The concept of using games for learning is a very popular topic right now. It is also a controversial topic, as there are people who support games for learning, and others who question their value. Part of this divide is the existing confusion regarding how games support learning, and what research-based approaches are most effective.

In this session you will explore the most current research findings related to applying games in corporate learning and training environments. You will discuss how you can apply the research findings via tips for implementing game-based solutions. You will examine the skills needed to build effective game-based training programs, learn why many organizations struggle to get started in games, and get lessons to take away from other organizations’ successful implementations.

In this session, you will learn:

• The most current games-research findings
• Which findings are most relevant to your game programs
• New heuristics for game implementation
• What new research might bolster your case for incorporating games

Audience:
Novice designers, project managers, managers, and directors.

Technology discussed in this session:
Games.

Gamification is one of the hottest buzzwords in the learning world, yet its true benefits are not yet proven or fully understood. We need stories about what works and what doesn’t to enable us to grasp and harness the power and possibilities of this shiny new toy. Instructional designers, trainers, consultants, and others need to know how gaming can work alongside or integrated with both better-known and emerging tools.

In this case-study session you will explore the theory and practice of gamification with concrete stories of both success and failure and the key ingredients of each. You will learn the failures of Success Factors’ first gamification effort, and the lessons learned. You will also examine how it applied those lessons to its next gamification initiative, learn how it succeeded, and see the results. You will walk through the entire step-by-step process of the project, including program design, game mechanics, and technical details.

In this session, you will learn:

• How to create a successful gamification initiative
• How to apply basic game elements to a learning event
• The most important pitfalls to avoid
• Step-by-step game creation
• How to gain executive buy-in for learning games
• How to judge what aspects of gamification will and won’t work for your audience
• How to optimize content for gamification
• Quick wins for game mechanics independent of your platform

Audience:
Intermediate designers, developers, project managers, and managers, ideally with a basic knowledge of game design and mobile-application design and development.

Technology discussed in this session:
Responsive design, Google Docs, SurveyMonkey, and Amazon Web Services.

As training professionals we know that practice and repetition builds skills, reinforces knowledge, and aids information retention and recall. However our traditional learning solutions and tools often struggle to provide practice opportunities that allow learners to apply knowledge and build skills in realistic, risk free environments. Even when we have practice opportunities in our curriculum, they may often lack the engagement that motivates learners to repeat and build proficiency and/or mastery over time, and they are difficult to scale to larger audiences.

In this session you will explore the power of games as a tool for learner practice. You will examine the design and development considerations that can help you create learning games that scale across large groups. You will discuss the differences between gamification and learning games, and understand when and where the two should and shouldn’t be used. You will leave this session understanding how games can be used to build measurable proficiency over time for a wide audience.

In this session, you will learn:

• How to identify opportunities for game-based learning within your business
• How to design games and use game mechanics
• How game experiences can be indicators of proficiency and/or performance
• Why you should think about building reusable-content engines

Audience:
Novice to advanced designers, developers, project managers, managers, and directors with a basic knowledge of instructional design and experience with games.

Technology discussed in this session:
Game mechanics, Flash, HTML, C#, SQL, CallLab, and FlexQuest Creator.

When well-conceived and executed, games can greatly enhance learner engagement, but randomly adding game principles to learning can result in colossal failure and many hours of wasted time. One way to assure a positive impact on learning is to approach designs from the game perspective first, rather than trying to gamify existing or planned learning.

In this session, you will learn about a proven approach to designing games for learning that maximizes the likelihood of success, especially when the games are built with a specific purpose in mind. You will explore how this approach works for both physical and virtual games, including game-based learning deployed on mobile devices. After exposure to the process and key principles, you will apply some of the core concepts to create a game for a fictional business problem.

In this session, you will learn:

• How to design games for learning
• How to devise an appropriate game metaphor that aligns with your culture and audience
• How to identify which game elements are appropriate for your game
• When and how to test and validate your game

Audience:
Novice to advanced designers, developers, managers, and directors.

Technology discussed in this session:
Paper-and-pencil design, Articulate Storyline, Articulate Studio ’13, Microsoft PowerPoint, and mobile devices.

Games and gamification are the latest fads, but getting learners to play games only exposes them to learning content and develops first-level reflexes. This risks confining learning to superficial understanding of the subject matter. We need games to solidify what the trainee has learned, but to do that we must redefine the responsibilities and the role of trainers.

In this session you will explore how you can use games to solidify what was learned by simulating real scenarios, placing the subject of learning back in its context, and creating perspective to build awareness of the impact of choices and alternatives. You will examine how this is possible via games in which the learners themselves author the content. You will leave this session understanding how learner-created games immerse learners in the content and enhance logic, strategy, style, and form, regardless of the subject matter.

In this session, you will learn:

• How a new generation of tools is about to emerge and transform training techniques
• How learners can be authors of content and be motivated by that role
• How trainers can plan their training sessions around learners’ creativity
• How non-linear logic leads to a deeper perception of the subject matter
• How collaboration can be an exciting and creative experience
• How creating permanent open-ended objects leads to longer-term engagement in learning
• How trainers can share and support one another in original ways

Audience:
Novice to advanced designers, developers, project managers, managers, and directors with a sensitivity to the importance of motivation as a factor of effective learning.

Technology discussed in this session:
ChatScaper.

Gamification is the integration of game mechanics, or game dynamics, into a learning experience. Game-based training can be defined as a game designed for the purpose of solving a problem. However, these words are being used in parallel by the industry and it can be quite confusing.

In this session you will learn to clarify the differences between gamification and game-based training. You will explore examples of both from all around the industry. You will discuss the examples in detail to understand each of the learning experiences and explore the best practices in their development. You will leave this session with an understanding of the differences between serious games, gamification, and gameful design, and with the ability to begin applying the principles of each in your learning programs.

In this session, you will learn:

• What serious games are and how they can be used for learning
• What gamification is and how it can be used for learning
• What gameful design is
• Best practices for serious game development
• Best practices for gamification
• Best practices for game-based learning

Audience:
Novice and intermediate designers, developers, project managers, and managers.

Technology discussed in this session:
N/A

Organizations often need to communicate critical knowledge and motivate learners of varying proficiency to achieve specific performance levels. This commonly requires delivering a range of content across disciplines. It can be challenging to design impactful learning that goes beyond transmitting information that results in consistent performance.  

In this case-study session you will discuss how these design challenges were addressed in an online game simulation for respiratory care. You will learn how gamifying a course allows adapting content and remediation to the learner, reducing the training time for those needing positive reinforcement, while promoting a behavior change that sticks for others. You will explore when incorporating game-like elements is beneficial to promoting individualized learning in order to achieve performance objectives and content retention. You will discuss the course-design process, learn tips for game-simulation development, and discover how they designed branching to capture learner-performance data for performance coaching.

In this session, you will learn:

• A procedure for converting content into a game simulation with branching based on individual learner proficiency
• A strategy for selecting gaming elements most conducive to the course objectives and motivating to the target audience
• How to design and track branching and provide immediate feedback and remediation within a game-simulation course
• A process for receiving SME-review feedback and content development approval for a branching game
• How to use LMS tracking and a SCORM report for additional personalized performance coaching and course evaluation

Audience:
Novice to advanced designers, developers, and project managers with basic instructional-design knowledge. While a general understanding of SCORM or learning management systems may be helpful, this knowledge is not required to benefit from the session.

Technology discussed in this session:
Flash programming, SCORM, and LMS tracking and reporting.