Training-Games.com Issue 14 |
|
| Learning CAN be fun. Training SHOULD be fun. Training Games ARE fun! | |
| If you are having problems viewing this newsletter, you may also view it online here. | |
In this Newsletter... |
|
TGI Deal? Game - Something a Bit Different |
|
 A great new game based on the popular television show "Deal or No Deal" except that participants must answer your training questions to keep the values they choose. Add this great game to your training program! All the excitement, sounds and tough decisions of the real game! Will they take a chance and buy the Lockbox or play it safe and take the offer? For full game features description, go to: www.training-games.com/deal_game.html (Single User License $ 99.99) Download free game NOW! |
|
Getting More from Training Game Shows |
|
| Improved Retention Many of us use quiz and game shows within our training curriculum to generate fun and excitement during the program. Here is an idea that can perhaps stretch the program's learning and retention value by making the game or quiz show you present more collaborative and interactive. We've known for a long time programs that engage participants also improve retention. Take a look at the below learning retention chart, which demonstrates a direct relationship between the participant's active involvement, and the level of learning retention. Why not make those "end of program" game shows you've incorporated into your training program as a review piece more interactive by having your trainees develop the questions for the game as the program is presented. Here is a suggestion on just how to accomplish this. Begin your training program by immediately establishing teams. I would recommend teams of four to five individuals; however larger teams will work as well. Tell your teams that they will be developing questions based on the course materials presented during the program and to be used in the "BIG GAME" at the end of the program. Awarding a prize to the winner is always a nice touch. Inform your teams that they will also be responsible for each team member's understanding of the materials presented. In this way you've set the stage for individuals to help one another during the program and because you're designing it to be collaborative, they will have plenty of opportunity to interact. Developing the Game Questions Questions should be developed by participants in either multiple choice or True/False format. It is best if you have a template for capturing the questions (built in MS Word, Excel or PowerPoint) which will also make it easier for you to compile the questions later on in the program. Individual trainees will be asked to concentrate as the program material is presented and to jot down ideas they have for possible questions for the "BIG GAME". Tell your trainees that they will not only be developing questions but must also include additional and supportive information concerning each question. I'll speak more to this point in a second. Explain to your group that the emphasis of the game will be to promote real and practical learning for the core ideas expressed in the training. It is important not to develop questions that are too obscure or simply created to "stump" the other teams. They should however, be both challenging and designed to make you think. In addition, questions that are too obscure will be eliminated from the game (by the trainer), and it is to each team's advantage to have as many of their questions included in the game as possible. At the end of each program training module, teams will be given ten minutes to review their individual team member question submissions, and discuss which questions they may want to submit for inclusion in the game. You may even allow each team to have a short strategy meeting before the training begins to discuss how they will decide which questions will be submitted by the team. You'll need from 25 – 40 questions in total (1 -1 ½ hours of game play), and keep in mind some questions will be duplicates, while others may not make the cut (You make the final decision and you may also wish to add key questions that you feel must be included in the game). I would guess you may be asking for two to three questions from each team per training module. Questions should be developed with supportive information (versus just the answer itself). In this regard teams must include additional written information with each question which supports the question's relevance to the course materials. Each member of the team should be able to speak to the question as well. It is not only important that the team know the correct answer to their questions, but also that each team member be able to expound on the question itself (requires a greater level of understanding) should the facilitator ask the team member/s to do so. Compiling the Game Questions The good news is that you didn't have to come up with all these questions and additional information yourself. The bad news is you still have to select and compile the questions and then place them into your game. This is the reason I wanted to suggest a template perhaps built in MS Word, Excel or PowerPoint. In this way you should be able to cut and paste questions quickly into your game. If possible you may even have participants type the questions, answers and additional information directly into your template. Below (download link) is a questions file (template) that we use for our TGI XF games. Once questions are placed into this MS Excel file, they can be imported into many of our games (XF Style Games – see www.training-games.com). Downloadable file: http://training-games.com/TGIdownloads/Questions Database XF.xls In addition TGI makes a 6-Pack of various Quiz Show Games (Jeopardy, Hollywood Square, Wheel of Fortune etc) developed in PowerPoint. Additional information on these games can be located at: http://www.training-games.com/powerpoint_games.html . Any of these will work well as your program wind-up and review game. At the end of your program everyone will be excited to compete in the "BIG GAME". They will, of course, be hoping that they will get their own questions, or that their cleverly created questions will confound the other teams. Don't hesitate however to stop the game and explore understanding of a particular question. Remember, you have experts in the room ready to expound on the question, and provide additional information for greater understanding to the rest of your group (the originating team). Here's Why This Exercise Works So Well When your group is participating in the development of a quiz game there are several obvious benefits. As seen clearly in the above chart, we learn more when we engage. Instead of zoning out as PowerPoint slides slide by (tricky huh!), trainees will be engaged and try to craft questions that they will submit to their respective teams in hopes these may flummox other competing teams. As teams meet after each module there is a great opportunity to review what has been just presented. The objective of the exercise is to decide upon great questions to submit for the upcoming game, however, obviously such a review provides a grand opportunity for your teams to share in a motivated discussion of the training information presented. Remember that each team must be able to expound on the questions they submit, and may be asked to speak to the question during the course of the game. In other words, if they wish to submit a question, it is important that each member of the team understand why the question is relevant and be able to clearly speak to it. Finally the game itself will be fun and engaging. It is an excellent way to end the program, certainly a joint effort, and of course a stellar final review of the program just presented. |
|
| Products From TGI Contact [email protected] or call 602-750-7223 |
|
Famous Quotes |
|
| Proverb - "He who learns teaches, he who teaches learns." Nathan M. Pusey - "The teacher's task is not to implant facts but to place the subject to be learned in front of the learner and, through sympathy, emotion, imagination and patience, to awaken in the learner the restless drive for answers and insights which enlarge the personal life and give it meaning." Kung Fu-tzu Confucius - "If I am walking with two other men, each of them will serve as my teacher. I will pick out the good points of the one and imitate them, and the bad points of the other and correct them in myself." |
|
TGI Quiz Show Game XF |
|
 This Quiz Show game is really loaded! We put every feature we could think of in this one. It's really 4 games in 1 with the ability to change the configurations of the 4 base games to over 40 different game variations. It features Team play with up to 8 teams and as many as 20 players per team. Input your own training questions or download popular business, educational, and trivia Question Sets available FREE for our XF Game purchasers - literally thousands of pre-written questions. Single User License from $99.99 Read more and buy now |
|
What's New at TGI |
|
| We've had great success with our latest product, the 6-Pack PowerPoint Games. These are patterned after popular quiz show games (See Advertisement below). In the coming weeks we will also be producing a similar package of PowerPoint Games, all with a racing theme (Racing Cars, Horse Racing, Boat Racing etc.). Look for this new game pack in our next TGI Newsletter, issue 15. We have also made some great product improvements to our 6-Pack PowerPoint Games as well. We have attempted to make scoring in these games as easy a just pressing the scoring button. We know that trainers will appreciate this kind of product improvement when using the product in class. We also plan to upgrade all past purchasers with this latest version in the coming week. Partner With Us Training Games Inc. offers a TGI Partner License designed to allow others to sell TGI products on their website. If you own your own website, you can apply to our program and begin earning generous commissions TODAY! Online reporting of all sales is availabe to each partner, plus TGI takes care of order processing, payment, order delivery and customer service, and simply sends you a check on or before the 10th of every month for your prior month's sales of our products. Contact [email protected] or call 602-750-7223 for more information. GamesForTrainers.com is just one example of partners featuring and selling our training products. |
|
The Importance of Follow-Up |
|
| First of all, why is it important? Training is often described by those receiving the training as interesting but lacking practicality. "Oh, it was great information, but I'll never use it". In many cases this is true. Companies and organizations spend a lot of money on taking their employee half the way there. You wouldn't take dance lessons for 3 months, and not get up to dance when the music starts to play. Well in a sense we do exactly this when we don't attempt to use what we have spent days and weeks learning in a training program. Now, to a large extent training courses can miss the mark. Programs are offered that don't align with company strategies. It is important to use our training hours to complement corporate objectives. Or perhaps, training is being delivered to the wrong people (The ship's pastry chef does not need to know how to steer the boat). And lastly, prospective trainees should be motivated to learn. We always get the best "bang for our buck" when employees are motivated, so it is important to take action to move us away from this concept of a corporate training treadmill, NEXT! But with all this said, if we train, we should have a concrete plan to follow-up our training efforts in order to maximize results. Quite often trainees leave a training session feeling great. They've been through an invigorating learning experience and now, with good intention, they want to try their wings. However when they get back to the job, they sit down, crack open the manual, leaf through their notes and begin a review, right up until that first phone call. It's an emergency, of course, and we witness that oversized training manual lifted to it's final resting place; a shelf, the highest or lowest place in the whole entire office, never to be disturbed until it is so far out of date, that the company would need to hire a consultant group of octogenarians to even explain what the stuff was used for in the first place. That in a nutshell is why training following-up is so important. There needs to be some thought and planning on how we will infuse what we just learned into our life. It is not really complicated either. Here are some easy things to do.
|
|
| Visit our Website at www.training-games.com Download the TGI Catalog |
|
TGI 6-Pack PowerPoint Games |
|
| There are two ways to use our new 6-Pack PowerPoint game. Option One! Enjoy all the action of virtual gaming using any one of the popular shared desktop or conferencing applications. Option Two! Our six PowerPoint Games are great fun in a classroom setting, and may also be posted on your organization's server, company intranet or any secure page on your website. Games include a FREE PowerPoint scoreboard. For more information, go to http://training-games.com/powerpoint_games.html |
|
| Training Games Inc. Gary Trotta, CEO 4545 E Hedgehog Pl Cave Creek, AZ 85331 602-750-7223 [email protected] www.Training-Games.com |
|
| PS.. The sole intention of this email is to introduce you to our company and our products. If you do not want to receive ANY future emails from TGI, please CLICK HERE to REMOVE your email address. We respect your privacy and believe in keeping the Web a wonderful place for all. |
|
| © Copyright 2007. Training Games Inc. |