Win a cup competition

“You mean competing for just a cup? Three Mountains cups?” Yeah, that’s me asking.“Yes, a cup…” Gerry replies.

When we were planning to exhibit at eLearning Africa, I couldn’t understand how winning a cup would motivate people to visit our stand and try a demo course on Gender, but the rest of the team seemed convinced.

Our ambition was to attract people to try our demo so that they could see how we use formative assessment in learning. The idea is to watch a video or read a short piece of text, then answer a question. When your answer is not correct, you first get an explanation why your answer is not the best and then you get the option to try again.  It’s a very interactive way of learning. We hope that lots of people will use the courses we make, and that others will think of us when they need course material.

A lot of people were attracted by our giant poster, which read: “Do a course and win a cup.” It had a picture of the Three Mountains team holding cups. Most people were interested in trying to win a cup, but the instructions were clear – you had to get 100% of the course questions correct to win.  To win a cup, you just had to be persistent.

I was surprised by the number of people who entered. They learnt a lot about Gender and about what we do whilst trying to win a cup. People enjoyed the fact that the course is a bit like a game, because it makes learning interactive. Some people were surprised to experience that playing games is such a good way to learn.

Learning doesn’t need to be formal or complicated. It just needs to be fun. Games can help you achieve your goals as a trainer. Learners enjoy them and feel more motivated to learn.

Try it out for yourself.

Nehemie Nkurunziza