In this engaging TxDLA webinar, gamification expert Valary Oleinik shares powerful insights into creating more engaging learning experiences through gameful design approaches. The session, led by Dr. Rhonda Blackburn and Dr. Kelli Erwin, explores how educators and instructional designers can leverage gamification principles to boost learner engagement.
Oleinik introduces four essential types of engagement that form the foundation of successful instructional design: cognitive, behavioral, social, and emotional. Rather than focusing solely on making learning “fun,” she emphasizes the importance of creating meaningful engagement through thoughtful design choices.
“Motivation gets you to move. Engagement keeps you moving,” Oleinik explains, comparing the learning process to a flywheel that gains momentum over time. This analogy perfectly captures how well-designed gamification elements can create self-sustaining engagement loops in educational settings.
The webinar highlights several practical strategies for implementing gamification in instructional design:
- Cognitive Engagement
- Behavioral Engagement
- Social Engagement
- Emotional Engagement
The key takeaway? “Think big, but start small.” Oleinik encourages educators to experiment with gamification elements gradually, testing what works best for their specific learning contexts. This approach allows for sustainable implementation while maintaining focus on learning objectives.
This webinar is part of TxDLA’s commitment to advancing digital learning through professional development. It exemplifies how gamification in instructional design isn’t about turning everything into a game, but rather about creating more engaging, effective learning experiences.
For those interested in implementing these strategies, Oleinik emphasizes that success comes from starting with small changes and building upon what works. The goal isn’t to completely transform your instructional design overnight, but to gradually incorporate elements that enhance engagement and learning outcomes.
Full Transcript
Dr. Rhonda Blackburn: Thank you for being here. My name is Dr. Rhonda Blackburn. I am the co-chair of the Professional Development Committee for TxDLA and also sit on the board as the CIO.
Dr. Kelli Erwin: Hi, I am Dr. Kelli Erwin. I’m the director of education for Learning.com. I am a former teacher, classroom tech apps specialist, and co-chair with Rhonda. I also work with our sponsors for the conference and throughout the year to bring new ideas and information to our constituents.
Valary Oleinik: Thank you everyone. This session on Engagement Escalation is about taking a gameful approach to instructional design. This is intended to be interactive – I don’t expect to talk at you for the next hour.
For those just joining us, on a scale of one to ten, how engaged do you intend to be during this session? There’s no right or wrong answer – we all bring different energy and capacity on different days. The science behind asking this question is that if we make an intentional plan about how we’re going to participate in something, it impacts our experience and outcomes.
One of the basic tenets of gamification is “small wins quickly.” That’s why I asked you to engage in something very quickly – it increases the likelihood of continued engagement. It was a low-pressure activity but got you thinking and primed for more engagement.
Another reason I did this is something my colleague Jim Clark says: “connection before content.” If I just start talking about any topic, you may or may not listen. But by connecting first, we establish a relationship that makes the content more meaningful.
When we say “learner engagement,” it’s treated like a completely understood concept, but it actually means many different things. Today we’ll dig deeper into what we mean when we say we want to engage our learners.
Gamification draws from many disciplines – psychology, behavioral economics, game design, user experience, learning science – all in service of the learner. My concern is creating the best design for the people I’m serving, whether it’s gamified or not.
Let’s explore four types of engagement:
- Cognitive Engagement – This is about thinking
- Behavioral Engagement – This involves doing
- Social Engagement – This focuses on sharing
- Emotional Engagement – This connects to feeling
For cognitive engagement, we want to ask beautiful questions – questions that have the capacity to shift thinking. We can also let learners choose their own adventure by providing meaningful choices in how they learn and demonstrate understanding.
With behavioral engagement, we need clear pathways and detours. Sometimes what looks like lack of motivation is actually confusion. If someone doesn’t know what to do next or can’t see alternatives when stuck, they may do nothing. Keep people in motion by providing clear paths and options.
Social engagement extends beyond the immediate group. Create psychological safety through inclusive design. Consider different ways people can participate and express themselves. Remember that not everyone comes with the same capabilities – as Gloria from Modern Family said, “Do you know how smart I am in Spanish?”
For emotional engagement, use stories and characters. Celebrate progress along the way – don’t wait for the end. Let me share a story about a flight attendant who masterfully engaged an entire plane for a child’s birthday…
Valary Oleinik: I was on a flight from New Orleans to Orlando. As you might expect, there were a lot of young ears on the plane – people heading to Disney. Halfway through the flight, the flight attendant comes on with an announcement.
Now, immediately people were cognitively engaged because that’s not a time we expect announcements. Everyone’s looking around thinking “what’s going on?”
She says, “It’s come to my attention that somebody on the flight has a birthday.” Half of the flight went “aww” and the other half went back to their books, relieved it wasn’t an emergency.
She continues, “Where’s Greta? I hear Greta is five.” You can see Greta’s dad trying to prop her up a little bit. Now, we all expect we’re probably going to sing Happy Birthday, right? That’s a reasonable expectation. But no, that’s not what happened.
Instead, she says, “If you’re sitting next to a window, I’d like for you to reach over and close the window shade.” She has now moved us into behavioral engagement – she’s asked certain people to take an action, to participate.
And because she was either a school teacher or Mary Poppins in a former life, she pauses and says, “I’ll wait while everyone closes the window shades.” So she waits to get compliance.
Then she says, “Okay, next, I need everybody to look up over your heads and find the call button – not the button that turns on your reading light, but the call button. I need you to turn that on.”
Half the people on the flight had absolutely no idea where that was. So now we have conversation happening – social engagement – as people help each other figure out which button to press.
Once all the call buttons are on – and you’ll notice she got full compliance – she says, “Thank you. You are all now part of Greta’s birthday cake.”
I tell you, that plane gasped. There was an audible gasp. She went right past social into emotional engagement. She had touched everyone’s hearts.
We sang Happy Birthday, and she said, “Okay, Greta, when we finish singing, I want you to blow out the candles. And to the rest of you, I need you to turn off the call buttons.”
So we sang, Greta blew out those candles, and you heard all the call buttons clicking off. And we were all back to our normal flight to Orlando.
But I guarantee you, I am not the only person who has ever recounted this story. I may be the only one who’s done it in a gamification setting, but I am not the only person to retell this story.
Because what she did was take the simple resources she had around her – a captive audience, call buttons, and some imagination – and made magic not only for this child but for everybody on the plane. I’m sure many people left thinking, “Wow, that was such a special experience.”
That’s my message to you – it doesn’t take much to create engagement. It requires just our intention, our effort, and our creativity.
This flight attendant took simple resources – call buttons and imagination – and created magic not just for the birthday child but for everyone on the plane. She demonstrated all four types of engagement:
- Cognitive: Getting attention with an unexpected announcement
- Behavioral: Having people close window shades and press buttons
- Social: Creating shared experience and interaction
- Emotional: Touching everyone’s hearts with the “birthday cake” reveal
The message I want to leave you with is: Think big, but start small. It doesn’t take much to get engagement going. What it requires is intention, effort, and creativity. Try something new, learn from what works, and build on your successes.
Dr. Rhonda Blackburn: Thank you so much, Valary. Your presentations always provide such valuable takeaways, and I especially loved the airplane story. We want to remind everyone about upcoming events at TxDLA and thank our partners for making these webinars possible.
[Note: This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity while maintaining the authentic voice and message of the speakers.]
