Video Games to Teach Skills

IBM has developed a video game called Innov8 designed to teach graduate students a combination of business and IT skills through a three-dimensional gaming experience. IBM is offering the program for free to more than 2,000 universities worldwide. Similar to how pilots use flight simulators to learn to fly airplanes, information technology management students can learn from business simulations and problems, says IBM's Sandy Carter. "You get 80 percent greater retention when someone does a task versus reading about it," Carter says. "The concept is to get students to experience the task in a fun way." The game's main character, named Logan, receives assignments to solve business problems from the company's CEO. The first task involves improving operations at a call center with long call times and poor documentation. "The fun part is you are a character," Carter says. "You click on a video and learn about how to do things. You can click on posters and the posters come alive." Pace University associate professor of information systems Jim Lawler, who was involved in the Innov8 pilot program, says the game is more like a tool with a lot of intelligence behind it, and that a video game should appeal to today's generation. "It brings the course into the 21st century," Lawler says. "Enrollment is lower in computer science and information systems nationally. This is what schools have to do, integrate these kind of games and tools."