Sealund’s Serious Games Blog

Serious Gamer Demographics Related to Leisure Gaming

The Entertainment Software Association found that in 2011, the average game player’s age was 37, with most gamers in the 18- to 49-year-old bracket, and the proportion of female gamers increasing to 42%. As adult interest in leisure games expands, so, we assume, does adults’ willingness to learn from serious games.

Certainly, serious games, particularly simulation games, have come into wide use for such adult learner communities as first responders, both domestic and military, and business managers developing soft skills. An MIT study found that some of the most effective games for a broad adult audience used engaging, highly interactive experiences using touch screens. Brain Age games appeal to a wide range of adults and have “spawned a whole new genre of games termed “training games,” rebranding their play as a form of creative work.”

The same study observed that casual short games, easily learned and completed quickly, are also gaining popularity. Casual games can be versions of real world games for example, such as Scrabble or solitaire. Interestingly, “The single biggest demographic for casual online games are women between the ages of 35 and 50.” Such games may thus serve as a model for learning games among that demographic.

Serious Gamers’ Unique Demands

Although the MIT study noted that the boom-bust cycle of children’s edutainment seems to have begun its downward trend with its loss of innovative energy and consolidated emphasis on “thinking games” not directly related to real world scenarios, we know that adult learning game design has focused on increasingly realistic scenarios related to the vital issues of business and emergency management.

This trend in adult learning games makes sense in light of the principles of andragogy. Adult learners want their knowledge and success acknowledged, and learning games provide immediate feedback with text and/or points. Adults want to be self-directed and experientially involved in learning activities, and simulation games give them exactly that control and engagement while meeting adult learners’ other demand – that their learning experience be directly applicable to real-life needs. They also benefit from the retention rates associated with serious game learning models: 80% from practice by performing a new skill, and 90% from immediate application of the skill.

What did you find useful in the posting? What more would you like to know? Please share your comments.

DOD Custom Training for Contractor Proposal Evaluation

The Department of Defense has recently implemented the custom game, the Artemis Exploration, developed by Sealund & Associates in collaboration with the Defense Acquisition University, to train contract managers to evaluate contractor proposals. We’re honored to add Artemis Exploration to our growing list of custom serious games for the DOD.

Players can also view text captions of the Mentor’s spoken information. Players learn the basic elements of proposal evaluation and then perform a detailed comparison of contracts to select the best contractor for the Artemis project and estimate the project.

The scenario-based game in the “Moonbase” environment provides Help, a Notebook, a Calculator, and a Mentor, and an Effectiveness Meter gives players immediate feedback on each decision, applying proven instructional design best practices in a creative, custom setting.

The Artemis Exploration game fits in with the DOD’s technological advances in information and training delivery to troops in the field.

In an article titled Mobile apps supplying soldiers with training, Keith Desbois, Combined Arms Support Command, reported on June 28, that today’s soldier is “tech savvy, uses state-of-the-art equipment to quickly and safely accomplish a mission, and can multitask with efficiency. To capitalize on these talents, the Army is conducting a pilot program that could potentially change the training environment. Instructors and advanced students of the Unit Supply Specialist (92Y) course are using mobile devices, with tailored applications, to give students a platform where they can continue learning even after leaving the classroom. ‘By providing the Soldiers with iPhones, they can review lesson plans anywhere and anytime,’ Ron Spence, Automated Logistics Supply & Subsistence Branch chief, Quartermaster Division, Combined Arms Support Command, said. ‘They can be on their way to sick call and still stay up with the course work.’”

As announced this June, military casualty care training has gone mobile. “To address the need for continuous training, the Army’s Medical Communications for Combat Casualty Care System (MC4) has a new mobile application for medical training resources. Known as the Army Training Network 2 Go or ATN2GO, it allows soldiers to view training manuals and screen casts at the touch of a button. The mobile application can easily be downloaded on any approved iPhone, iPad or Android device. With military medical personnel stationed around the globe, this latest tool in the training arsenal is quick and efficient. ‘We want to take training directly to soldiers instead of bringing solders to training. It’s just-in-time training and education, whenever and wherever you want it,’ Army Brig. Gen. Paul E. Funk II said on the service’s website. ATN2GO operates through iTunes, which is not authorized for use on government computers per the Army Training Network (ATN) website. Soldiers can download the application to a personal computer from the ATN website via common access card or Army Knowledge Online (AKO) credentials. Tutorials and resources on the ATN website guide users through the installation process.”

Also in June, 2011, Dianne Moffett, Air Education and Training Command Public Affairs announced in Free mobile app for basic military training available to Airmen, that “a free mobile phone application geared toward people preparing for life in the Air Force and focusing on physical training was released June 2. The mobile app, called ‘Fundamentals,’ is available for download from the iTunes Store and will be available from the Android Market in early July. ‘The application will help Air Force candidates prepare for basic military training and ensure they arrive in better physical condition,’ said Maj. Sandra Magaña, the Air Education and Training Command chief of future learning capabilities. … Other segments contained in the app include Airmen fundamentals, such as the Heritage Hall to learn the Airman’s Creed, the Air Force song and core values, officials said. … The uniform issue segment has information and photos of the Airman Battlefield Uniform, physical training uniform, service and service dress uniforms. Carol Wall, the project manager for AETC’s future capabilities branch of the future learning division, said the app is pretty extensive and received its inspiration from the Army’s Future Soldier Training System. The app was created for AETC by General Dynamics Information Technology.” Click here to view the Fundamentals app.

On July 12, 2011, CNN reported that for U.S. Army troops, smartphones could become requisite field gear, along with boots, guns and ammunition. The Army is wrapping up a six-week program to test the viability of using touchscreen phones and tablets in combat. The pilot program began on June 6 within the White Sands and Fort Bliss training areas in New Mexico and Texas. “When they have a problem or need to submit a report, they default to the texting,” said Michael McCarthy, an Army director for the program. “These young soldiers grew up with this technology. They’re very familiar with it. They’re very comfortable with it.”

Of course, the Sealund Teams are honored to play a part in the DOD’s growing IMI (Interactive Media Instruction) initiative.

What do you think? How would IMI fit your organization’s instructional needs? Please share your comments.

RESOURCES:

AF Offers Basic Training Mobile App, (http://stage.military.com/news/article/air-force-news/af-offers-basic-training-mobile-app.html), accessed July 17, 2011.

Army Combat Casualty Care Training Goes Mobile, June 6, 2011 (http://www.health.mil/News_And_Multimedia/News/detail/11-06-06/Army_Combat_Casualty_Care_Training_Goes_Mobile.aspx), accessed July 17, 2011.

Blottenberger, Dan. “Army to test smart phone apps to train soldiers,” in Stars and Stripes, July 11, 2010, (http://www.stripes.com/news/europe/army-to-test-smart-phone-apps-to-train-soldiers-1.110693), accessed July 17, 2011.

Desbois, Keith. Mobile apps supplying soldiers with training, Combined Arms Support Command, June 28, 2011 (http://www.army.mil/article/51720/), accessed July 16, 2011.

Moffett, Dianne. Free mobile app for basic military training available to Airmen, 6/9/2011, Air Education and Training Command Public Affairs (http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123259167), accessed July 17, 2011.

U.S. Army may soon equip troops with smartphones, CNN, July 12, 2011 (http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/mobile/07/12/army.smartphones/), accessed July 16, 2011.

What is the “Let’s Meet” Conference Room Serious Games Engine?

The “Let’s Meet” Conference Room Serious Game Engine enables training developers to create an unlimited number of custom simulations for training employees to communicate effectively in meetings for any purpose they set as an objective, with any materials and situations they can imagine. It’s both flexible and intuitive to use.

During simulation game-play, a mentor avatar is available for help at any time during the simulation.

For each element of the simulation, learners select the best communication option and receive immediate feedback on the “Effectiveness Meter,” which indicates the quality of their choice. Players also see a text statement reinforcing the best practice for that situation element. We all know how important immediate feedback is!

What does the award mean?

I felt both honored and humble when we were notified in May, 2011 that the “Let’s Meet” Conference Room Serious Game Engine had won Brandon Hall’s 2010 Silver award in the Best Advance in Technology for Game or Simulation Authoring category.

The Brandon Hall Excellence in Technology awards are based on rigorous criteria:

• the product’s breakthrough innovation,
• its unique features that differentiate it from competitive products,
• its value proposition (the need it addresses or problem it solves), and
• customer benefits.

The Sealund Teams were enthusiastic to hear that this serious games engine has been recognized for the advantages of flexibility, efficiency, and effectiveness it offers our clients and partners in producing engaging, custom games for their employees.

What did you find useful in the posting? What more would you like to know? Please share your comments.

The SALT Washington Interactive Technologies Conference on August 17-19, 2011, at the Reston, Virginia, Hyatt Regency Hotel was a wonderful experience for the participants, as SALT conferences always are. Our presentation with Northrop Grumman found an appreciative audience, and a contest at our booth stimulated the creative juices of enthusiastic participants using our newest tool, the Serious Games Engines Bundle of 10, eLearning Architect.

Innovative Custom Serious Games

Walter Chandler, Northrop Grumman’s Technical Services Training Manager, and I presented a case study of our projects, Cyber Wingman™ and Cyber Protector™; Military Recruits Expect Serious Games and Innovative Learning Technologies. We described specific deployments on mobile devices, and our field-test findings which are useful for measuring the effectiveness of innovative learning technologies.

Participants who brought their iPad or iPhone could view the Stereoscopic 3D version of the movie trailer for the simulation games Cyber Wingman™ and Cyber Protector™, which Walter Chandler then demonstrated, to the attendees’ enthusiastic response.

We shared the steps taken to design, develop, deploy, and assess (field-test) the effectiveness of Serious Games and Innovative Learning Technologies in providing the required annual compliance IT Security training for Air Force and Army recruits and active duty military personnel.

Brock Dubbels, a learning architect and University of Minnesota researcher, explains serious games’ effectiveness this way: games “provide the opportunity to do something grand … exaggerate and elevate action beyond normal experience to make them motivating and exciting… Games raise our level of expectation to the fantastic and our biochemical reward system pays out when we build expectation towards a reward.” The military find that to be the perfect formula for combat ready soldiers’ training, particularly using simulation-rich, decision-based games.

Of course, richly interactive serious games are enjoying increased use for their effectiveness in every industry. As long ago as 2008’s Serious Games Summit, participants had observed that “Since fire drill training [is] expensive and paper-based training does not give the trainee the effective experience to face challenges, researchers are now building this type of interactive games where the trainees will interact in a virtual environment and learn specific objectives.” The 8th annual Serious Games Summit in March, 2011 focused on “on the growing application of videogames and videogame technologies for purposes outside of commercial entertainment. This includes projects using game resources or games for training, health, education, behavior change, science, advertising, and general productivity,” and hosted more than 19,000 participants. Former Home Depot Inc Instructional Designer James Hill has predicted earlier this year in a conversation at EmergingEdTech that “in 10 years organizational learning will be almost unrecognizable. More training will be done with virtual environments and ‘serious games’ than any of today’s delivery methods.”

And the Winners Are…

Of course, everyone who comes to our booth at SALT is a winner because they get to interact with cool, new technologies and simulation games. Our engineers and designers featured our CUSTOM products, numerous eLearning and IMI (Interactive Media Instruction) courses for various clients, as well as demonstrating eLearning Architect for developing custom games. Serious game designers and developers vied for prizes for the best learning games and assessments using our eLearning Architect Serious Games Engines Bundle of 10. Contestants had only 15 minutes to build their learning game. That kind of efficiency is the engine’s purpose, after all! With no prior knowledge of eLearning Architect, they produced some impressive games and assessments, demonstrating the tool’s intuitive usability, too. In fact, there were so many outstanding entries that two winners tied for the top prize: Sara Voit for ARMS and Drew Rabin for BAH. We also held a drawing for an iPAD, won by Anthony Griffin of Childrens Health Care. On the left, above, SALT’s Carrie Janssen Vespico is selecting the iPAD winner.

The biggest winner at the SALT Conference was William S. Peratino, Director of Innovation, Emerging Solutions at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Will Peratino was the recipient of a most prestigious award, the “Eagle” Award, highest level of recognition, presented by the Federal Government Distance Learning Association.

We at Sealund have the honor of working with Will Peratino on several innovative learning solutions: http://golearn.gov/IT_Security_Network_Admin/OPM_Demo.html

What did you find useful in this posting? What more would you like to know about? What do you think you’d want to create with the eLearning Architect engine? Please share your comments.

For years, the military has been successfully using eLearning with highly realistic simulations, particularly in the most motivating gaming model, to prepare troops for combat and other military situations. Previously, due to technological and security limitations, those learning games have been limited to desktop/laptop hardware delivery. Now, training delivery media are expanding to mobile devices, and the Sealund teams are proud to be part of leading-edge training to support our valiant troops as the past year has seen rapid development of mobile learning for the military.

Mobile military simulation training solutions are becoming essential for soldiers in the field. In July, 2010, Stars and Stripes announced the Army’s pilot testing of smartphone apps for soldiers. (Blottenberger) Army officials stated that beginning in fall, 2010, smart phone training apps for troops would be tested at several Army schools in the U.S. through the “Connecting Soldiers to Digital Applications” program. One of the first such mobile apps is the Blue Book,  the Army’s basic soldiering guide, dating back to the founding of the US. Soon, that report predicted, “ U.S. soldiers may one day find Army regulations, training aids, and emergency procedures just by tapping on their mobile phone keypads.”

Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling, deputy commander of Initial Military Training, told Stars and Stripes, “In IMT, we are constantly developing apps for iPhone, Droid, iPad and reader devices. Instead of issuing boxes of manuals at a course, for example, we are issuing readers that have all the course material plus field and technical manuals. … What we are seeing with the 18-, 19-, 20-year-olds is they know how to use this stuff.” Stars and Stripes also cited officers’ concerns about training apps. Sgt. Adrienne Killingsworth, from the 18th Military Police Brigade in Mannheim, Germany told Stars and Stripes, “Using apps will potentially distract soldiers from training. Hands-on learning is the best type of learning and you are not going to get that from a smart phone, but I understand their intent. … We can use the technology, but we can’t allow the technology to replace the skill of soldiering.”

Less than a year later, in June 2011, the www.army.mil website reported that “Instructors and advanced students of the Unit Supply Specialist (92Y) course are using mobile devices, with tailored applications, to give students a platform where they can continue learning even after leaving the classroom.” (Desbois) In the second of four testing phases, the 92Y pilot program at the Quartermaster School, one of the first of its kind and in operation since July 2010, gave the second group of students the iPhones in January 2011. In another June 2011 article, CNN reported that the U.S. Army may soon equip troops with smartphones (Milian). CNN’s report followed a six-week pilot test of smartphones and touchscreen tablets in combat at the White Sands, New Mexico and Fort Bliss, Texas training areas, which “proved so encouraging that Army officials say they expect the first wave of smartphone-equipped soldiers could be shipped overseas later this year.” Mobile devices have proven to be durable in the field, weathering sandstorms and other challenging conditions even while bare of protected by $10 rubber cases, so this commercially available technology is economical as well as functional. The Air Force is also deploying mobile learning apps. The website http://www.af.mil/ (Moffett) announced the release of a free mobile phone application focusing on physical training for people preparing for the Air Force was released on June 2. “Other segments contained in the app include Airmen fundamentals, such as the Heritage Hall to learn the Airman’s Creed, the Air Force song and core values, officials said. The Hall of Ranks has enlisted and officer ranks with insignias and a game to help learn instant recognition.”

One remaining obstacle, however, is securing mobile device transmissions. Until the military develops sufficient encryption, such devices will have limited deployment. Fortunately, one feasible purpose of current deployments is training. The www.health.mil website reported that the Army’s Medical Communications for Combat Casualty Care System (MC4) began offering a new casualty care mobile training application earlier in 2011, the Army Training Network 2 Go or ATN2GO app for iPhone, iPad or Android devices. This application puts just-in-time resources like training manuals and screen casts at medical personnel’s fingertips. (http://www.health.mil/News_And_Multimedia/News/detail/11-06-06/Army_Combat_Casualty_Care_Training_Goes_Mobile.aspx)

Northrop Grumman CyberProtector® Defense Game

The Sealund teams are honored to have partnered with Northrop Grumman Corporation to produce the simulation-based Cyber Protector® Defense and Cyber Wingman® Defense learning games, which also provide 3D graphics and animations with intense question/answer knowledge checks and a bonus game for reinforcement as well as reward. Military recruits expect this type of training, as Lt. Gen. Hertling told Stars and Stripes.

For soldiers, learning games equal serious outcomes, as Walter Chandler, Manager of Programs at Northrop Grumman and I found in our research for these projects. Brock Dubbels of the University of Minnesota found that games “provide the opportunity to do something grand … exaggerate and elevate action beyond normal experience to make them motivating and exciting. … Games raise our level of expectation to the fantastic and our biochemical reward system pays out when we build expectation towards a reward.” That sounds like the perfect formula for combat ready soldiers’ training, particularly using simulation-rich, decision-based games.

At the SALT 2011 Interactive Technologies Conference in Washington, DC, Northrup Grumman’s Walter Chandler and I will present a case study of these games. We hope to see you at the SALT Conference, at booth #10 or at our presentation at 11:15 on August 17. Meanwhile, please share your comments on this posting on our blog. I hope you found it useful! What else would you find helpful?

barbara.sealund@sealund.com

RESOURCES:

Army Combat Casualty Care Training Goes Mobile, June 6, 2011,  (http://www.health.mil/News_And_Multimedia/News/detail/11-06-06/Army_Combat_Casualty_Care_Training_Goes_Mobile.aspx , accessed 7/16/11).

Desbois, Keith (Combined Arms Support Command). Mobile apps supplying soldiers with training, June 28, 2011 (http://www.army.mil/article/51720/, accessed 7/16/11).

Milian, Mark. U.S. Army may soon equip troops with smartphones, CNN, July 12, 2011 (http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/mobile/07/12/army.smartphones/, accessed 07/12/11).

Moffett, Diane (Air Education and Training Command Public Affairs). Free mobile app for basic military training available to Airmen,  6/9/2011,  (http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123259167, accessed 07/16/11).

Cyber Wingman™ is released at AETC

Cyber Wingman™ was a big hit with airmen at the 2011 AETC Symposium in San Antonio, Texas in January. The theme of the Symposium was “Developing America’s Airmen Today…For Tomorrow: Recruit, Train, Educate…Innovate”.

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NGC) invited us to co-exhibit in their booth. We demonstrated the Cyber Wingman™ learning game for IT Security on the big screen and iPads.

Collaboration

Sealund collaborated with NGC on this rapid development project. Northrop Grumman designed Cyber Wingman™, and our development teams created the 3D graphics, animations, and bonus video game. The Cyber Wingman™ games run on PCs, Macs and iPads.

Cyber Wingman™ Learning Games

The Cyber Wingman™ IT Security learning games consist of a 3D Stereoscopic trailer to engage the learner which then moves the learner to a high end 3D Motherboard in which their jet moves around the board as the aviator answers the assessments correctly. Points are accumulated which give the aviator an opportunity to play a bonus game for successfully completing the training.

Results of Deployment

Airmen were eager for their turn, and completely engaged in the Cyber Wingman™ IT Security learning games. Many commented that they would prefer to learn the annual compliance training while playing a learning game and felt they would retain the information much better.

Your thoughts? What do you think about using learning games on the iPad for training in the field?

A number of recent articles have described the impact mLearning apps have had for many kinds of users, from sales to military to personal subjects like household finances. As the iPad is becoming an increasingly common business tool, when it becomes the learning delivery medium, too, learners gain valuable hands-on experience with the physical medium as well as the new applications they’re learning to use.

Learning Solutions Magazine published a case study on iPad apps for sales training in a workshop environment, and found that the participants could access and complete Pages documents, use their e-mail and contacts apps to send completed work to the instructor, learn from instructional movies (in .mov format) easily accessed and played via the Video icon, and use the Safari app to complete two surveys in the course. The case study also validated the effectiveness of iPad security and found it flexible enough to provide exactly the security needed. The course designers also set up thematic iPad wallpaper to match their PowerPoint slides. Most important, workshops gave the participants “exposure to, and hands-on experience with, the new tools they would be using to coach their teams. The activities provided real-life scenarios that the management teams were able to relate directly to their sales associates, and discuss best practices and possible solutions within their table groups.”

Redmond Pie, a publication covering Microsoft, Google, Apple and the Web, carried a story about the UK Military’s iPad soldier training. “Early reports indicate that this experiment so far has been successful in accelerating their learning, thanks largely to the natural interactive experience which is said to have been responsible for this.” Trainees describe their iPad learning experience as “designed to let us practice, that when we get out there into theatre we’re a lot slicker” and “fun stead of being sat in a classroom looking at a presentation.” They’ve even found that “If you’re on a course, you can take this back to the block and practice with it, even have little competitions with it.”

Fun serving as reinforcement? You bet! That’s what Sealund VLEs and serious games are all about.

What do you think? Please share your comments.

The iPad and other mLearning devices let you take your learning experience with you. You can now get one of our innovative Alaris Financial Literacy™ custom-designed Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) curricula as M-learning apps for your iPod Touch, iPhone, and iPad, as well as online courses. The Reducing and Eliminating My Debt curriculum gives you an introduction from your mentor JT, five habits you should break in order to reduce and eliminate debt, a life story you can identify with on that process, and a calculator that can be used to determine how long it can take to pay something off based on your interest rate, debt balance, and monthly payment. For example, if you want to buy an HDTV but you can’t buy it out-right, you can calculate how long it would take to pay the debt off based on the price of the TV, the amount you can pay per month, and the total interest rate you’d be charged. You might decide you’d rather just save up for it and avoid that interest.

Custom Mobile Apps for United Student Aid Funds

We’re proud to have developed a customized version of the curriculum for United Student Aid Funds, but you can now download the Reducing and Eliminating My Debt curriculum from the Apple store. The reviews are all 5-star! Of course, the Apple page provides links to our own support for your curriculum and to information on all the Alaris Financial Literacy™ curricula.

The Sealund team had a blast at the National Training and Simulation Association’s annual Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation and Education Conference (I/ITSEC) in Orlando, November 28 – December 1, 2010. Of course, we weren’t alone! The approximately 20,000 attendees, about half of whom were from government agencies, included international participants from 57 countries.

NTSA I/ITSEC Conference

The overall conference theme was “Training Centric … Readiness Focused” to arm our service people with not only the tools and weapons they need but also with the knowledge and strategy to go along with them. One conference focus was avatars, so the Sealund booth attracted a lot of attention with our library of 30 avatars for virtual learning environments. Sealund was selected to speak at the Innovation Showcase where we presented on our Sealund Avatar Animation Technology&.

In addition to showcasing some exciting and innovative technology, we had the opportunity to see and participate in some very high tech simulations, like this Virtual Reality combat training!

Our Booth

Our own booth visitors included a number of our clients and our partners among major government contractors including the Defense Acquisition, General Dynamics and Northrop Grumman.

Below, eager visitors get involved in a Stereoscopic 3D demo of military simulation-based training.

What do you think about the value of simulations for learning?

Global Business

As we build relationships of trust with our worldwide clients, we sometimes meet client teams in their home offices. We made such a client call in London just before Christmas. While the client meeting was our primary focus, we were fortunate to be able to see the city decorated for the holiday … and blessed to fly out before the big snow storm hit, shutting down both Heathrow and Gatwick for days!

The Sealund Team Experiences London

London is one of my favorite cities. The red telephone box is still in London and other ex-British colonies around the world.

Harrods, left, was all decked out for the holidays, a perfect combination of looking cool and feeling all warm inside.

We thought about getting into the famous Ice Bar, right, but drew a fine line between what was cool and what was – 5° Celsius. The folks in the bar are wearing mittens to hold their martinis in glasses made of ice. No hot toddies there!

Other restaurants—OK, pubs—like the one below, were warmer.

Zipping around London from one festively decorated "tube" (subway) station, below left, to the next — or above-ground on the famous double-decker buses — helped us get our shopping done and return to the hotel to rest up for the reverse-jet-lag trip home on Sunday.

Maybe we can create a virtual learning environment for teaching travelers how to get around this busy city!

What do you think about international business? Or about the effectiveness of interactive VLEs for learning about your travel destination? Please share your comments.