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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
The subject or content we want to train
on is very serious [important, critical, legal, etc.] Won't a game-based
approach trivialize it?
This is a valid question, asked frequently by trainers, content owners, and senior management. The answer is a clear and resounding NO. Making something enjoyable does not make it trivial, and can, if done well, make it much more memorable. Lockheed has used Dilbert for its Ethics training. Bankers Trust used a Doom-style game (with the violence removed) for policy training. PricewaterhouseCoopers uses a game for difficult and serious product training. The Boston Consulting Group uses a game to engage clients in the business improvement process. Companies use games for sexual harassment prevention training. Games are part of serious medical and legal training. In each case the question was asked, and the conclusion was that the power of engagement is more important than declaring something "serious."
One very important caveat here is that while the context for delivery can be engaging and fun, the content itself must be perceived as serious, involving and right on target. I have watched trainees navigate through the Doom-like worlds of Straight Shooter! With competitive glee, and when they get a question suddenly switch to a hypercritical business mode - "that can't be right" - "let me check the policy" - "that's poorly written" - "who wrote that question anyway?" --- and then switch right back into game mode once the question is disposed of to their satisfaction.
The message must be "this is serious stuff, but we want you to have fun learning it." Learning when you are in a relaxed state is much more effective.
The companies that choose to go the other way, and make important yet boring subjects (e.g. values, ethics, compliance etc.) as "realistic" as possible, with true-to-life videos and scenarios and very little humor, fun, play, or entertainment, wind up with dull training that appeals mainly to the executives who paid for it.
But Isn't game-based learning frivolous?
If you learned a country's capital while chasing Carmen Sandiego, or an important date while playing Trivial Pursuit, or a fact while watching Who Wants to be a Millionaire, or an interesting lesson from making a wrong move in Sim City, does that change the nature of what you learned? Study after study shows that people learn better when they are relaxed and having fun. Good teachers throughout the ages have known this and used fun, play and games as part of their repertoire to increase attention and retention.. It is possible through well-designed games to teach not only facts, but judgment, reasoning, behavior, skills, safety, morals, ethics, etc. The key is to combine the engagement power of games with the content we want people to know at the end - designing games which are fun, but unlike many commercial consumer games, not frivolous.
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