Teaching Facts with Fun, Online Games
By Karl M. Kapp

Simple online games encourage the Gamer Generation to stay engaged with e-learning.

On the verge of a large scale invasion of corporate America are about 90 million people born in the early 1980s who are labeled “gamers” by John Beck. Beck is the co-author of the book Got Game - How the Gamer Generation is Reshaping Business Forever. Beck’s work explains how gamers are different from other generations in terms of both their use of technology and their high comfort level with it.

A gamer is anyone born between 1980 and 2001 who plays any type of computerized and/or video game for more than five hours a week, understands how to navigate the Internet, and is savvy with handheld gadgets—or just about everyone under the age of 30. These people are digital natives growing up with technology as a way of life. And why not, they were born at the same time as Pac Man, MS Windows, and the World Wide Web.

These techno-sophisticated gamers are going to forever alter the definition of e-learning. Their expectations are making the job of e-learning designers and developers increasingly difficult. Gamers demand fun, interactive learning activities. They will not tolerate the traditional, static page-turning instruction that’s currently available on most corporate learning management systems.

Designers and developers must make a conscious effort to develop online interactions that gamers will enjoy, embrace, and find educational.

Learning facts

In all corporations there is basic information that must be learned by new employees. The most basic is declarative knowledge. This level of learning is at the lowest level of Robert Gagne’s Intellectual Skills Hierarchy, but it is the critical foundation upon which success is built. While this type of information is critical for long-term success, it’s not always the most exciting information to learn. And, to make matters worse the learning techniques can be, well, painful. Think back to preparing for spelling tests or multiplication tables—you would drill and practice until your brain hurt.

Indeed, every organization has names, jargon, facts and, acronyms that must be memorized for its members to communicate effectively with one another. For example, even gamers have no choice but to memorize the fact that SOP represents the terms Standard Operating Procedure. Otherwise, they won’t be able to converse with their boss or co-workers.

Often e-learning modules present declarative information, such as names, facts, and acronyms in a less-than-innovative format. The modules typically present a few screens of text followed by some type of mind-numbingly stupid question; usually multiple-choice or true/false questions that are nothing short of a poor rephrasing of material covered in the previous two screens. This is the page-of-text, page-of-text, page-of-text, ask-a-question format that is  popular among many e-learning designers and developers.

This poor design strategy provides minimal interactivity, insults the learner’s intelligence, and is a sure fire way to get someone from the Gamer Generation to “control-alt-delete” out of the learning module.  This sort of strategy provides little enjoyment, excitement, or motivation. These e-learning modules are deadly for gamers and the organizations that naively expect learning from such a painful design paradigm.  

Declarative knowledge games

A fun and interactive alternative to this all-too-common strategy is to develop and deploy simple word games. Gamers are naturally comfortable with this interactive format and boomers like it too. Here are some examples of simple games that help to teach declarative knowledge.

Free the Road Runner 

One such game is a version of the perennial favorite, Hangman. As a twist, instead of simply guessing a word by providing a bunch of letters, the learner is given a definition and must guess the letters that represent the term or phrase that relates to the definition. The idea is that the gamer will think about the definition and associate the definition with the term as they determine the letters for the blank word.

In this game the hangman format is applied to a game called "Free the Road Runner."

In the game, the road runner wants the learner to guess the word before a cage is built around him, as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1: A simple game based on the concept of “hangman” can be used to teach facts such as explaining withholding taxes to new employees. Game created by Greg Walsh. Copyright 2005 Institute for Interactive Technologies (IIT) used with permission.

The game elements in this interactive game are timing and number of correct answers. If the learner answers all of the letters correctly, the road runner is freed and a time is given (e.g., 12 seconds to get the correct answer). If the answers are incorrect, the road runner is captured and the learner loses the game. The simple competition and the sense of racing against the clock make the game fun and encourage learners to play it again and again.

Word Search

Another effective game for drill and practice is the classic word search. This online game helps learners recognize terms and jargon as well as learn definitions.

The word search format is familiar to learners. They are comfortable with the conventions of the game and many websites visited by gamers have incorporated word searches into their offerings so gamers are comfortable with the format.

A timing element can be added to help encourage repetition and learning of the terms and associated definitions. Below are sample screen captures from the word search used to teach new employees about a company’s 401(k) plan and investment options.  Words are circled with the mouse instead of a pencil. See Figures 2 and 3 below.

Figure 2: Word search used to teach declarative knowledge. Game created by Bill and Veronica Noone. Copyright 2005 IIT used with permission.

Figure 3: The learner uses the mouse to circle the correct words. Game created by Bill and Veronica Noone.  Copyright 2005 IIT used with permission.

Too Childish

“Wait, we don’t want employees playing games on company time.” You can almost hear the Boomers screaming in the background. Why not? Games are engaging, interactive, and are an effective method of learning. The gamer generation doesn’t want to learn in the traditional manner. In fact, some experts would argue that they can’t learn in the traditional manner. They have been changed by technology.

Whether or not that is indeed the case, there are plenty of examples of how playing games can actually be advantageous to an organization. Here is a classic example. In the late 1980s and early 1990s when MS Windows started to gain widespread popularity, the first task of most IT departments was to remove the Solitaire game from the desktop when they installed the new operating system and the newfangled thing called a “mouse.” Let’s not tempt employees with frivolous, time wasting games; it might cut down on productivity.

Next, training departments invested thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours teaching employees how to double-click, drag-and-drop, and right-click the mouse buttons. The very skills that can be learned in about 15 minutes of playing Solitaire. And, as an added bonus, Solitaire was fun as opposed to being lectured on the functionality of a mouse. In the case of learning to use a computer mouse, games would have saved organizations a ton of time and money.  

To be sure, it’s easy to see how games like “Free the Road Runner” or a “Word Search” might be seen as childish or immature. So, let’s take common game themes and make them more “corporate.”  

Bop the Fox

A popular child’s game is “Whack a Mole.” In the game, a person tries to hit as many moles as possible with a rubber mallet or other device. Sometimes, the animal changes—bop the fox, for example—but the concept is the same: score points by hitting the animal on the head.

An effective modification of this game for teaching the memorization of the parts of a model or other items to be memorized is to present elements and non-elements of a model or concept and ask the learner to distinguish among them. For instance, in a modified Bop the Fox game, the animals become an inanimate book and the object of the game is to select, not bop, the book that contains a correct element of the basic instructional design model…Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation. See Figure 4 below.

This game can be used to teach the steps or elements of a model or to teach items in a list or category or other type of fact learning that requires discrimination. The simple game reinforces the elements to be memorized because the learner sees them over and over again in the context of the game.

Figure 4: This is an example of teaching the attributes of the concept of “instructional design model.” Game created by Rich Peck. Copyright 2005 IIT used with permission.

Racing games

Gamers typically enjoy some form of a race and are motivated by competition. To teach facts, you can create a game that has racing elements. For example, you can craft a game that, if the learner gets more answers correct than incorrect, he or she “wins” a race. If they get more answers incorrect, then the computer wins.

One such game with a corporate feel involves two people climbing up the proverbial corporate ladder to the highly coveted corner office. The goal is to beat the computer by answering correctly. If the user progresses up the building (representing the ladder) faster than the computer, the user wins. See Figure 5 below.

Figure 5:  This is a game where the user races the computer up the corporate building to the top office. Game created by Rich Peck. Copyright 2005 IIT used with permission.

Notice that these are actually simple multiple-choice questions disguised as a game. However, the game elements of racing against the computer or racing against time make the interaction more fun and energetic than simply answering a multiple choice question.  A similar example is shown in Figure 6, which is a game to race against the computer by answering questions, the two figures progress toward the finish line. The first one to finish wins.

Figure 6:  This is a game where the user races the computer to the finish line. Game created by Rich Peck. Copyright 2005 IIT used with permission.

Bottom line

The demographics are clear, millions of Baby Boomers are retiring and Gamers are quickly assuming key roles within their organizations. If we, as e-learning designers and developers, hope to keep these individuals engaged in our e-learning modules, we need to start thinking about how we can teach basic facts, acronyms, and jargon in an exciting and interesting style for a generation of individuals who have grown up with online games and interactivity.

One answer is the use of simple, online games that reinforce facts, use the proven technique of drill and practice, and are a lot of fun. Isn’t it about time that work was a little more fun anyway…for Boomers and Gamers? Simple e-learning word games are a good place to start.