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I/ITSEC 2020 Goes Virtual in the 15th Year of Serious Games Showcase & Challenge

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Image credit: vIITSEC - a virtual version of the trade show that will take place on the same dates planned for I/ITSEC. NTSA is developing a virtual platform that will allow the presentation of tutorials and technical papers, as well as a virtual event hall.I/ITSEC organizer National Training & Simulation Association (NTSA) has announced a new virtual event called vIITSEC, taking place November 30 - December 4, 2020. The conference theme, “The Future is Now,” could not be more appropriate.I/ITSEC 2020 was canceled for safety concerns amid the COVID-19 pandemic. NTSA waited until September 1 to pull the plug on its trade show, the premier annual event for the modeling, simulation, and training (MS&T) industry. The organization quickly followed up a week later with an announcement of vIITSEC, a virtual version of the trade show.NTSA is developing an online platform that will enable the training and simulation community to virtually gather. The new format will include a full conf…
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Using AAA Game-Quality Virtual Reality For Construction Training

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Image credit: PIXO VRIn the recent article Bringing Virtual Reality Into Your Business, Harvard Business Review states that VR might be the most promising enterprise technology organizations can adopt today. “VR is growing rapidly as businesses recognize its potential to help them grow. And the pace of its technological development positions it to transform industries, not just tomorrow but starting today. VR’s contribution to the GDP is valued at $13.5 billion globally in 2019, according to PwC, which anticipates that figure reaching $450.5 billion, and supporting more than 23 million jobs worldwide, by 2030. Given the rapid global adoption of remote-work practices in the wake of the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic, that rate of adoption could happen even faster and more widely than expected.”The many advantages and use cases for VR are already clear to industries such as manufacturing, construction, and transportation, among others. VR technology can help reduce or eliminate both the costs a…
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Award-Winning Serious Game Goes Mobile To Strengthen Virtual Teams Skill Sets

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Image credit: Brave to the Sea, Gold Honors in the 2020 International Serious Play Awards Program, goes mobile
Today there are more than 20 million people in Brazil working on home office basis. According to a recent research conducted by the Getulio Vargas Foundation, a renowned Brazilian higher education institution and think tank, 30% of the companies are expected to maintain the virtual work format, which entails working nearly full time away from the office place.
Some of the biggest challenges for virtual teamwork and remote working teams include maintaining a strong company culture and building real human connections. Digital games demand interaction and participation, two valued qualities that now characterize much of the lives of remote workers.
Expansão,a Brazilian company founded in 1997 based in Sao Paulo and specialized in building innovative learning experiences (please find also Serious Game For Digital Transformation Capability Wins Gold Medal In Serious Play Competition…
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Purdue Startup Turns Gameplay Into Serious STEM Learning During The Pandemic

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Image credit: MindLabs platform by Explore Interactive, a Purdue University-affiliated startup. MindLabs combines the fun of tabletop card games with the excitement of AR, to provide a learning platform for a variety of STEM topics.
Explore Interactive, a Purdue University startup, is turning gameplay into serious learning for elementary students away from classrooms during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The company markets an augmented reality platform to help students learn STEM. Its newest product, MindLabs, extends the foundational Explore Interactive platform to allow kids to collaborate remotely on engineering and design of circuits.
“In the current remote learning environment, MindLabs is a solution for teachers who have very limited options for students to engage collaboratively on STEM projects,” says Amanda Thompson, CEO of Explore Interactive.
Explore Interactive has worked with educators and elementary students from across the U.S. in the development of the MindLabs platform, which le…
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August 25: John Findlay On The Role of Game-Based Learning In Remote Education

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UPCOMING FREE WEBINAR OFFERED BY  SERIOUS PLAY CONFERENCE (This webinar is part of the Serious Play Conference Series on  Re-imagining Learning)
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Covid-19 is forcing us to rethink how we teach and train people. Through the pandemic and beyond organizations will need effective ways to educate remote learners. To compete with at-home distractions teachers, schools, universities, companies, and trainers all need to find ways to make learning engaging and fun.
In this free webinar we will discuss some of the impending challenges and solutions to educating remote learners. Specifically, we will examine:
How to deliver blended remote learningElements that make blended and remote learning engaging and motivating for different learnersWhat role game-based learning could playHow to humanize remote learning
Edchat Interactive led by John Findlay at 1:00PM Eastern/10:00AM Pacific time on Tuesday, August 25


John Findlay is the CEO and founding partner of LemonadeLXP (est. 2018), a learning …
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Serious Game Replaces Master's Program Final Presentation at University of Houston

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Image credit: Red vs. Blue by ThreatGEN
The University of Houston announced late July that students in the cybersecurity master’s program used an educational video game to demonstrate their mastery of cybersecurity skills (source: Betsy Foresman, education reporter for EdScoop).
“Typically, students in that program would complete a capstone project in information systems security risk analysis to showcase their ability to thwart cyberattacks, using the same tools professionals use to fend off hackers. But the switch to distance learning this past semester meant that students had to find a new way to demonstrate their skills in defending networks.”
To allow students to showcase their skills and demonstrate the cybersecurity defense techniques outside of the classroom, the university partnered with the cybersecurity training company ThreatGEN, which developed a cybersecurity Serious Game, called Red vs. Blue
ThreatGEN® Red vs. Blue is a multi-player strategy computer game where players comp…
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US Fire Administration Takes A Stand On The Use Of VR For Firefighters Training

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Image credit: FLAIM Trainer®by FLAIM Systems - Train Virtually, Experience Reality
In the article Virtual Reality Training May Save Firefighter Lives posted last July, the U.S. Fire Administration - an entity of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), takes a stand on VR training as a safe alternative to practical, dangerous live fire scenarios.
According to the article, from 2008-2019, 109 firefighters lost their lives due to training injuries. The leading cause of firefighter death during training is stress/overexertion (70%). The remainder of deaths are attributed to falls, vehicle collision, self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) failure or environmental exposure.
“VR technology is raising the bar in firefighter training while helping save lives and conserve valuable resources,” state the authors. “The use of VR technology allows training for incidents that cannot easily be replicated or may be very costly to recreate, not to mention …
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