Archive for Training & Education

The spread of “news games”

CNET recently published this interesting article about news games — simple online games that are designed to promote or simply riff off of a current news topic (like the spread of swine flu.) The article cites several examples, including Swinefighter, a game in which players are tasked with killing off viruses within 20 seconds. Swinefighter incorporates a running total of all the viruses killed by everyone who has played the game, so at the time CNET published it’s article, we know that 14.5 million virtual viruses have been wiped out by players.

This begs the question: why isn’t the government using games like these to educate the public? It doesn’t cost much to develop a simple online flash game, and the cost certainly pales in comparison to the harms caused by a public that is both panicked by and undereducated about pandemic-related issues. Or in the words of the article: “It’s a shame the innovation (of providing CDC advice about swine flu in Swinefighters) was left to two entrepreneurs.”

May 17th, 2009 | Category: Society & Culture, Training & Education | Leave a comment

Games that teach finance

In a new game, Celebrity Calamity, individuals learn how to handle their finances.  What makes it especially interesting is that it is aimed at an unusual group of individuals who we don’t usually think of as game players – lower income women, especially single mothers. It turns out that games can make a big difference, as summarized here: players “showed a 15-30% increase in confidence in their financial skills, and a 55-70% improvement in knowledge of concepts like credit limits, credit vs. debit, APR, and finance charges.”  The game is made by Enspire Learning and the D2D Fund, and, in the interest of disclosure, I have been an advisor to the project.

April 15th, 2009 | Category: Training & Education | Comments (1)

TMR ranks Changing the Game one of 10 best books on training

The Training Media Review has an in-depth review of the portions of our book dealing with games for teaching and training, and put us in their top ten list. They give us four stars, and called us one of the best products of 2008, writing that “Corporate training executives now have a single source for facts and case examples (ammunition, so to speak) to assist in the argument to justify investment in gaming genres.”

October 14th, 2008 | Category: Recruiting & HR, Reviews & Interviews, Training & Education | Leave a comment

Allstate uses games to test mature drivers

I was particularly intrigued by news that Allstate is piloting a program which seeks to determine if playing video games could make better drivers out of those over the age of 50. This news caught my eye for two reasons:

  1. If the study is conclusive and positive, Allstate plans to offer discounts to mature drivers who pass similar online tests, and,
  2. The games in question are not driving simulators, as one might assume. They are various types of “brain-challenging” games designed to test abilities such as “visual alertness.” InSight, the developer of the games, claims that they can reduce dangerous driving maneuvers by up to 40 percent and significantly increase reaction rates.

Jewel Diver is one of five InSight games being tested by Allstate. In Jewel Diver, players must track multiple moving objects — fish marked with red gems — as they float around in an ocean with other, similar looking fish.

This article is a nice illustration of one of the arguments in Changing the Game: that games can be used to educate, screen, and market to people using abstract gameplay and virtual metaphors, not just simulations. (The marketing angle is particularly compelling, in this case. Imagine the following: “Congratulations, you scored in the top 20% of all players! Odds are, you’re a better driver than the average Joe. Allstate is pleased to offer you 10% off your insurance premium…”)

October 11th, 2008 | Category: Marketing & Advertising, Training & Education | Comments (1)

Educational milestone: the $3m “Games for Learning Institute”

Microsoft and New York University have announced the creation of the Games for Learning Institute (G4LI), which will identify the qualities of video games that best engage students, and develop personalized teaching strategies that harness those qualities. While Microsoft and NYU are apparently the key founding organizations, G4LI participants include Columbia University, the City University of New York, Dartmouth College, Parsons, Polytechnic Institute of NYU, the Rochester Institute of Technology and Teachers College. Total seed funding for G4LI: a cool $3 million.

October 10th, 2008 | Category: Training & Education | Leave a comment

Training (and screening) air traffic controllers with games

They New York Times has published a very nice article about how the F.A.A. uses games to train air traffic controllers and, independently, to screen candidates for the position. Some notable quotes from the article:

  • The sophisticated video games are meant to address a serious real-world problem: Nearly two-thirds of the agency’s 15,000 air traffic controllers will no longer be working by 2017 when they reach the mandatory retirement age of 56… Experts say that having a high proportion of trainees and rookies in towers and radar rooms may reduce safety. To meet the challenges, the agency is turning to electronic tower simulators, which one instructor described as “a big Xbox.”
  • Officials say they are hoping that the use of the simulators will cut training time 20 percent to 60 percent. Training costs average $74,000 a controller but vary widely, being higher for the busiest, most complex airports.
  • The screening process for candidates has gone high-tech, too. In the 1990s the F.A.A. developed a six-hour computerized aptitude test that it refines from time to time… Then come game-like tests, designed by psychologists. In one, a bit like Tetris or Frogger, three parallel belts, running at different speeds, drop colored letters toward the bottom of the screen. The test-taker must try to grab each letter before it drops, and put it in a bin of the appropriate color… The hard part comes when the screen disappears and the computer asks questions like: How many bins were in use? How full were they? What letters were still on the belts? Scoring well on the test is supposed to reveal the qualities that make a good air traffic controller, including the ability to work under pressure and maintain situational awareness.

Who would you rather have guiding your flight: an air traffic controller who learned everything from videos and on-site observation, or an air traffic controller whose curriculum included meaningful (if virtual) practice?

October 10th, 2008 | Category: Recruiting & HR, Training & Education | Leave a comment

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.