Engaging Participants in OSHA Training

OSHA (Occupational Safety Hazard Association) training is the mandatory standard in many industries where being improperly trained can mean the difference between life and death. Or at the very least, between safety and injury.

Proper instruction doesn’t just mean conveying information, it means making sure that you’re training in a way where content is going to be remembered.

But the problem is that OSHA training is often dry. OSHA-10 and OSHA-30 courses can cover topics like fall protection, handling of waste and chemical materials, biological hazards, disaster recovery and many, many more. Some of which may require trainees to sit through the same courses or be recertified year after year.

So if the content is critical, but making the training engaging is challenging—what is the solution?

Deb Hilmerson, of Hilmerson Safety, came up with an answer while conducting large safety and OSHA training seminars:

“We all know the challenges of keeping learners interested and engaged in safety and health training programs. To add some fun, entertainment and help engage learners, I started using game shows built around my content.”

Using game shows within such serious training modules as OSHA may not seem obvious, but game shows capitalize on competition to drive learning and captivate trainees’ attention—dramatically increasing participation, engaging their emotions and motivating them to explore content.

Dan Yaman, of LearningWare, elaborates:

“Game shows take an ordinary training session and turn it into something extraordinary. More than that, game shows create an engaging, lively classroom environment.”

If a trainer can engage their trainees at a higher rate during a training session—more of that critical information is going to be retained.

This is why Hilmerson Saftey partnered with LearningWare to create OSHA-10 and OSHA-30 games. These game show modules are ready-to-go--alleviating hours and hours of content development. Question content has been organized into “libraries” based on standard subpart topics such as fall protection, scaffolding, hazard communication, HAZWOPER and many more. Each question is painstakingly crafted to include multimedia, extra information, AND align (with citation) with the required industry standard.

OSHA-10 and OSHA-30 games are built using LearningWare’s Gameshow Pro template software, which already being over 35,000 classrooms worldwide, and is prominent in safety training. Used to preview, present and review information, Gameshow Pro has been shown to increase content retention by over 60% and has received rave reviews from trainers, trainees and corporations alike.

OSHA-10 and OSHA-30 ready-to-play games for construction will be available shortly. For inquiries, contact info@learningware.com.

Brain-Based Webinars Session

Hey everybody! You're cordially invited to a webinar we've developed and are hosting through one of our technology partners, omNovia.

Hosted by Dan Yaman, this is a best-practices webinar that both demonstrates and illustrates how to engage the brain for a truly effective webinar. It also features our AllPlay Web technology in action--so sign up, stop in, play a game, learn a lot and have fun!

When: September 23, 2010 1:00 PM
US/Central

Description: There’s a wealth of research on how the brain best receives and retains information. This knowledge is key to conducting a webinar that is truly effective.

This entertaining and interactive presentation will focus on the latest brain-based research; illuminating the science behind conducting a webinar that:

• Engages your webinar audience and keeps them engaged throughout your presentation.
• Leads the audience through a natural learning cycle that will help them to understand and better retain the information.
• Utilizes “brain-friendly” graphics.
• Provides methods of interaction that go beyond polling.

You’ll also be exposed to examples of how to use multimedia, stories, case studies, etc. to add variety and novelty for a truly fun and memorable webinar experience.

Most importantly, you will leave with a deeper understanding of how to communicate to the brain for immediate webinar improvement.

REGISTER HERE!

A Happy Accident for AllPlay Web Webinars

We were asked to sit in on a customer's webinar (where he was going to be utilizing AllPlay Web).

He wanted to do a discovery run (not even as polished as a dry run) to figure out how his content should flow, which slides should go where, and when to play which questions in the course of the webinar. (The screencap on the side is one of his AllPlay Web questions.)

And--as with any first time--there were some hiccups. We found ourselves seeing some of the questions only to have our host say, "Whoops, I haven't covered that yet!" and switching quickly back into the content. However, two things happened:

1. We were surprised how competitive we got, considering that we had NO knowledge of the dry topic. We really focused in on the details and data of the webinar--knowing that things may be covered later. We found ourselves taking notes (with specific details of content WE DIDN'T CARE ABOUT) in order to get correct answers.

2. Related to the mistake of showing questions before their time: We became laser-focused in on that content. We knew we were going to find the answer somewhere in the webinar material coming up, so we payed extra-close attention to getting those questions answered.

So what are the implications of our accidental discovery?

• It's definitely important to pre-frame the game at the beginning of the webinar. Tell the participants right away that they'll be playing a game--competing against each other.
• There's really no substitute for competition. We felt compelled not just to interact (i.e. like with polling) but to get the *right* answer to demonstrate our attention. There was skin in the game, so to speak.
• It's not a bad idea to preview which questions are going to be in the game before the content is covered. Especially if there is content you want to be sure to focus on or highlight. It's not tipping your hat, it's shifting the attendee focus to the most important place.
  

Time and time again, we're surprised by the amazing experience that we have as *participants* using our products. What we mean is, we spend a lot of time testing and practicing internally, but there's really no substitute for the real-world experience of the game shows--and seeing the absolute joy and effectiveness they bring to a webinar or training session.

Custom! Custom! Custom!

Wow! Whoever coined the term "lazy summer" sure wasn't talking about us over here at LearningWare.

You may have noticed that our blog and Facebook page has been updated a little sporadically over August so far, and there's a reason for that: We've been on the road--creating and producing custom audience-response game shows!

If you're following this blog, you're (probably) already familiar with our Gameshow Pro classroom game show solution, as well as our webinar solution (AllPlay Web), assessment solution (AllPlay) and our online solution (QuizPoint). What makes the custom game shows different from our off-the-shelf software listed is that they're completely redesigned from the ground-up with custom graphics, programming, game play, etc.

Here are just a few of our summer highlights:

"The Fairway 2 Heaven"
Toyota
[Image seen above]

We traveled to Pebble Beach, CA to produce the "Fairway 2 Heaven"--a themed game show event that took place during their Circle of Excellence. The game had custom golf-themed graphics (appropriate for Pebble Beach) and included audience response pads. However, the audience didn't just play along on teams. At different points, we "highlighted" audience member keypads for high-stakes play. The game was also programmed so that audience members could "wager" on whether they thought their colleagues would answer a question correctly--or not.

"The PulteGroup Smackdown!"
PulteGroup

To reinforce information over a 3-day event, we programmed "The PulteGroup Smackdown". Audience members were divided into six teams that stayed together throughout the three days, and competed in progressively building challenges. The Smackdown highlighted and reviewed key content; from one day to the next it became the "Planning Smackdown" or the "Coaching Smackdown" or the "Sales Process Smackdown"

The picture shown was taken by an audience member--illustrating their keypad (coded by team color) and the opening game screen in the background.

"The Deep Dive"
EBMS
[Not shown]

A mixture of polling and competition, all in the same game! The "Deep Dive" for EBMS featured graphics that matched their oceanic deep-dive theme, and focused on gathering information and reinforcing knowledge. Since the audience was made up of clients, EBMS wanted to more deeply investigate the needs and behaviors of the audience as well as engage them and energize them with a game show. With custom programming, we were able to securely assign keypads and track data, seamlessly ask polling questions, and also switch to team competition that brought down the house.

Hershey Uses Gameshow Pro in Their Orientations

In the July issue of IAAPA's (International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions) Funworld Magazine (how great is that name!), LearningWare received a featured mention.

The article, by Jeremy Schoolfield, detailed how Hershey has altered its orientation program to reflect the nature of the company---and this includes using Gameshow Pro!

From the article:

Orientation Should Be Fun, Too
Making orientation fun doesn’t fall solely on the ambassadors—Hershey goes to great lengths to ensure the entire process is set for success, right down to how the new employees are seated.
The training room is called a “Legacy Zone,” and it’s designed to feel like anything but a stodgy classroom. Current and historic Hershey jingles play over speakers while company trivia flashes on the walls. Rather than rows upon rows of desks, employees sit in table clusters that Buffington says are more conducive to a social atmosphere.

“We immerse them in the culture right away and get them excited,” she says. “This company sells experiences, and we’re trying to model what we expect.”

The orientation program thus minimizes lectures and maximizes interaction. Hershey uses Gameshow Pro software from Minnesota-based LearningWare (www.LearningWare. com) to set up its own “Jeopardy!”-style trivia game about the brand and its legacy. “We’re educating them on who we are in a fun way,” Buffington says.

Orientation also includes a “Bingo”-type get-to-know-one- another mixer game (as opposed to just the boring ol’ “My name is …” introductions) and employs videos and other multimedia programming wherever possible—anything to keep it from being one person standing in front of the group talking for too long.

“We’re an entertainment and hospitality company—so the first step is being entertaining and hospitable,” says Public Relations Manager Kathy Burrows.

You can read the entire article here.
[Photo from article, credit: Giniwoy]

Top Ways to Celebrate Game Show Month

July is game show month!

How did the summer month get to have this illustrious title? Well, July tends to be a month that is traditionally...nontraditional. Employees are on vacations, there are a lot of new hires gearing up for the next quarter, the office can be very busy or it can seem very slow. . . so it's a great time to utilize game shows to engage, motivate and train.

So what are some ways you can celebrate game show month?

• Play our game of the month: The Game Show Blitz, and test your knowledge of game shows past and present.
• Organize a game show tournament that runs through multiple training modules and days. Display a leader board in the office or training room to keep competition going.
• Bring your classroom game show online or into your webinar with QuizPoint and AllPlay Web
• Incorporate videos, pictures and your own sounds into your game show for a highly visual, highly sensory multimedia experience.
  
• Download our latest version of Gameshow Pro v4 with 10 new game board designs.
• Try a new game show format--Gameshow Pro alone has 6 different styles. Varying the game play can add freshness to a classroom game show.
• Have trainees create their own questions as part of a mid-training review, then use them in the game show to review.
  
• Catch up on game show hosting tips in our comprehensive learning center.
• Use a Classroom Feud-style game show to preview content and generate curiosity around a topic.
  
• Join our Facebook Fan Page for frequent, exclusive tips and updates.
• Get ready for our beta version of Gameshow Pro v5--coming in late summer!

Individual Assessment vs. Team Play

We've talked quite a bit about the strength and appeal of team competition in game shows. However, there are times when individual play may be more appropriate--even in a training setting.

Team Play:
• Allows contestants to be "safe"
• Enables trainees to learn from their peers
• Utilizes competition to add energy to the room
• Allows a trainer to get a general sense of group progress/review en masse, etc.

Individual Play:
• Allows a game show to become a less-stressful assessment tool
• Illuminates individual knowledge gaps
• Caters to those who may be opposed to team play

However, there's a third "blended" approach--team play with audience-response pads--that allows you to both group people on teams, and individually assess them. This mixed approach combines the competitive elements and the supportive environment of a team with the specific assessment element that appeals to the accountability of learning management systems.

1. Find a program that can accommodate the blended individual/team approach--like AllPlay or our upcoming release of Gameshow Pro (version 5)--with individual keypads and team gameplay.
2. Assign keypads to individuals. Usually this can be done beforehand, or you can do this when students are in-classroom.
3. You can either assign students to teams, let them assign themselves, or split the room once students are seated. We recommend seating teams apart from each other so correct answers don't get "passed around". There's still a team cohesion even though team members may not be close in proximity.

Each individual's answer will go to their team's score--the final tally being the total percentage of correct answers per team. On the back end, you can also track individual responses by keypad, but during gameplay, responses can remain anonymous to give the experience of a safe, fun learning environment.