Never before has our ability to learn been so essential to our success! In the information age the year by year increase in innovation is exponential, in order to keep up with the unprecedented growth of this fast paced society we need to evolve the way we learn. We must look at new and inventive ways of educating, training and engaging people; this is where Serious Games present an exciting opportunity.
What are Serious Games? Perhaps the most suitable definition is ‘the application of game design and technology, for non-entertainment sectors’. Computer games are plagued with controversy and have received much negative criticism. Strangely enough, it is for many of the same reasons that games are heavily scrutinised that they also make great tools for learning. Games are all about immersion, they can relax you and then they can engage you in the psychological state of Flow, where we are most susceptible to learning.
Looking deeper, games have numerous strengths as a learning medium, such as the ability to accommodate all styles of learner, visual, auditory and kinaesthetic. Absorbing material in as many ways as possible is the best method to ensure maximum comprehension. Again games strike gold here; the iterative nature of games increases retention, the challenge factor forces users to reflect and apply their learning, facilitating metacognition.
Games are exceptional tools for encouraging both lateral and vertical thinking, their non-didactic nature allows users to quickly engage with them and innately help to improve a variety of core skills such as IT, new media literacy and communication. Furthermore, games have all the tracking, assessment and monitoring capabilities of traditional e-learning.
From small local initiatives through to large multinationals, people are using the power of games. Companies such as IBM and CISCO are using games to train; broadcasters such as Channel 4 and the BBC are using games to engage their target audiences; and others are using them for reasons ranging from product promotion to CSR. Games are a medium to be seriously considered when implementing a learning or communication strategy.
Will games replace real-life training? Will the learning of the future take place in a Star Trek style Holodeck? Maybe, we don’t know… but if it does we will be there to embrace it, will you?
