By Rick Nigol
When surveying the 100 folks we had
in our webinar this week on how to integrate gaming and simulations
into eLearning, I wasn't that surprised that a great many were
computer gamers themselves. They played games like World of
Warcraft, The Sims, Sim City, Civilization, Flight Simulator, and
various sports-related games. It's not just kids playing computer
games, many adults also enjoy the challenge and stimulation of games
and can become as thoroughly engaged with these as the
young'uns.
And, as I mentioned in previous postings, real
learning takes place while people are playing these games and
simulations. They are analyzing situations, reacting, making
decisions, getting feedback, and trying again. It is also important
to note that gamers rarely succeed at first. For most games and
simulations, you have to learn from your early failures and apply
that learning to succeed the next time. And people do play games and
simulations over and over in trying to master their intricacies.
They are fully engaged in doing this, not because it is easy, but
because it is hard. It stretches them and forces them to improve.
One participant in our webinar referred to games and simulations as
being "hard fun."
Why can't more of the eLearning we produce also
be "hard fun"? Why can't we produce learning environments that
engage and motivate users to reach success, as they do when they are
playing games? Well, we can do this - with a little bit of
imagination and a willingness to approach training from a difficult
angle.
Our special webinar guest, Christopher Keesey
(left) of Ohio University Without Boundaries, shared a demonstration
of an eLearning course they developed to train Risk Managers in the
health care sector. They could have just laid out all the key
elements of risk management, liability and negligence issues and
tested learners on these. Instead, they created a simulation whereby
the learner is placed in the role of new Risk Manager at a hospital
wherein the learner must react to a series of realistic
events.
In one instance, for example, a patient has a bad
fall. You, as the new Risk Manager, must examine all the relevant
documentation (e.g. incident report, interview transcripts,
radiologist's report, definitions of liability and negligence, etc.)
and then decide what you will do. Along the way, you have an
experienced mentor (in the form of an avatar) that provides feedback
on your decisions.
The point of showing the Ohio university example
was to emphasize that we do not have invest a fortune in the
development of games and simulations as do the gaming companies when
they create a retail product. It is not the glitz and production
values that make a training game or simulation successful. Sure,
engaging the eyes and ears in creative ways is helpful, but the most
important task is to engage the learner's brain. And that is what
good eLearning is all about. Like any good adult learning, you must
provide a realistic context for the learner to be exposed to and in
which to apply new concepts and information. That's how learning can
become "hard fun."
Here are some resources that were mentioned in
yesterday's session:
Books
Avatar Software
Recorded Webinar
If you missed the webinar, here is a link to the
recording:
Rick
Nigol is Co-Founder and Director
of Education for eLearn Campus.
If you're a regular reader or webinar fan, you'll
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