FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

I have a wide range of ages in my training population. Can Digital Game-Based Learning accommodate them all?

Some form of Digital Game-Based Learning exists that will engage a population of any age. However it is not clear that the same game will engage everyone across a broad age range.

This can sometimes be accomplished via an imitation of a mass medium game such as a Jeopardy! or Millionaire, or a mystery type game. But it may be better in some cases to offer more than one game alternative.

Another important factor that I have found is to offer the same learning without the game format to anyone who wants it, so that no one is forced to play a game they do not like. If one can switch in and out of the game format at will and still continue the learning path, many people (in our experience roughly half) will start with the game and later switch out, while the others will start without the game, exploring it only after they get bored with the non-game learning approach.

What about people who don't like games?

However great the power of Digital Game-Based Learning may be, there is no value in forcing someone to play a game that he or she does not want to play. As discussed above, it is possible, and usually valuable, to offer the same learning without the game format to anyone who wants it, so that no one is forced to play a game they do not like. If the design is such that one can switch in and out of the game format at will and still continue the learning path, many people (in our experience roughly half) will start with the game and later switch out, while the others will start without the game, exploring it only after they get bored with the non-game learning approach. Since the goal is to get the learning done, this is fine.

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