Play it – Games Make you Learn

On the football ground, on a scrabble board or in the ever engaging “candy crush”

– there are lessons to be learnt. Right from the day we started playing “police and robbers” or “house – house” , play has always been able to teach us lessons we remember throughout our lives, mostly because they engage us better and capture our attention. At a pre-school level , most concepts like colors or numbers or shapes are taught to kids using interactive play. But as they grow older the word “games” are seen with a negative connotation – more as a waste of time.

Learning during the early years of the twentieth century was essentially centred around acquisition of knowledge and skills, since that was what could get someone a job. Today the orientation has changed. Success is equated to higher order thinking and analytical skills, and most job roles today require critical problem solving skills, extremely good interpersonal skills and the ability to adapt to  ever changing environments. If rote learning was what could imbibe knowledge and skills (pun intended), then experiential learning is what is required to meet the twenty first century demands.

Games can be a valuable trigger for immersive experiential learning, one that is sadly ignored. Games can be used to simulate an exciting problem space, where the player is encouraged to explore freely in a direction that is self –set. Being high on engagement, games create a sense of competition and a strong urge to get into the intricacies and learn more. Games promise tons of fun,making people oblivious to inhibitions taking them  back to childhood. This makes them ask inquisitive questions, examine facts in detail and try hard to master skills which can get them ahead of competition.

Games that elevate participants to a sense of play work as stronger tools for learning. Simple games like blind man’s buff or an outdoor game like khov- kho have proven their worth in this and I highly recommend these for training programs. In a normal work –situation most people view rules with a tinge of suspicion. The same people accept rules of a game  whole heartedly . In fact they not just follow them , but turn out as ambassadors insisting that others follow them as well.

Such plays also get people to look at failure differently. I’ve been amused to see top tier executives , who are game setters and who in the normal course of events would take failure personally , learn a lesson or two from losing out in a game of “Lagori”.   That is the magic of “play”. Players hardly see failure as a hurdle , but would try till they succeed and invariably turn “masters” of the game.

To get to success , they would  be more than willing to take risks which would probably have been considered as “foolish” or “inappropriate” in a real – life situation. There is something about play that makes a person persist and stretches them to limits that they would not imagine in real – life. It is this aspect of play that makes it a very strong tool for experiential learning.

A player evolves through different stages of learning in game based facilitation - each teaching a new lesson. It all starts off with a hint of doubt- “Should I try? Will it be possible for me to accomplish here? Or would I look like a fool?”  The player transcends this stage in no time and moves onto the next which is one of deep involvement. They realise the depth that the experience has to offer and assigns meanings to it wanting to get into finer details and emerge as experts. This is where the maximum learning happens.

Then you would see them move into the next stage which is that of an accomplished player . At this juncture , they are open to offering help and support and you would find them asking lesser accomplished ones, “Shall I help you with this one?” or “ I can help do this better”.  Here the individual is trying to reconfirm his learnings ,making sure that he is able to do it on his own and help others .

Conversely you would also find them asking for help from people , who are better. “Hey , how did you do this? Can you teach me that technique?”

Games are no more for kids. In fact games can work as learning tools that bridge the gap between work and play. After all “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”. Which games do you play when facilitating?