If you are an L&D professional looking to leverage Serious Games, Gamification or Simulations for training in your organisation, then Helen Routledge is the expert to turn to, and her book on this subject is a must-read for you.
Why Games are Good for Business is a brilliant and much-needed book for those looking to use games and immersive learning experiences to make training more effective and enhance learner engagement.
The concepts of serious games, gamification or game-based learning are part of everyday L&D conversation now, with rewards and badges seen as key parts of the training arsenal. However, it’s only been this way for a handful of years, and Helen Routledge has been a pioneer in using these ideas as powerful tools for learner engagement.
Indeed, I interviewed Helen on the subject of serious games back in 2014 in this video below, and all of the principles discussed are just as relevant today:
Learner engagement is often seen as important for the box ticking exercises in areas like onboarding and compliance, but Helen explains, and is a leading advocate for, its power in all areas of business, including soft skills, diversity training, strategy and corporate change management.
As CEO of Totem Learning, a well-established UK elearning company based in Coventry, West Midlands, Helen’s knowledge is helping a wide range of organisations in both Business and Education to use the latest and best technologies for Immersive Learning, including VR / AR and simulations, alongside sound principles for effective learning using games.
Their impressive client base includes the likes of PWC, Shell and Deloitte in the corporate sector and the Universities of Liverpool, Pittsburgh and Milano-Bicocca (Milan, Italy), so the principles that Helen guides you through within the book are well-proven in the marketplace.
I was delighted to be interviewed for and contribute in a very small way to the book. That aside though – I’d without doubt recommend it as a really interesting and important book for Learning and Development.
You can buy the book here on Amazon, and it is highly recommended.
Even if you are already planning to work with an elearning consultant and service provider for planning and implementing serious games, gamification or simulations, then reading this book first will equip you with much knowledge and many useful nuggets of wisdom, so that you leap ahead of the basics in your discussions and focus on exploring the finer details of how to make these L&D strategies benefit your learners and your organisation.
David Patterson
Lead eLearning Consultant
About David
Our lead elearning consultant David Patterson is an expert in training technologies such as learning management systems, and in elearning best practices.
He has helped many public and private sector organisations across the UK, Europe and worldwide to create and deliver engaging, effective elearning.
David is joint author of several research papers including the highly acclaimed Learning Light reports on the UK elearning market.
