When you think of compliance courses, possibly the first word that comes to mind is boring. Well, they tend to be boring but can be uplifted to offer better learner engagement. In this article, you will see how you can create engaging corporate compliance courses using gamification and microlearning approaches.

Using Gamification And Microlearning To Create Engaging Corporate Compliance Courses

Background: At EI, our corporate compliance practice is 14 years old. One in six courses that we build is on compliance. Over the years, we have used several innovative instructional strategies to create immersive and engaging compliance Training. Our mandate is “Corporate Compliance Simplified” and usage of these strategies has helped our customers see the required behavioral change that they sought.

What Innovative Instructional Strategies Can Be Used To Create Engaging Compliance Courses?

The choices when trying to create interactive compliance courses are limited only by your imagination. Some of the approaches we have used include:

1. 1. Gamification.
   2. Scenario-based.
   3. Story-based.
   4. Guided exploration.
   5. Microlearning.

Can Gamification And Microlearning Be Used To Uplift boring Content Associated With Compliance Courses?

Absolutely. Who doesn’t like having fun? Ask your learners to choose between a standard compliance course and one with an element of gamification with it, nine out of ten times they’ll go with the latter.

Microlearning, with its innate nature of brevity and flexibility to drive home a specific message effectively, can also be a great option to enliven your corporate compliance learning subjects.

In this article, I will share 3 of the approaches (featuring gamification strategies and microlearning solutions) with examples that will illustrate how you can enhance your strategy to create more effective and interactive compliance training. The 3 approaches featured here are:

1. 1. Gamification.
   2. Partial Gamification.
   3. Microlearning.

Here are the 3 examples that showcase how we integrated gamification and microlearning elements in compliance courses. These examples will help you determine how you can use them to make your compliance training interesting:

Example 1 Featuring Gamification: Used In A Course On Risk Management

Background: When dealing with corporate compliance subjects, it’s important not to get carried away with the gamification approach and overdo stuff. With this in mind, we devised our approach. Additionally, we decided that the gamification strategy:

1. 1. Needed to have elements of both challenge and reward.
   2. Must be such that the game scenario/story maps to the context of the course content.
   3. Needed to provide learners with a feeling of resonance – situations that are similar to what they do in their everyday job.
   4. Needed to increase the learners’ knowledge as they cleared one stage after the other.

Highlights of the concept: We came up with a gamification of learning approach that was task oriented and simulation based.

1. 1. In line with the contextual requirement, we mapped the game scenario with the risk management theme. We posed challenges to learners at every stage of the game. As they cleared each of these challenges, they experienced incremental learning after every stage.
   2. We provided the learners with a work setting (visual) that resembled their day to day environment.
   3. The challenges were presented in the form of bonuses and bombs and the rewards came in the form of caps and badges.
   4. That apart, we enhanced their learning experience with activities that evoked feelings of surprise and delight.
   5. We provided the option of seeking help to the learners as they went about their tasks. This resonated well with the learners as they would do the same in real life in times of need. Gamification of learning helped achieve better application of knowledge and enhanced performance.

Example 2 Featuring Partial Gamification: Used In A Course On Risk Management

Background: Here, the focus was on gamifying only portions of the course and not the complete course. We decided to gamify the inline checks and the assessment section. While the rest of the course followed a more traditional approach, we used the Partial Gamification approach at points where the learners needed to answer questions to proceed to the next topic.

Our concept: Like in the previous example, we based our gamification approach on the risk management theme and asked the learners to obtain an “access key” to be able to advance from one topic to another. The learners had to answer the questions correctly at the end of every topic to obtain the access key.

The theme also reflected in the overall visual appeal of the course.

Example 3 Featuring Microlearning: Used To Reinforce Message On Conflict Management

Background: To make the compliance subject on conflicts of interest interesting, we created a microlearning nugget using the whiteboard animation technique. We used this nugget as a Performance Support Tool/Learning Aid and made it available to learners on tablets/smartphones/desktops/laptops. This made it easy for them to refer to the nugget at the time of their need on mobile devices.

Focus of the microlearning nugget: The microlearning nugget was built to complement a compliance course on conflict management. We kept the message and animations/illustrations simple providing the learners with a great mix of action on the screen and time to comprehend the message. To reinforce the message, we backed the visuals with audio.

The nugget conveyed in simple terms that conflicts do exist, how one can recognize them, and how they can be resolved.

You can also view these examples in detail in the video below.

By Using Strategies Like Gamification And Microlearning, What Tangible Gains Will You See?

While the compliance mandate does come with a few strings attached, there is no denying that you need to have elements of engagement that can create sticky learning experiences so that this learning gets translated into application on the job.

By using innovative learning strategies like gamification and microlearning for creating engaging compliance courses, you will see clear gains for both learners and business. Specifically:

Gains From Learner Perspective:

1. 1. High learner engagement.
   2. Immersive experience: The courses are taken with genuine interest (no bitter pill but learners will enjoy the experience).

Gains From Business Perspective:

1. 1. Instils the spirit of “why comply”.
   2. Leads to the required behavioral change.

I hope this article showcases the gains of using innovative learning strategies like gamification and microlearning to create engaging compliance courses. If you have any questions, do contact me.

Check out our other blogs related to compliance, gamification and mirolearning you may find it interesting.

• Compliance Simplified: Using Creative Instructional Design Approaches
• How To Create A Meaningful And Engaging Compliance Course
• Why Adopt Gamification For Corporate Training – 8 Questions Answered
• The Microlearning Solution: Is Microlearning Right For You?