about learning games

Learning games have been used in classroom training environments for a long time. Now, computer technology provides instructional designers with exciting new opportunities to create dynamic e-Learning games.

Computer-based games in general work best if the interface is user-friendly, the rules are easy to understand and follow, the interaction generates energy and excitement, and the technology is transparent.

Digital natives from the younger generation have been enjoying computer-based games for years - on handheld devices and arcade and console platforms. These youthful learners don’t care about instructional objectives, they just want to have fun, advance to the next level and win. Nevertheless, these young gamers are learning general motor and visual attention skills and cognitive strategies that ultimately transfer to other situations.

Older learners, on the other hand, are an entirely different audience when it comes to technology-based learning games. Adult learners are more comfortable with browser-based games on a PC platform, where they can take an active role in structured experiences that have perceived value and relevance. The challenge for an e-Learning designer in this arena is to create games for learning where the learning is fun.

Take a look at AARP: The Magazine to see a whole page of video and computer games. These older gamers enjoy the same learning benefits - general motor and visual attention skills and cognitive strategies that ultimately transfer to other situations. What a coincidence!

So, it seems, games are fun, and well-designed games can actually make learning fun.