OBSTACLES to Adoption of Games and how to overcome the barriers

Obstacles to Adoption of Games Perception of games as only entertainment: People have grown up with the understanding that games and interactive experiences are the realm of fun, play time or vacation and education is the realm of receiving information in a serious, no-nonsense, static, non-interactive fashion with little feedback or immediate consequences for incorrect assumptions or answers other than a red mark on a paper.

Obstacles to Adoption of Games Unfamiliarity with development process: Creating linear content for a deck of slides is familiar and common for most organizations: teachers understand creating objectives, teaching to each objective by providing content and testing to the objective in a very linear style. But this is not how a game/simulation works - instead there are variations, tangential content and non-linear interactions.

Obstacles to Adoption of Games Lack of understanding of how to integrate games into the curriculum. Games and simulations are most effective when they are integrated into a larger curriculum. Simply having a game available to learners doesn’t mean it will be effective. Intelligently integrating a game into a curriculum provides the correct context, the right prerequisite knowledge and the proper level of debriefing for learning.

Obstacles to Adoption of Games Perception that playing games is easy and, therefore, not valuable. Teachers often mistake interesting graphics and different game play elements as signs of an easy instructional experience. It let think “since this is a game, it must not be difficult or hard.” In fact, that is not the case. Items like time constraints, the accumulation of points and competition against others can actually make learners work harder to achieve goals than more traditional learning environments such as the classroom.

Obstacles to Adoption of Games Not understanding of the mechanisms in games that make them educational. First, a game is not educational just because it is a game. Instead, a game is an effective educational tool primarily because of the high level of interactivity and instant feedback. Well designed games engage the learner in a constant decision making process. The learner is forced to interact and think through the content. The most critical aspect is not the technology (which is the focus of many when thinking about games) rather the most critical aspect is the design.

OVERCOMING THE BARRIERS

Overcoming the Barriers To overcome these variables, try a threefold approach : First, educate organization staff and others on the elements of games that make them instruction. Describe the various ways in which technology provides immediate feedback, problem-solving skills and reinforcement of desired activities and behavior.

Overcoming the Barrier Second, develop a game. Start with a small game to teach one specific skill and work through the process. This will help the organization learn the game development process. This can be facilitated by working with a skilled vendor who has created a number of educational games or working with a consultant to help guide the process to a successful outcome.

Overcoming the Barrier Third, integrate existing commercial games into your curriculum. Games can be used to help teach leadership, communication skills and other valuable business skills. Exposing games to learners in a serious environment with defined educational objectives can help people to understand the value of games and how they can positively impact their own learning.