It seems like almost everyone these days is trying to apply game-like approaches to training. It’s easy to see why. Video games are intense and effective learning experiences in which the user acquires a complex skill set in a short period of time. And best of all, people enjoy the experience! Unfortunately, efforts to create game-based training often fall far short of the mark. The problem is, if we don’t have a good understanding of what it is that makes games pedagogically effective, we don’t know what it is that we should be trying to emulate about games.

In my article in Training Industry Magazine, I present a framework for understanding how games drive learning that I call E=MC⁵ (Education = Mission + Context + Challenge + Choice + Consequences + Competition).

Please read it and let me know what you think!