Back in the 1980s, role-playing gamebooks were all the rage. The ever-popular “Choose Your Own Adventure” book series spawned a whopping 184 entries, while the “Fighting Fantasy” series by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone lasted for 59 books. Fast forward four decades, and the same theory used in those gamebooks — adaptive learning — has become an integral part of workplace training.
Adaptive learning is an educational technique that individualises the learning experience based on each learner’s unique abilities. Much like the “Choose Your Own Adventure” and “Fighting Fantasy” books invited readers to craft their own stories based on a series of choices, adaptive learning helps learners comprehend complex material through interactive means. There’s a tangible benefit for businesses using adaptive learning in scenario training, as employees can learn at their own pace and receive real-time feedback.
Let’s discuss five ways businesses can leverage adaptive learning and how it can be implemented throughout your company.
- Adaptive learning increases learner engagement.
“Choose Your Own Adventure” books use branch logic, a type of adaptive learning with content that changes depending on the reader’s choices. This adaptive learning also applies in workplace scenario training because the user is an active participant rather than a passive reader. Adaptive learning in scenario training is a form of gamification, in which video-game mechanics are used to enhance corporate learning by creating a collaborative, interactive experience. This leads to increased engagement and motivation among employees, and it also makes learning more enjoyable.
- Adaptive learning helps people understand complex subjects.
When the learner actively participates in the lesson, their information retention improves. According to a study by the U.S.-based educational nonprofit Every Learner Everywhere, learners have an improved ability to comprehend complicated subject matter when using adaptive learning. In addition, learners who complete an adaptive learning course before taking a subject-matter exam are 20% more likely to pass the test.
- Adaptive learning provides feedback in real-time.
Adaptive learning factors in the participant’s decision-making abilities and provides real-time feedback based on those decisions. Whenever a learner makes a decision, the content reacts to it, improving learner engagement through personalisation. With many forms of traditional workplace training, employees have to wait until the end of the presentation to discover the correct answers, and they may never learn why their incorrect answers were off the mark.
- Adaptive learning leads to more equity regarding learner outcomes.
A study by the Dublin-based educational software company Adaptemy found that adaptive learning helps learners maximise their engagement levels with the content and minimise the gap in learning outcomes between high and low performers. In many contexts, your business will only function as well as its lowest-performing employee, and adaptive learning can help lift that performance level.
- Adaptive learning helps people learn from their mistakes.
If a learner makes a poor choice, the subsequent content will explain why they made the wrong decision, while learners who make good choices continue to progress through the course. This does a better job of helping people learn from their errors, as opposed to standard quizzes or tests that merely show you the right answer when you get one wrong. This is especially valuable for vital topics such as safety training and learning about medical procedures because it helps ensure that your employees fully comprehend your programmes.
Gamification and Adaptive Learning
Here at Sliced Bread Animation, we have extensive experience crafting adaptive learning programmes for a wide variety of businesses. We’ve created gamified learning courses for the medical sector, helping explain complex procedures in simpler terms. As another example, we’ve also created narrative games that teach learners about proper waste management techniques.
From education to eCommerce to healthcare, adaptive learning in scenario training is a proven method for improving learner outcomes. If you want to help your employees fully comprehend complex content, a gamified adaptive learning experience from Sliced Bread Animation is an outstanding option.
Your employees will learn the content better and faster — and they’ll even have fun while doing so! If you want to improve scenario training for your team, Get in touch with Sliced Bread Animation today to hear about how we can integrate adaptive learning into your next training session!
