Creating Games-That-Teach

Fifty to 60% of the project inquiries we’ve received over the past year have included questions about Games-That-Teach. There exists both a curiosity about what’s possible and angst over their perceived complexity and application.

What are Games-That-Teach? Part of what creates angst is the broad definition of what a GTT is. Also known as Game-Based Learning, the simple definition, “a learning-based activity that challenges a participant to a contest or task with an outcome that is both measurable and comparable,” is broad enough to encompass many content delivery formats. These games are often used to help audiences better understand information, improve performance, manage situations, think critically, problem solve and make decisions.

GTTs generally fall into one of three categories – Edutainment, Training Simulators, and Serious Games. They may be as sophisticated as a virtual reality environment like World of Warcraft (over 11.5 million unique players worldwide) and the popular FarmVille (over 82.4 million unique players worldwide), or as basic as Tic-Tac-Toe or Scrabble. It is the element of challenge that differentiates games from other content delivery tools.

Do Games Work? Here’s where you can relax a bit. Despite being around since 1962, there’s little empirical evidence that digital games as a whole are better at teaching than other, more conventional content delivery formats. Again, the variety and complexity of game types combined with the huge differences in the goals and objectives they seek to achieve and a limited ability to collect meaningful performance metrics conspires to keep the value of game’s contributions to learning enveloped in a haze. We think we see a form but the edges are fuzzy. The reason we think games are effective in the learning environment is that they clearly support three dominant learning theories:

• Activity Theory: GTTs engage learners in non-threatening virtual environments, allowing them to participate in and experiment with the content.
• Situated Learning: GTTs can safely immerse learners in a variety of virtual environments
• Experiential Learning: during gameplay, learners gain knowledge, experience or practice through direct experience.

The quick answer to the question “Do Games Work?” is, on an epistemic level (games that help players learn to solve problems that don’t have standardized answers) an emphatic… probably, but on a training level the answer is, almost certainly.  In fact, Europe is well ahead of North America in the productive use of digital game-based learning in the corporate training environment.

Our most successful game-based learning programs have been those that incorporate game components as part of the pedagogy, using them to reinforce concepts and create deeper learning.

Creating the Right Game for The Situation – now is an appropriate time to get into the game pool by starting at the shallow end. Here are 10 heuristics that will help keep you afloat while you learn to swim:
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20 Common Terms and Definitions Found in E-Learning - Part I

When dealing with training, education, and marketing solutions, it doesn’t take long before we start hearing words we may not know. Below is a list of 20 common terms and definitions.

1. Analytics
   Refers to the analysis and derivation of data into usable information or statistics. Analytics are often presented visually or numerically and are used to understand your audience, where they are succeeding, where they are failing, your site’s use, and any other number of variables.
   
2. Animation
   Animation can be broken into two areas. First, it can be presented as 2d or 3d, and in a realistic or stylized representation of objects, people, and places. They take place over time and are often used to visually describe a story, a theory, an idea, a process, a feature, or a benefit. Second, animation can be used within a user interface to lead the user’s eye to focus on something specific or guide them to the next section within a course. The iPhone is a good example of this.
   
3. Avatar
   A virtual representation of a user. Avatars take on many styles such as cartoons, real photos, and even an image of a favorite sport, hobby, pet, or event. Avatars can help users customize their experience and interact with others.
   


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6 Ways to Extend User Experiences Through Mobile Devices

More people are using mobile devices to handle their everyday computer tasks. Given three minutes and my iPhone, I can check my work and personal emails, my schedule, the news, the weather, and sometimes even get in a game of Tetris. It, like so many mobile devices, is usable, engaging, efficient, informative, and scalable. This mobile convenience should carry through training and marketing solutions as well. Unfortunately, often due to certain limitations of each mobile device and their short shelf life, there is often not a credible mobile counterpart to most training applications. To bridge the gaps, here are 6 ways to extend the user experience of your web or CD-ROM based app through mobile devices.

1. Limit Your Limitations
   It is often said that the difficulty in developing mobile experiences is that there are too many custom devices, all with unique technologies that need unique solutions, and therefore too many limitations to justify the development price. In reality, you can often find that two or three devices, or types of devices, make up a majority of what your audience uses. This may not always be the case, but survey your audience, you may find out that that most use iPhones and Blackberries, or maybe they tend to use more generalized cell phones. There is nothing wrong with developing towards a couple specific types of devices if it makes sense. By understanding what devices are typically used by your audience, you can limit the limitations, save time and money.
   


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Illumen’s New Reel

Illumen has updated our demo reel with a few new projects to show off some of our current work. We are excited and proud to show off what we have worked so hard on. We always strive to push ourselves harder and create better and better work that is always educational, informative, engaging, and flat out enjoyable to look at and fun to interact with. We are keeping busy so expect this reel to be updated again soon. Check it out!

A Look at Personas

When defining the best solution to any project, one step within the discovery process is the creation and use of personas. User personas are fictitious characters who represent unique groups of users. We use personas to understand how different groups of users will use a website and application. By focusing on how a persona interacts with a website, navigates to content and through content, understands and retains the content, we can begin to understand the different user experiences that occur. These user experiences must fulfill the goals, objectives, and needs. This step can also help determine new goals, objectives, and needs as well as limitations users may have.

It is a good practice to find two or three user personas and one or two administrative personas. But each opportunity is unique and can derive any number of unique persona. First we must understand the different user personas. To do this we must understand the audience(s). This can be done by talking with our clients, their audiences, defining surveys, focus groups, looking at demographics, and general research. A lot of specific information can arise such as (to name a few):

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Games-That-Teach – Simple Works!

We’re well beyond the debate as to whether games-that-teach enhance the delivery of learning content (they do), so why aren’t we seeing more of them? The two biggest challenges we encounter are:

1. The perception that they take a long time to design and build and are, subsequently, very expensive.
2. A perceived need to be the next incarnation of World of Warcraft in order to capture the learner’s attention.

We were at an educational gaming conference a couple years back, where a grant was awarded for the design and production of a game prototype in support of a specific curriculum. Twenty-seven months and tens of thousands of dollars later the project is still in development. The developers are the only beneficiaries of learning in that scenario.

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Part 4 - Illumen’s Guide to eLearning - Types of Learners

There are libraries of books defining the many types of learners. We can usually drill down to three categories which are: Auditory, Visual, Tactile.

Listening, Verbal or Auditory Learners connect more dots through listening. Audio descriptions, storytelling, sound effects, and audio cues are better comprehended. If you want to connect better with this type of learner, try using voice over or record a podcast. When using a spacial based learning environment, sound effects and environmental noises that relate to your topic can often help your user focus as it will immerse them in the content.

If you want to teach someone how to change a bicycle tire, record audio that gives a very detailed description of what they are in store for. Make sure you pace the audio appropriately and be specific between one step and the next. Using just audio to explain to someone how to change a bike tire may not sound like the best approach, but what if you created a phone number for people to call into if they are stranded on the road and can’t recall the steps. They might not have a device that can show images and in an emergency situation it might be the best option.

Seeing or Visual Learners learn through imagery. They make better connections between information and themselves through seeing. Examples include videos, animations, infographics, photos, charts, graphs, and even visually laid out text. There are many ways to better connect with your user such as making a video that shows a process or shows motion graphics that represent the information being presented. Draw out what is being explained or use images that represent each step or the details of a product or theory.

If you want to teach someone how to change a bicycle tire, play a video showing all the steps. Show close up images of the tools and display text for key steps along the way.

Touching, Tactile and Kinesthetic Learners learn through interaction or by doing. The hands-on style of learning often allows for mistakes and changes to variables which express the cause and effect of the subject at hand. To connect with a tactile learner, create an interactive experience. Let the user make choices or interactively explore.

If you want to teach someone how to change a bicycle tire, give them a virtual tire to change and allow them to click the proper tools, click and drag the tire and flat tube off the rim in the proper order. You can even make a learning game by timing them and scoring them.

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Part 2 - Illumen’s Guide to eLearning - The Goals

Our journey begins by first understanding why we are taking a journey in the first place. Goals are the core when developing a learning program and the strategy, all information, activities, and assessments orbit this core. Defined goals give us a basis for what is important and what would make the end results of our program a success. Goals are often two-fold. Not only do we have goals and objectives, but so should our audience. Our goals are often financial, important to business, important to health and safety, analytical, required by law, and/or political, while our audience may just want to learn, is required to learn because of their education or job, or, like in the case of our bike enthusiast broken down on the side of the road or a homeowner who suddenly has a broken furnace, placed in a situation where learning is imperative. Goals have levels too. We might have one all encompassing goal for the learner as well as goals that specify what we want to see in our program. Here is a quick listing of my goals:

1. Having been in a prior situation requiring I change my bike tire, and having thoroughly perused the Internet, I was unhappy with the level of information explaining the act of changing a bicycle tire. I want an easy, yet more comprehensive way to educate someone on how to change a bike tire.
2. I want to better inform the audience about the tools required, the process, problems that often or rarely occur, and finding why the tire may have gone flat.
3. Provide an additional printable or mobile solution that is accessible to someone on the road, without the luxuries of possibly the Internet or a screen.

A few examples of goals we may find in other learning programs:

1. My business has a requirement that safety in the workplace training is required for all new employees and for every employee every two years. They must take a five questions assessment and pass with 85% accuracy to not be put on leave.
2. I teach a business course about project management. My goal is to educate PMs on what is important when testing to become PMP certified.
3. I sell custom made watches and need to explain to people how to care for their watch, and manage their watch, such as how to change the time and change the battery.

We could talk about learning goals forever and it is easy for a discussion on goals to turn into a want/don’t want list of everything including the kitchen sink. Time to move on.

Hey, Further Reading:
Planning a Course (Define course goals)

Illumen and the Chicago eLearning & Technology Showcase

Illumen is excited to once again sponsor the Chicago eLearning & Technology Showcase this year. It was a wonderful event last year full of great speakers covering such topics as the theories within eLearning, real world examples, and development processes. Registration will open in June.

Date: August 11, 2010, 8:30 am - 6:30 pm
Location: University Center, 525 S. State Street, Chicago, IL

From the Chicago eLearning & Technology Showcase website:

Celebrate the emergence of Chicago as a world-class center for elearning. Join hosts CISPI, CCASTD, and STC Chicago at the Chicago eLearning & Technology Showcase on August 11 for a cutting-edge exploration of new media and interactive elearning tools.

In 2008 and 2009, the Chicago eLearning & Technology Showcase earned the enthusiastic praise of attendees and presenters alike. This year, we are generating excitement again, as we celebrate the evolution of adult learning and performance.

The Showcase provides a full day of presentations with an emphasis on the role of new media and interactive methods in business and institutional training. Our speakers will explore all aspects of elearning—instructional design, development tools, media resources, virtual classrooms, social and interactive applications, mobile learning, rapid elearning, and more.

Part 1 - Illumen’s Guide to eLearning - The Beginning

eLearning is a vague term which Wikipidia defines as Learning conducted via electronic media, especially via the Internet. And of course, Wikipidia knows everything. When we talk about eLearning it can be easy to focus on the “e” which stands for electronic. Through electronic means we have the ability to be educated through, TV, mobile devices, digital notepads, CD-ROM, DVD, and any other Internet capable device. Through these devices we have the tools to educate through a combination of mediums (text, video, animation, audio, 3D, interactivity), derive analytics, and deliver information through a highly accessible platform. But, we must remember that the e really does just mean the delivery platform and our real focus needs to be on the Learning part of eLearning. Through Learning, our focus should be to create engaging, memorable experiences that lead our audience to better understand information, improve performance, manage situations, think critically, problem solve, and make decisions.

eLearning starts with a need or an idea and from there we can begin to develop goals, objectives, and strategy. Through this series, we are going to look at the process of creating an eLearning application that teaches the user how to change a bicycle or bike tire. Each part in the series will focus on a specific eLearning topic or step in the process. We will explore different technologies and different approaches to creating a simple course that does nothing more than teach our audience how to change a bike tire.

Oh, That’s Interesting:
The term eLearning is often written eLearning or e-learning. Which is correct? The good news is that they are both accepted among professionals, although if you look at Google Trends you will see that eLearning may be taking the cake. Google Trends: eLearning and e-Learning