Much has been discussed on how and why Gamification is crucial to increasing learning effectiveness. And just to clarify my thoughts here, I will quote the definition of gamification by Gartner, “the use of game mechanics and experience design to digitally engage and motivate people to achieve their goals”
The key elements of the definition are:
- Game mechanics describes the use of elements such as points, badges, and leaderboards that are common to many games.
- Experience design describes the journey players take with elements such as game play, play space, and story line.
- Gamification is a method to digitally engage, rather than personally engage, meaning that players interact with computers, smartphones, wearable monitors or other digital devices, rather than engaging with a person.
- The goal of gamification is to motivate people to change behaviors or develop skills, or to drive innovation.” Summarizing, this means that gamification is the use of gaming style for motivation and collaboration to achieve more in Learning Domain.
My post, however, is not to debate the merits of gamification. In past few years, gamification has evolved more than an “emerging trend” and we have seen more corporates approach the idea. This is where Knolskape comes in. Knolskape is an award-winning immersive gamification and simulations company focusing on talent transformation. Rajiv Jayaraman founded this company in 2008.
Who is Rajiv Jayaraman?
Qualification wise, Rajiv is an INSEAD MBA and a BITS-Pilani alumnus, and a professor of technology management. But perform a cursory google search and you can find numerous links to his speeches at various conventions, notably TEDx where he speaks about Gamification in Learning and his venture Knolskape. These definitely point to the direction where Rajiv can be considered as a passionate and confident leader. You can hear those speeches here:
About Knolskape:
A report at moneycontrol.com writes the following about Knolskape, “Knolskape is a serious gaming and simulation company focused on training managers and aspiring management students at top B-schools. With clients in south East Asia, India, Middle East and the US, Knolskape creates multimedia case studies with immersive storylines for learners who go on to the next level after solving the previous ones.”.
Knolskape’s basic principle is based on implementing gamification. Their vision is to transform the way we learn using experiential methodologies. They have identified that corporate training is one-sided and passive. It does not focus on learner interaction, and their products aim to achieve that. Another aspect is making training portable. Learners can use any device anywhere to continue their training program. They have successfully implemented cloud learning / cloud-based technologies for building their products.
Product Lines:
The following are the key products that Knolskape has successfully launched in the market.
- AktivLearn : Gamified, Mobile-enabled LMS
- AktivCase : Case study platform that makes learning through case studies a hands-on process
- 20+ simulation products on topics ranging from leadership to technology management.
- Animated Video Based Learning Product
- Gamified E-learning on 20+ Professional Development Topics
You can know more about their product from their website:
Finances
Three years after its launch Knolskape has already started turning in profits. The company has revenues of 2.5 crore Rupees($500,000 approx) and expects to double it to Rupees 5 crore(1 million) in the coming year.
Key Clients
- Ernst and Young
- Kotak Life insurance
- Bajaj Finserv
- Vodafone
- Idea
- Edelweiss
Key Recognitions:
- Red Herring Top 100 Asia Award
- NASSCOM Top 10 Emerge
- Edustar of the year
- APAC HR Congress Award for Best Simulation Solution
The board of directors at KnolSkape are:
Vijay Kalangi: Vijay is currently the Chief Technology Officer at KNOLSKAPE, where he has managed the conception/development of a large portfolio of products ranging from business simulations to experiential learning products to assessment software.
Sharda Kalyanraman: The top finance person of this company. She is also working for Google as Sr Finance Project analyst.
They have academicians, Learning and development heads, ex-CEOs supporting and mentoring them.The top leaders in this organization have the required skills, and together they are steering the company in the right direction.
Key positives in my opinion:
- Knolskate is growing mainly in India, where there are no major key players in the same domain. India’s young demographic profile and the presence of large educational institutes make it an attractive market for Knolskape.
- They have realistic goals. They are targeting the market one sector at a time. Currently, they have specialized in training managers and financial subjects.
- They are product based as compared to service based. This proves that their vision is to create products that can cater to many clients by customization
Key areas of improvement:
I did a search of top 20 organizations that are emerging in gamification in learning industry. Knolskape featured among those. Most of the players are already international, and in order for Knolskape to gain that foothold they need to up their ante.
For the starters, their website should contain some free demos. Right now all they have is a request for a demo. But as a prospective client, if you want to create a great first impression, they should have some free demos embedded on the website.
For example http://www.enspire.com/
Finally, as an instructional designer working in the corporate for a decade, I feel Knoskape has targeted a specific, realistic, and doable set of goals. Their vision is admirable, and I think they are in the right direction for reaching it. They will certainly be an organization to watch out for in the coming years.
