Motivation is key to the success of any course and we make sure that we use game-like learning to engage and entertain students while they learn.

You will literally, be dragging them away from their PC at the end of the lesson.

Have you ever noticed how children who seem incapable of saving a file can operate complex mobile phones and text blindfolded. Some of them can play computer games that would leave most adults confused.

This illustrates a basic principle of human nature: if we are motivated to do something we will do better than if we are not motivated.

 For all of us, but especially children, motivation comes from three main things: reward, risk and enjoyment.

When we do well at something we want to do it more. Success and reward go hand-in-hand. When writing Advantage National we looked closely at what made children and adults play computer games and one of the key factors was reward and a sense of achievement. Watch a child play even the most simple computer game and you will see them coming back time and time again to try to beat their high score.

We have incorporated this reward-based approach to all of the learning in Advantage National, this does not mean that every exercise is a computer game, all of the tasks have sound learning objectives, but we do introduce a score to each task. We encourage students to re-play tasks to improve their score and their scores are prominently displayed in the software.

We also make use of an “achievement system” for the skills audits. Success in the testing mode of an audit gives the student a “green” level which is displayed on screen. Students get almost obsessive about turning all of the skills green without realising that they are learning ICT skills at the same time.

It is amazing to see a student having to be forced to shut the software down at the end of the lesson because they just want one more go at cracking mail merge!

Risk goes hand in hand with reward in computer games and we include an element of risk in every exercise. In Advantage National it is OK to fail, just like in a computer game; all you need to do is go back and try again.

Borrowing from the classic games of the past, a number of the exercises have three lives; make a mistake and you lose a life. Lose all three and it is game over! You will often see student's concentration increase as they start to lose lives.

Even if there are no lives on screen their score affects how well they do. Every exercise is marked by Ella, the on-screen avatar. At the end of the task, if they have not done well enough they will have to repeat the task until they pass.

If students enjoy what they are doing they will learn more; that is one of the key principles behind Advantage National. It also makes your life easier because if students enjoy what they are doing they will be better behaved!

We use interaction to make sure students are always involved with the software. We use games and game-like elements to make them want to come back for more.

We use varying learning styles to make sure they do not get bored. This student-centric approach to learning ensures that students like using the software and therefore learn and work more effectively.