Archive notice: This article was originally published on November 17, 2008. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
After many years at school, in vocational training or at university, many people retain one overriding image of learning: it has to hurt. That is no longer true with serious gaming. Human-resources managers increasingly use these learning games to convey information. “The Persians knew as early as the sixth century that knowledge can also be acquired through play,” explained Linda Breitlauch, Europe’s first professor of game design, at Mediadesign University in Düsseldorf. “Anyone who plays chess automatically learns to develop strategic concepts.” Learning games are therefore nothing new. What is new is the trend toward using computer games in staff development.
Educational Reform for the Gaming Generation
The wave of computer-assisted learning games has spread from the consumer market into companies. Since the 1990s, the video-game market has been one of the world’s leading media segments. Revenue from console and computer games in Germany alone reached €2.14 billion in 2007. Two thirds of 14- to 29-year-olds use computer games. The market, often burdened by a negative image, has recently won support among educators through learning and fitness games. Providers such as Nintendo have succeeded with learning-oriented audiences through products including “Dr. Kawashima’s Brain Training” and the Wii console. Corporate education managers are now also taking advantage of this. They offer younger employees who grew up with the Game Boy and game consoles learning formats they know and accept from their private lives.
Key Industries Invest in Learning Games
Computer games are still at an early stage as a medium for serious knowledge transfer. To become widely established, the quality of educational game technology must match that of commercial games. At present, government institutions and large companies in key industries are the main investors in computer games—for example, the automotive industry, where customer-service employees learn about new product standards through 3D visualization and game-based tasks. To keep investment low, companies collaborate on game development. “Once a learning game has been designed, it can be used for years and adapted to individual requirements,” said Peter Schöner, Managing Director of development studio memoray and a speaker at LEARNTEC 2009.
Practice Makes Perfect
“Process-oriented business games are currently in particularly high demand,” Schöner reported. Business simulations teach students about relationships in economic life. In a strategy game for geriatric-care training, learners coordinate different care measures, make investments and plan staffing, then receive feedback on whether the quality of care has improved. In the best case, players do not even notice that they are acquiring knowledge if the educational software is packaged as a good game. One example is the 3D adventure game “Techforce,” intended to interest young people in training for the metalworking and electrical industries. Players play, have fun and learn along the way. It is clear why computer games are suitable for learning: as with vocabulary practice, players do the same thing repeatedly. They repeat a level until they have internalized the activities or knowledge they need.
Rating: Educational!
A number of studies now demonstrate the success of serious games. They show that games challenge learners more strongly than conventional learning and also create winners, an important incentive to learn. Re-Mission, a 3D game developed to support the treatment of children with cancer, quickly produced therapeutic benefits: actively playing against their own illness accelerated recovery. “The serious background of many games in particular has contributed to society’s acceptance of serious games,” emphasized game-design professor Breitlauch. “Three years ago, serious gaming was not yet a topic at LEARNTEC,” she recalled. “A distinct market for professional learning games is now developing.”
Serious Games at LEARNTEC 2009
LEARNTEC has embraced this highly topical subject and is devoting an entire day to serious gaming. On February 5, 2009, Prof. Gernold Frank of FHTW Berlin will moderate the Serious Games session at LEARNTEC 2009, featuring:
Prof. Linda Breitlauch, Mediadesign University Düsseldorf: Fundamentals and Development of Serious Games
Peter Schöner, memoray: Conception, Architecture and Design of Business Games and Strategy Simulations
Holm Dressler: From Video Games to Holovision
Vicente Arioli, Cornelsen Verlag: Genius—At the Center of Power: From Game to Project
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