it as the "this-is-your-brain-on-computers"
field. It encompasses both the types of
experience a user has with a computer,
software program or online course as
well as the overall design elements (such
as graphics, activities and animated
characters). In short, HCI studies the social
norms humans expect in their interactions
with computers.
THREE COMPONENTS OF HUMANCOMPUTER INTERACTIONS
If game mechanics alone aren't enough
to engage learners, then what else do
we need to include in online courses?
There are many HCI components that
must be included, but the three primary
components are emotions, elements
and motivation.
Emotions
The most successful courses start with
an instructional designer who asks,

For example, you may want your food
safety learners to feel anxiety. Restaurant
workers must provide peak performance
under intense time and regulatory
pressures. That anxiety would resonate
with learners, because it's an emotion they
often feel while performing their jobs.
Elements
Elements include characters and mechanics,
which also serve as user interfaces in highly
engaging courses.
What does an e-learning host/moderator
character have in common with the
Microsoft animated paper clip "Clippy"?
They both trigger negative reactions
in users.
Characters - whether animated or static -
have become common in e-learning. The
traits and functions we assign to those
characters impact learning effectiveness.
According to The Atlantic, Microsoft's
smirky anthropomorphic paper clip is
one of the worst user interfaces/virtual
characters ever deployed. It just didn't
have the right virtual personality to
interact with humans.

EMOTIONS ARE
THE ENGAGEMENT
IGNITION SWITCH
IN ONLINE COURSES.
Clifford Nass, director of Stanford
University's Communication between
Humans and Interactive Media (CHIMe)
Lab and author of "The Man Who Lied to
His Laptop," says that Clippy had several
character flaws. He forced himself on
users, who were unable to control when
he appeared, and he acted like an allknowing character rather than a friend
and cheerleader.
A study in the "Journal of Consumer
Research" identified another reason why
the little paper clip sent so many of us
into rage spirals: Digital assistants make
us feel powerless. In this study, there were
two versions of the same online game: in
one, an animated smiley face provided
assistance if the user requested it, and
in the other, users accessed a text-based
help menu for assistance.
Players with the smiley-face assistant
enjoyed the game less than those who

HOW TO INCREASE E-LEARNING ENGAGEMENT

* Identify the emotions you
want to elicit in your learner.
* Use characters, quests, game
mechanics and user interfaces
to elicit those emotions.
* Design characters that take
on the role of co-worker,
friend or colleague - not
guru or assistant.

* If you want learners to be
able to access help tips, use a
help menu, not a character.
* Eliminate activities such as
drag-and-drop, matching,
multiple-choice and hotspots.
* Develop challenging and
meaningful activities such as
quests and simulations.

T R A I N I N G I N DUSTR Y MA GAZ INE - FALL20 1 6 I WWW.TRAININGI NDU S T RY . C OM/ MAGAZ I NE

* Provide a path to mastery -
some meaningful way for the
learner to develop his or her
skills in the game/course.
* Make sure the learner
can control when and
how to interact with a
virtual character.

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http://jcr.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2016/04/27/jcr.ucw016?rss=1 http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/06/clippy-the-microsoft-office-assistant-is-the-patriarchys-fault/396653/ http://www.trainingindustry.com/ezine.aspx

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Training Industry Magazine - Fall 2016