the e-learner


Kids stuff? I


Games are for grown-ups too


love games. Computer games, card games, board games. Especially board games. I have over 50 of all themes and types. If it has a huge tome of a rule book and hundreds of dice (D-20s for those in the know), I’ll be there in a flash. Dragons, wizards, quests for honour? It’s my thing. My friends and I fall quite nicely into the ‘geek’


category. And if I’m honest we’re quite proud of that. But as we approach our late 20s, it’s started to raise a few eyebrows. “So, you stay in and play board games?” they ask. “Yes,” I reply. “And eat cake. There’s usually cake.” It’s often quite difficult for people to understand why someone of my age would be interested in what seems like a childish pursuit. It’s a common belief that games of any kind are for children and there’s nothing to be gained by adults playing along. I really struggled to believe that was true.


When I joined Mind Click and the e-learning


world, I was delighted to discover that gamification was a hot topic. Creating learning solutions that resembled the game play I was so fond of was happening and really successful. This style of learning design was presenting material to


learners in a totally different way; immersing them in a story, giving them control of animated characters and awarding them with achievements. Yet there was still some negativity surrounding game-based learning. People would often comment that it was too childish and potentially patronising for some learners who, it was felt, would absolutely reject learning of this kind. Now, I know that games aren’t everyone’s cup of


tea, but I was interested to find out just how willing people were to do something that may be outside their comfort zone or seen as a little childish. I took the opportunity to test this at a recent e-learning conference. As part of the Mind Click stand, I created a small area where visitors were invited to play a game. The experiment was simple: the player was asked to view several images (some extremely unpleasant, others more appealing) on a screen, answer a question and then place their hand into a box, the contents of which were unknown. Ultimately, the experiment highlighted some interesting points about emotional design. The real surprise for me, though, was the wide range of people willing to take part. Over 100 people, from a mix of ages and backgrounds, took part in the game,


There are people who want to take an adventure with their learning, and it’s our job to help them discover it


each responding with interest, excitement and, yes, a childlike sense of play and discovery. I know it’s only a small sample, and nothing near scientific, but the results were intriguing. We may be limiting ourselves by assuming too much about our learners. Of course, game-led learning isn’t for everyone, but we often make decisions about what our learners will or will not respond to and perhaps we are assuming too much. Putting learners into pigeonholes could be more detrimental to our courses than we think. Is it time to challenge learners with something new and unexpected, breaking into their comfort zone rather than giving them something we assume they will accept? As an acting student I was encouraged to take a different view on learning, to shake off what I thought it meant to learn, and start looking at everything with fresh eyes. Spending hours on playground games and remembering how, as children, everything seemed amazing, allowed me as an adult to absorb information in a new way. It’s clear that, given the opportunity, there are people who want to take an adventure with their learning, and it’s our job to help them discover it.


Maybe being a big kid isn’t such a bad thing


after all. Anyone for a game? I might even let you win. This time…


Sophie Tilley is an instructional designer at Mind Click @the_e_learner


Read our full whitepaper here! Whitepaper: Is your compliance training creating apathy?


Learn why compliance training is different to other learning and why it needs different instructional approaches to be effective.


Gain valuable insights into the following: • How compliance training can result in positive behavioural change • Knowledge, attitudes & behaviour - the pillars of effective compliance training • Programme features & instructional approaches that work • Meaningful measures for compliance training


Tel: +44 (0)1926 523 149 | Email: info.emea@saiglobal.com | Web: www.saiglobal.com/CS4-whitepaper1


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32