Surprise and Randomness

E-learning courses seldom, if ever, have any surprises. The learner always knows where to click, what to do next and how many screens until the end. Nothing random occurs in an e-learning course, not on purpose anyway.

The Game Adventure. Did it have the first video game Easter Egg?

But look at a distant cousin of e-learning and you’ll see randomness and surprises everywhere. Video games are delightfully filled with randomness and the unexpected and you know what…that’s what keeps players coming back.

Player want to find the “goodies” in the game even if they goodies aren’t directly tied to a specific “learning objective.” These are called “Easter Eggs”

Supposedly, the term was coined—according to Warren Robinett—by Atari after they were pointed to the secret message left by Robinett in the game Adventure (source).

One of the great things is that surprises are random and fun and not on-task but they add engagement and motivation. So, when you are building your e-learning module is it possible that you can put in some Easter Eggs or something surprising and random?

If you do, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.