Proceedings of the 12th European Conference on Knowledge ...

Albena Antonova and Anandasivakumar Ekambaram
Concerning <strong>the</strong>ir development: mainstream, or commercial entertainment games, commercial
educational games, and research based educational games
Leyland (1996) categorizes SG based on <strong>the</strong>ir primary market - military games, government games,
educational games, corporate games, healthcare games, and political, religious and art games.
There are several advantages <strong>of</strong> using SG. Some <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>m are (Frederik et al., 2010): fun and
challenge, immersive, stimulate learning, interactive, personalized, contextualized, ability to provide
feedback. There have been a number <strong>of</strong> studies which have demonstrated that games accelerate
learning, increase motivation and support <strong>the</strong> development <strong>of</strong> higher level cognitive skills (deFreitas &
Jarvis, 2006).This makes SG suitable for learning purposes and especially for active learning (focused
on end-learner), testing competences and skills, developing critical thinking, testing scenarios and
strategy <strong>of</strong> actions, pr<strong>of</strong>iling, and self-learning. Moreover, games are very good at using drama,
storyline, humor and characters to create a compelling experience which, from a training point <strong>of</strong> view,
develops memory hooks and means that learners not only remember what happened but also why it
happened. Weaknesses <strong>of</strong> SG are, among o<strong>the</strong>r things, technical limitations, balance between game
and learning, and syn<strong>the</strong>tic environment (Frederik et al., 2010). Ano<strong>the</strong>r weakness is that SG cannot
easily integrate <strong>the</strong>oretical knowledge. Thus, on many occasions, SG are accompanied by standard
e-learning tools and knowledge bases (for example, <strong>the</strong> games <strong>of</strong> Yentles@ and InTeLS@).
As we have seen, learning is connected to SG. However, many popular entertainment games (for
example, simulations, strategy games, and role playing) allow players to extend <strong>the</strong>ir skills and
knowledge base. Some examples <strong>of</strong> simulation games include city-building games (as Sim City@),
business simulation games, and life-simulation games, where players need to design and achieve
balance in complex ecosystems, and meeting some pre-defined goals. When it comes to more
intensive game experiences, <strong>the</strong>re are "exergames" or active games simulations as flight simulation,
racing games and space flight simulation, and o<strong>the</strong>r applications such as music and sport games. In
<strong>the</strong>se games, players actively perform actions and develop motor skills in contexts that tend to reflect
<strong>the</strong> reality. Therefore, it is not always easy to distinguish between SG and entertainment games with
respect to learning.
3. Serious games and Knowledge management
As described by Lohmann & Niesenhous (2008), a vast range <strong>of</strong> knowledge can be transmitted
through a serious game. Knowledge is integrated into <strong>the</strong> game in a number <strong>of</strong> different ways; ei<strong>the</strong>r
directly integrated into <strong>the</strong> game play (game mechanics) and scenarios, or made available as an
external resource. However, <strong>the</strong> knowledge in SG is not represented in explicit form. Players need to
obtain it through a number <strong>of</strong> trial and error methods. This makes <strong>the</strong>m to go through a number <strong>of</strong>
first-hand experiences, improve <strong>the</strong>ir competence, enable <strong>the</strong>m to build complex cognitive models
and become active learners. Moreover, <strong>the</strong> SG provide context <strong>of</strong> interaction, and create opportunities
for players to improve <strong>the</strong>ir social and cognitive skills and <strong>the</strong>ir ability to deal effectively with
complexity.
The following sections will describes how serious games can facilitate and improve knowledge
management in companies. This description is divided into two main parts. They are: SG for
individual-centered KM and SG for organizational-centered KM.
3.1 SG for Individual-centered KM
SG allow individuals to build expertise easily and quickly by adopting <strong>the</strong> concept <strong>of</strong> rapid
competence development. Based on literature studies, Wouters et al. (2008) present a classification
<strong>of</strong> learning outcomes <strong>of</strong> SG and address 4 main classes <strong>of</strong> skills. They are: cognitive skills
(knowledge and skills as problem solving, decision making, and situational awareness), motor skills
(acquisition and compilation <strong>of</strong> knowledge), affective skills (attitude and motivation) and
communicative skills (communicate, cooperate, and negotiate). SG can successfully integrate
immersive scenarios, transfer <strong>the</strong> knowledge <strong>of</strong> contexts and address particular knowledge domain.
SG are designed around context realistic scenarios that teach and facilitate individuals / employees to
take decisions, make forecasts and develop business-specific skills, when <strong>the</strong>y execute various
business tasks. Moreover, SG can enhance employees to develop specific competences in finance,
marketing, business planning, sales, forecast methods and o<strong>the</strong>r business issues and test <strong>the</strong>m in
close-to-real contexts. SG can fur<strong>the</strong>r train individuals to develop more complex s<strong>of</strong>t skills (for
example, communication and negotiation, decision-making and planning).
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