Part 3: Games and Employees


Annotations for Chapter 5

Types of Training Games

In the book, we mentioned that there are many technical ways to categorize training games, and point you to this site if you want to learn more. Clark Aldrich has one of the best, most comprehensive sites on the subject of games and simulations.  His extensive page on genres offers many ways of thinking about types of training games.  More technically, the Education Arcade has a lot of academic research on the same subject.

Selected Games Referenced in the Chapter

 

Annotations for Chapter 6

Teamwork Games

You can see the report from IBM and Seriosity on leadership and virtual worlds here: Virtual Worlds, Real Leadership.

Experience Games

In the keys to success section, we make reference to Clark Aldrich’s advice on designing simulations. The eLearning Guild’s report on Immersive Learning Systems could also be useful, but requires you to be a guild member.

System Games

You can experience the beer game for yourself, and Prof. John Sterman provides an excellent introduction. We also discuss the benefits of creating your own system simulations.  Forio has some good tips on how to do this, but, if you are really serious, you should look at MIT’s System Dynamics study pages.

 

Annotations for Chapter 7

Stand-Alone Recruiting Games

You can download America’s Army here.

You can see a bit of basic training in this video:

 

Also, one of the more interesting aspects of America’s Army is that it makes you go through elaborate classes and take tests on virtual paper to qualify for special abilities in the game, such as being a medic.  It was these classes that helped at least two game players save lives in real life.  A sample of a class and a test are below, just ignore the first few seconds of Spanish titles.

 

You can download Job of Honor here.

 

Recruiting in Virtual Worlds

You can see a Second Life recruiting event below:

Changing the Game (order via Amazon or B&N) is a fast-paced tour of the many ways in which games, already an influential part of millions of people’s lives, have become a profoundly important part of the business world. From connecting with customers, to attracting and training employees, to developing new products and spurring innovation, games have introduced a new level of fun and engagement to the workplace.

Changing the Game introduces you to the ways in which games are being used to enhance productivity at Microsoft, increase profits at Burger King, and raise employee loyalty at Sun Microsystems, among other remarkable examples. It is proof that work not only can be fun--it should be.