Why do games work? Gamers spend 80% of their time failing, but they keep going because the win means so much to them. Applying games to corporate learning encourages resiliency, fun, positive emotions, new skills and new self-confidence.

Not Just Game Play: Game Design

At another panel, leading game designer/educators described how beyond game play, engaging people in game design spurs even deeper engagement and learning. These designers have created game environments where children start by playing a few introductory levels of a game, and are then challenged to design the next levels of the game. The students master new material and new skills because they’re a prerequisite to design.

In addition to the content mastery, the iterative process of designing games – think, design, play, test, repeat ad infinitum – puts analytical and problem solving skills into practice. Learners could practice these skills in teams to capture the benefits of multiple skillsets and perspectives.

What’s Next?

The use of game mechanics for learning, marketing and consumer engagement is the hot topic at SXSW, and there are hundreds (if not thousands) of companies developing new applications for the marketing, education and nonprofit sectors.

In the professional training landscape, there are excellent designers who create custom learning games with fun results. But the future that interests OpenSesame is the development of off-the-shelf games that will serve the needs not only of large organizations that can afford custom development but also those of small businesses who want to connect their employees to engaging learning experiences. We can’t wait to see what’s coming.

(via The Future of Games for Learning | OpenSesame)

reductive and shallow, and yet the word is spreading