15
Jason Butler
Game Developer
Sponge
A serious business
A serious business
A serious business
A serious business
Jason Butler, award-winning game
developer for seriously creative digital
learning provider, Sponge, discusses the
value of games and gamification in
learning, particularly when it comes to
creating a 'buzz'.
My company is working on innovative and
creative use of games in L&D, including a
new game that seeks to turn employees into
the first line of defence against a cyberattack.
Learning via games has been proven to be
successful for a number of reasons: Because
games are experiential in nature, learning can
be applied immediately; they have been
proven to yield higher gains and improve
retention over more traditional training
methods; mirroring real-world scenarios,
users are able to 'play' in a risk-free
environment; and games can be played
repeatedly - after all, practice makes perfect!
But, more than that, because they're fun to
play, they create excitement and hype
amongst the workforce, boosting employee
buy-in with the learning and messages
presented.
Games get people talking and thinking about
the topics presented and businesses that
harness this interest and engagement will
drive real behaviour change.
When risk is a game
Where learning games work particularly well
is taking a typically 'serious' or 'dull' topic and
making it interactive and engaging through
gameplay. This is exactly what we did with our
GDPR Sorted game, launched last year to
coincide with introduction of the new data
regulations, and what we've replicated with
the recently launched Cybersecurity Sorted -
our second off-the-shelf game in the 'Sorted'
series. Both are fun, fast-paced games
designed to embed best practice and instil
desired behaviours in employees to mitigate
business risk.
Data protection and cybersecurity are
undoubtedly serious topics; ironically,
humans often cause or exacerbate threats
but, crucially, they also have a huge role to
play in helping to protect a business. Learning
games not only mitigate risks, but arm
employees with the skills and confidence
needed to be the first line of defence.
With both 'Sorted' games, we recreated realworld office environments, portrayed in a fun
and visually compelling way.