Learning Games - The Future of Learning

The amount of elearning blogs that are active today is telling.

The verdict is in: People want to be engaged and possibly even have fun while they’re learning. Traditional training simply doesn’t cut it for learners who have been raised in an increasingly digital society.

Obviously, corporations train their employees because they want them to perform certain tasks in a specific way. However, what seemed to work before has now been shown to be less than effective.

Why Aren’t Traditional Training Methods Effective Anymore?

The one-way communication that makes up the lion’s share of old corporate training methods is seen as boring by today’s workforce. People are used to accessing information at a much faster pace. The fact has already been stated that society is moving away from training methods that aren’t technology-based.

Most people in the U.S. have at least one electronic device that they use on a regular basis. There are smartphones and smart TV’s. Shouldn’t training methods get smarter too? Elearning companies certainly think so.

Why Learning Games are Successful

There are several key elements of elearning that make it the most effective educational tool available.

Real world scenarios. Elearning games provide an opportunity to interact with real scenarios in a risk-free environment, which isn’t possible with more traditional methods of training.
Repetition. Repetition is the best way to retain new information. Learning games give users the chance to try different actions over and over again until the concept is understood.
Feedback. Real-time feedback is a definite advantage to elearning activities as opposed to older methods. A learner is able to assess the consequences of their choices and readjust as necessary. Players can look at what they’ve done that has been successful, as well, and then begin to think about how it would translate to a real-life situation.
Fun factor. The interactive nature of elearning exercises is a game-changer. Old training methods lack the critical element of entertainment that learning games provide. Additionally, learners who are enjoying the activity form an emotional investment to the training.
Cooperative learning. Being able to talk through scenarios with peers is an important part of a comprehensive learning program. Bouncing ideas off of each other often leads to a solution that one person on their own wouldn’t necessarily have reached.
Self-motivating. The action of moving through the levels of games is not only fun, but it’s motivating. When the cognitive portion of the brain is engaging in tandem with the emotional portion of the brain, the greatest learning happens.

The advances that have been made in technology have changed many areas of life, not the least of which is education in all its forms.

Elearning companies recognize the many advantages of producing games, the most notable that elearning is far more effective at training employees than any previous training methods. Hence, the proliferation of elearning blogs.

Modern training methods can and should be fun, engaging, cooperative, and most of all, effective.