Elearning - June/July 2008 - (Page 28) Games for THE ‘NET GENERATION’ SEEKS FUN WAYS TO LEARN THEIR LESSONS. A woman sits at her work desk, shooting lasers and jumping over hurdles in an action-packed onboarding game. A young man practices his aviation skills through a realistic flight simulator. With the rise of serious games, it would not be uncommon to see these scenes in work environments. Serious games, or games developed to be educational as well as entertaining, take many forms, including puzzles, game shows and simulations. Despite the rise of game-based learning, many businesses are still skeptical that games can actually teach, and learners are skeptical that learning can ever be fun or engaging. Poorly designed serious games can reinforce companies’ and students’ fears about this tool. However, when done right, serious games can save companies time and money, and efficiently and intuitively teach learners new skills in a fun and motivating manner. Moreover, serious games particularly appeal to the learning styles of the Net Generation — people born in or after the 1980s — who grew up with computers. THE APPEAL Serious games are especially appealing and 28 June/July 2008 Elearning! Learning? You Can’t be Serious! effective to members of the Net Generation, who are now entering the workforce. The appeal lies in the way this generation views knowledge acquisition. They grew up using computers at a young age and are used to acquiring information at the click of a button. Since they have so much independent access to information (with Google, Wikipedia, etc.), they take an active approach to learning instead of passively absorbing information. A study published in the International Journal of Social Sciences this year by Robert Kenny and Glenda Gunter found that the Net Generation generally does not think learning has to occur at a certain place (like a lecture hall), but that learning can occur anywhere at anytime. Many serious games can be accessed through the Internet at the learner’s leisure. These learners look up directions on Google Maps, find movie reviews on Rottentomatoes.com, and ask their classmates about assignments on Facebook. For them, the flexible, learn- http://www.rottentomatoes.com
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