By Learning Oddfellow and Elliott Masie

Exclusive to The Bob Pike Group ezine

Hi, this is Learning Oddfellow. I am an “avatar” created by Elliott Masie and I live in a virtual world called Second Life. As an “avatar,” I am both High-Fidelity and also other-worldly. And, as my name implies, I am all about learning.

My life is a bit different and I’d like to let you use me as a tool to better understand the world of gaming and virtualization for the world of learning. So, I’ve asked my creator, Elliott Masie, to interview me with some unrehearsed and probing questions:

Masie: Why would anyone want to leave the very real world to go to a virtual world for important corporate learning?

Oddfellow: Because it is even more real! For example, I can move around my island in Second Life (LearnLand) and explore content and skills with even greater curiosity. I can actually fly over to a gas pump that was designed by BP and then move between the pipes and even dive underneath the ground to see things that you couldn’t see up close in real life. In other words, you can make a game or virtual world even more High-Fidelity than the real world.

Masie: Do people take you and learning seriously in class? Or is it all a game to them?

Oddfellow: Strange question from you, Elliott! You and guys like Bob Pike always use humor in classes. You use it as a tool to get people relaxed, focused and to open up their minds to core content. Same thing in games and virtual world. Sure, they play! And, that is part of the design. We want them to play their way through curiosity into content and skill development and even have fun failing!

Masie: Stop, Oddfellow! You mean that want them to fail?!

Oddfellow: Absolutely. In fact, I’d argue that you can’t succeed at something brand new without some failure. If you want to learn a new golf swing, you WILL want and need to fail. You will FAIL FORWARD, but, without real consequences. In fact, you should be able to use failure much more as a learning tool in the gaming and virtual world!

Masie: Even for something really serious? Like medical training?

Oddfellow: Just yesterday, I read on my CyberBoard an article from your real world about some research that showed medical students who played games three or more hours a week were much better at laparoscopic surgery when they graduated. It not only built their motor skills, but also gave them a continuous improvement model for approaching learning. In a game, you know you will get it wrong many times until you get it right.  In traditional learning, we often prematurely test our learners, resulting in faux positives.

Masie: What about us older folks?  I am 56 and don’t really want to play “shoot-them-up” games.

Oddfellow: You are in luck. In recent months, the world of gaming discovered that there is a huge untapped market of people like you that want to play. Your generation plays a lot – from Sudoku puzzles to card games to the stock market (hehehehe).

But, now you can start to use a much more friendly game console that Nintendo has created: the Wii.  It is different in several ways:

• You stand up while playing - it gets you active.
• It allows you to move a wireless device in your hand and simulate bowling a ball, driving a car or even performing surgery on a patient. It is intuitive and easy to learn.
• It is group and tribal-based. For the first time, three generations are playing the same game on the same device and standing around in a social context.

Watch for more games, worlds and consoles to be developed that target and embrace the wider set of users, including folks even older than you, Elliott.

Masie: Last question. When will games and virtual worlds be within the reach of trainers and learning departments in ordinary, lower-budget organizations?

Oddfellow: Now and very soon. There are on-line worlds like Second Life that are now available for early learning sandbox experiments. We have even built a Corporate University in Second Life to allow learning professionals to leverage for interactive, immersive learning experiences.

And, we will see gaming platforms and simulations come to market in the next 20 months that leverage the Wii and other gaming consoles. There will be simulations that are focused on the world of work, language skills and other safety/health issues very soon.

Finally, don’t forget that gaming doesn’t need to be high tech. The desire of humans to play and learn together is a species-specific trait. So, as we explore the virtual world, don’t ignore the great games that a trainer can play with groups right in the classroom as a part of daily learning.

By the way, if you are in Second Life, look me up.  My avatar is really called “Learning Oddfellow” and I would love to prance with you.

Elliott Masie leads The MASIE Center and The Learning CONSORTIUM, a collaborative of over 240 global organizations.  He also hosts Learning 2007 in Orlando, Fla. (Oct 21-24) which will feature the Gaming4Learning Symposium.  www.masie.com