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Learning Games for Certified Audiences: A Cisco Case Study
Posted by NAM on Nov 23, 2005 (3245 views, 0 comments) Rating: 4.28
By Nader Nanjiani Cisco Systems, Inc.
With the blending of voice, video and data technologies, it was always going to be a matter of time before a blending of content such as education and entertainment followed. As with any new medium, the first step in e-learning was to transfer existing teaching materials onto the Web. The availability of reliable and accessible technology, however, has inspired other innovative ways of distributing and enhancing the learning experience for the learning audience. On-line learning games are proving to be an effective educational and learning tool.
In January 2004 Cisco released the first of its series of learning games, Cisco Network Defenders, on its certifications community - a free knowledge-sharing portal with more than 50,000 members designed exclusively for certified individuals. The game was an instant hit. Since then - inside of 18 months - games and game-like learning modules have emerged as staple offerings on the Cisco certifications community and related portals.
Cisco certified audiences have responded favorably to the use of online learning games as a tool for ongoing learning. Cisco has delivered a host of learning games that describes networking technologies to learners. The results are remarkable. As just-in-time learning tools that can be played anytime-anyplace over the Internet, learning games have proven to engage the certified audience in a much more successful way than traditional materials. Because of that interest, players of the games are more likely to retain the knowledge or skills that might eventually lead to increased skill and improved customer satisfaction.
1. Why the recent interest in learning games?
In "Got Game," a book published last year by Harvard Business School Press, the authors point out that gaming not only can be used as a means for education, but the gaming skills themselves offer benefits. Gamers are skilled at multi-tasking, good at making decisions and evaluating risks, flexible in the face of change, and inclined to treat setbacks as chances to try again, according to the authors. These are all skills highly valued by Cisco, its customers, and its resellers.
On-line games have presented Cisco with a means to communicate new learning concepts, terminologies, and technology information to its certified audience base in ways that learners find engaging and involving. At Cisco, learning games are defined as interactive experiences that offer an opportunity to win or lose - competing against others or to achieve a target. Based on the experience of launching a series of learning games, Cisco has found that with learning games, adoption takes place more readily without learners feeling the pressure of completing yet another task.
2. What was offered?
Here are some of the Cisco learning game releases for certification audiences.
Learning Game Trilogy, a combination of three online technology games, covering IP Communications, Security and Storage Networking technologies, offered over a 16 month period as a challenge to certified and non-certified customers who are interested in learning while engaging in competitive game play.
CCNA Multi-Player Challenge, a CCNA test preparation game that allows certification and recertification candidates to compete with peers as they answer practice questions individually or in teams. Its "first-to-the-buzzer" format enables players to compete in 20-question rounds and the overall top 20 scores are posted.
Cisco Wireless Explorer, an immersive game that allows networking professionals to test wireless knowledge and develop wireless skill sets through an entertaining space challenge. Players compete by ensuring friendly space aliens remain in wireless communication throughout their galactic voyages. Individual and team scores are based on successful site survey strategies, deployment skills and network maintenance.
3. What were benefits of Learning Games to Cisco?
Cisco has experimented with learning games using multi-media and innovative instructional design so that technical audiences were offered compelling content. Senior management support ensures that the process of experimentation with games never slowed down. Here are some of the organizational benefits realized from learning games:
In addition to practice exams, simulations, and courses, learning games have helped broaden the variety of e-learning offerings from Cisco - making its learning solutions more compelling for its certified audiences.
By creating learning games to engage and attract learners, Cisco has increased trials, improved completion rates, and generated interest in a variety of subject matter among its certified audience. Games have offered an engaging way to generate interest in learning content that the audience might not be motivated to review if it was presented as white papers or PowerPoint slides.
When the games were later demonstrated or presented at conferences and events, learning games offered a means to reduce the intimidation factor of technical content on networking technologies. Learning games have offered a means of reaching the non-technical audience with business benefits - an audience that might have never read the brochures.
As with any tool, the use of online games should be judicious to ensure proper alignment between learning content, objectives and gaming approach. Games work best as a tool for engaging and generating interest. However, when misaligned or overused, games risk appearing trite and frivolous.
4. What was the audience feedback?
Cisco conducted quantitative evaluation of the learning games. Internal studies suggest that about three-fourths of the players assign the games favorable ratings and about another 15 percent rate the games as neutral. The recreational value of the game often surpasses the educational value, but the recreational value often helps with the adoption of the game in the first place.
Cisco conducted an internal study to assess the effectiveness of a selection of its learning games. The design of the study involved taking identical technical content and presenting it in the form of games versus simple PowerPoint slides to two groups of respondents. The control group reviewed the PowerPoint slides whereas the test group experienced the games. Respondents completed responses and answered questions on the following five factors:
Comprehension: The effectiveness of games in helping to explain a concept compared to slides.
Retention: The effectiveness of games in helping learners remember a concept compared to slides.
Engagement: The effectiveness of games in helping learners stay attentive and interested in the concepts being presented compared to those presented in slides.
Curiosity: The effectiveness of games in raising learner interest to learn more about the content as compared to slides.
Motivation: The effectiveness of games in making learners interested in pursuing certifications or training as compared to slides.
The study revealed that in terms of comprehension and motivation, games were rated the same as PowerPoint slides. On the criterion of curiosity, the PowerPoint slides were rated by respondents as generating more questions - thus greater curiosity. On the factors of retention and engagement, games were rated more effective than PowerPoint slides by the respondents.
5. Conclusion
Faced with a workforce of the future within its employee, reseller, and customer base that will be more inclined toward interactive and engaging forms of learning, Cisco will remain committed to including games into its learning repertoire. The Cisco ecosystem thrives on learning - and games offer an engaging way to keep up with that learning demand.
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Nader Nanjiani is a Marketing Programs Manager at Cisco Systems, Inc. He leads community and learning game initiatives at Cisco for the certified audience. Contents of the above article will also appear in the book "Communities: Your Customer, Your Brand and Online Interactions," by the same author from Cisco Press in 2006.
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