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Try Asking “Which Games?" Instead of "When Games?"

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Fri Aug 05 2016

Try Asking “Which Games?" Instead of "When Games?"
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People often ask me, "When are games the right solution?" My quick answer is, “When are they not?” However, I encourage them to shift the question to this one: “How do I choose the right game for my learning need?” because I am convinced that a game-based approach works in vastly more situations than it does not, and I love playing games with people to help illustrate this fact. At ATD 2016, I facilitated play of three different games in the span of 10 minutes to help people recognize the power that games can have in learning. 

In those 10 minutes, we played:

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  • Cat and Mouse: a game that illustrated how a simple role switch can completely change our motivations and actions.

  • Newton: a game that helped illustrate the five modes of dealing with conflict.

  • Numbers Race: a game that showed how drills or practice work to memorize key information can be converted into a mentally engaging challenge for learners.

Games can be used far more broadly than many think. When should you use a game? How about when you want to:

  • Immerse participants in a learning experience, motivating them to expend time and mental energy on learning, as opposed to just clicking “Next” or passively listening to a PowerPoint-driven presentation.

  • Motivate learners to achieve a goal, arousing their interest and involvement using a challenge to achieve.

  • Provide learners with meaningful practice that includes specific, timely feedback and opportunities to retry and improve.

  • Provide a safe means of practice or "trying on" different roles and getting learners to view things from different perspectives.

  • Keep learners focused on content that would otherwise be tough to stay engaged in. 

A well-designed game immerses the learner in the learning experience, motivating the learner to master a challenge or achieve a goal. It provides the learner with meaningful practice. It offers specific, timely feedback that constantly cues learners as to how well or poorly they are doing. It requires a turn-based approach, which means people get spaced repetition, repeating skills over time. 

Games can often provide a vehicle for story creation as people find a safe, comfortable way to role-play. Critically, they also often elicit an emotional reaction within players, and emotion acts as a powerful form of "cement" for memory. Coincidentally, these features all match the elements required for someone to learn something, as illustrated in the image below:

Boller\_Figure1.png

I will be at the ATD Core 4 Conference in late September doing a session called “The Fundamentals of Learning Game Design.” Hopefully some of you can join me and play to learn!

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