Why using training games can help to deliver your content

I recently had a discussion with an organization about the use of a training game or games to review or deliver information on a website. Their concern is like many others when it comes to games: How will it be perceived? Is it too gamey? Will it not be taken seriously? These are all excellent questions, and one that I get from classroom instructors all the time.

The answer is simple…it is what you make it out to be. If a game fails to deliver content, it’s probably not the games’ fault, it’s most likely in how it is being used or misused.

Here are a few tips to keep in mind when using games in your training:

1. Make sure when creating questions, you have a specific objective in mind.
2. Be sure to include additional teaching summary screens before and/or after a question. (These summary screens need to be simple and to the point)
3. The questions are simply a guide to help you deliver your teaching points.

Many people are not opposed to using questions online to review or test knowledge. What they get hung up on is the game concept - they think it may make the subject appear less important or not as serious as it should be.

Think of it like this, you are using the game to get them to view your content, then once you get them to play, now you can deliver your information to them, a form of “bait & switch” if you will.

What’s great about delivering games in this format is you can have as few people or as many people playing at one time – in the classroom or online.

Recently, I was asked to participate in an Automatic External Defibrillator (AED) orientation session for 1000+ High School students. There were four of us involved in the training sessions, and we would be working in groups of 2. The purpose of the training was to orientate the students and staff, on basic uses and applications of an AED. We realized the importance of training the staff at the school on the use of an AED, but we also wanted to make sure every student and staff member knew how simple they are to use, and where they are located in the school. My task, was to help them come up with the outline and questions, (I have trained on AEDs for over 18 years, and have placed AEDs in 100s of locations, including schools and businesses). I didn’t want to be the lead presenter; I wanted to help them develop the comfort level so they could do this on their own. I was most interested in seeing this content delivered as a training game and observing them using a software program called BRAVO! as a teaching tool.

The average session would have 25 students in attendance, and would run for 20 minutes. We would start out each session with a quick demo of the AED, and pick a “volunteer,” to come up and use the AED (with no prompting on how to use it). This, we felt, would illustrate the simplicity of the device. Once the demonstration was over, we would use a 6 question game along with Audience Response Pads (each student and teacher would get one) as a quick assessment.

We used the game as a way to deliver the content and information we wanted to cover. Just before the first question, for example, we had a slide emphasizing that this was an orientation session, and encouraged people to take a CPR and AED class. The first question, a poll question based of the AED demo, asked attendees, “how many people feel comfortable using the AED?” As we continued through the game, we used game questions to guide the presentation of our content. The questions, along with the Audience Response Pads, allowed us to see what the class knew. By understanding what the audience knew, we could then build on their responses. In fact, the incorrect answers really helped the instructors deliver the content more effectively.

For example, one question asked, “What is the biggest mistake you can make using an AED?” The answers where all over the place, but this allowed the instructors to address each response and to clarify common misconceptions.

The Response: We knew the kids would like it, but I was curious to see how the other 3 presenters liked it as a way to deliver information. I was curious to know if they felt it was effective, especially since they rarely present or teach in the classroom. They loved it. They found that the game helped them feel more comfortable, especially since the game was the focal point and not them. Sure, we could have presented the information in PowerPoint, but all of us felt it would not have been as effective as the game was. The game made the training process more enjoyable for all those involved.

To play the game we used during this training session, click here: www.c3softworks.com/games/east_ridge_hs_AED/play.html

NOTE: Notice how teaching points have been added throughout the game.

Have you ever had that awkward moment, when someone shows you a baby photo, be it their own child or a grandchild, and you take one look and try as hard as can to say, “wow, what a cute baby”, when you’re really thinking, “I’ve seen cuter monkeys at the zoo”?

Recently, I was working with a fellow EMS instructor, and she wanted to create a game to review for the final EMS training session of the year. She had a clear objective in mind, a game with educational content, but she wanted it to be fun as well. She is an admitted “technophobe” (one who fears computers and anything that plugs into them). I showed her, in about 2 minutes, how she could enter her questions, answers, preview, and summary slides using the BRAVO! game builder. On the day of the training event, we met a few hours prior to the first session. (Did I mention I was going to help her co-present?) Well, when I saw her game, I felt like someone showing me a photo of some hideous looking baby (I know some people are thinking that I am being cruel, and that all babies are cute. These are also the same people who say there are no stupid questions -- yeah right). She fell into the common trap that I have seen many instructors fall into, when she asked me what I thought (Just like any proud mama or grandparent). I did everything I could to not feign an illness that required me to exit the building. Did I mention that she expected me to co-present this game with her, since she had never done it before and there were going to be 60 or so co-workers in the class? So much for my reputation ;-) But hey, I was brought in to mentor her, so let the mentoring begin! (To be fair, she is a very good presenter and she really knows her stuff.) Here are some of the issues I addressed, and some basic guidelines I like to follow:

1. Frilly Font: She chose a curly or pretty font she liked. Which, combined with the length of her content would have driven most people to reading glasses after the class or to poke their eyes out to make it go away. A general rule that I teach is, “Above all, make your text readable.” Look at the network news or news print. Do they use frilly text in their newscast or on the cover of their papers? I think not! This isn’t about boring; this is about readability, simple as that. There are ways to “dress up” the look of your game board, but text should not be one of them. For readability, especially for electronic media like PowerPoint, stick with a basic sans serif font like good old fashion Arial or Verdana.

2. Lengthy Questions: About half of the questions where over a paragraph in length. Way too wordy. Sometimes you need to give more detail for a question (i.e. when you are using a scenario). What I do when this is the case, is I set up the scenario in the preview slide that precedes the question. Here is an example of a bad question: “You are playing basketball and a 43 year old teammate suddenly collapses. You check for consciousness, and find he is unconscious with no pulse and no respirations. You direct someone to call 911 and get the AED. Until the AED arrives, how many chest compressions to ventilations should you give? Good heavens, you have just cost the students precious minutes they will never get back. Get to it; simply ask the question. None of the other information in the questions makes any difference for the answer. Here is an example of a straight forward question: “For an adult victim, what is the compression to ventilations ratio?” I want you to understand, that this is just as much about keeping it simple, as well as how it looks. When you get too lengthy, especially in a game, it looks intimidating, and looks too much like work to read.

3. Lengthy Answers: Many of her answers were very lengthy and, in a few cases, rolled over into two lines on the game board. I like to keep my answers to less than 4-6 words when possible. People should be able to quickly glance at possible answers to a question choose the correct one immediately (providing they know the answer). In her game, I knew the correct answer, but she had so much information in each answer, that I had to read each answer twice to make sure I got it right.

4. Wordy Summary Points: In many cases the summary text was way too much. As with PowerPoint, you don’t create a slide that contains your script – just your main teaching points. You just need a few points on the slide to guide you, and your class, through the content you’re presenting. Less is better.

So, what did I do? I actually considered letting her do it her way and letting her see for herself. But, I was supposed to co-present, so that was not going to happen. Fortunately, the game Gods where with me, and she had to leave for a while, leaving me with these magic words: “Hey, you are much smarter than I am, and you are the game God, so I would consider it an honor if you could clean up my mess.”

When she returned, I showed her the changes, and, when it came right down to it, I just moved some of the text around. In the lengthy questions, I just moved the set-up to the preview slide. In fact, I resisted the urge to delete or shorten anything, she wrote. I decided to leave the summary as is. The only thing that got changed or removed were some of the answers. I cleaned them up quite a bit, shortened up the answers, and just reworded the questions, so the answer worked. In no way did my changes affect her teaching points.

I started the game off for her, explaining the rules and playing the first 3 questions, and then stepped aside and hid in the shadows. What was cool, was that she expected that she’d be real nervous, but found that she got comfortable very quickly. The game was a hit and, to her credit, she looked like a pro -- the game became the focus for the audience and not her. She was simply the subject expert, and the game, along with the audience response pads made it much easier for her to concentrate on her teaching points.

Ultimately, her students not only loved the game, but they also mentioned that the questions were a little wordy. Useful feedback she can use for her next presentation!

NOTE: From time to time, I will write about my experience of working with other presenters that use games in the classroom. This helps me to learn more on how they use the games, both good and bad, and also their experiences.

You have put time and energy into into your training games and this is what it honestly deserves but does every trainer have the dedicated time and effort to make it great?

As trainers, when it comes to building games, we don’t think about brand nearly as much as we should. Here at C3 SoftWorks we care. We think it’s important. We’re busy thinking of new ways we can make custom game development easier without the hassle of extra productional costs.

As more and more people are convinced that the same product is better just because it has a certain brand, doesn't it make sense to brand your own training games?

Find out what's new in the latest update for BRAVO:
http://c3softworks.com/news-events/news-releases.html