For years we have operated within the lecture format of learning which works well for some, but not for all.  I am one of those others that don’t learn well through lecture, the sage on the stage, listen and learn format.  I was the kid that had to go to school because they said so, but what I really learned I learned by spending time at home doing something with it.  Maybe that’s why Digital Storytelling and Games tie together so easily for me.  I get that the format engages, I get that one can lose themselves in the quest of figuring it out, playing along and I get that the more time spent with something the higher the probability that it is going to stick with us longer than cramming for a test.

Another thing I find to be a benefit with games is that once built, for the most part, they stand alone over time.  Therefore once you add a game component as a form of personalized learning the more opportunity you give your learners to absorb the material in a different way, and potentially a way that is a better fit for them.

With that I turned to learning more about game design for learning and enrolled in Sententia’s Surveyor course, a level 1 course on understanding games for learning.  This introductory course introduced us to elements of what makes game play so powerful, player personas, the importance of aesthetics, and of course the underlying objectives as the foundation of the game design.  That made my timing for the certification perfect as I had just complete the Training Manager Certification program a few months earlier.  I had already been introduced to many of the concepts in my masters program, but this was an opportunity to put them all together while creating a proposal for a game surrounding stress management.

I joined the online class where I found myself amidst others seeking to understand this game phenomenon more fully.  We were placed in guilds, teams, and all given the same quest – to build a game for a hospital seeking stress management tools.  Although there wasn’t an intentional element of competition my guild definitely felt one, likely self imposed, since all of the guilds were working on the same project.  So we came together in one big group to learn, then went off on our own to do assignments and then gather with our guild members to collaborate on the project each step of the way.  It was fun to see how each person brought an important piece of the finished project to the table!

Along the way we often wondered if we were on the right path so it was indeed a pleasant surprise when we received our badge certification email letting us know that not only had our guild earned their badge but we had earned a rating of outstanding by the reviewers and apparently that was not something they gave out very often!

Click the game board below to view a pdf with details of our guild’s submission

Earning the badge was a rewarding experience in itself, little did we know that our project would show up later on Sententia’s website as a sample project for others considering taking the course to review.

Sertifier Certificate/Badge ID: 22287850451735.      Issue Date: 22.10.2022