LEEF 2010 in Harrisburg: Serious Games as a Learning Strategy

LEEF is an interactive professional development event on the convergence of learning and entertainment technologies, and it explores the organizational, design and technical challenges of adopting games and simulations for learning. The 2010 forum took place on Thursday and Friday, June 17 and 18 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Whether games and simulations work as an organizational learning strategy was a central theme, but the program gave less room to why they are effective and more to how organizations implement them and fit them into established learning teams.

The program mixed keynotes, case study sessions with lessons learned, hands-on play with new and experimental technologies at high-tech demos, instructional workshops, one-on-one time with innovators and entrepreneurs in the exhibit area, and networking. Early-bird registration ran through March 31.

Mike Cuffe, vice president of University of Farmers, Claims at Farmers Insurance Group in Agoura Hills, California, spoke on Thursday, June 17 under the title Talk about a revolution... Learning, Technology, and People.

Jerry Heneghan, managing director of the Virtual Heroes division of Applied Research Associates, spoke on Friday, June 18 on Uniting Three Disciplines: A Development Approach for Successful Serious Games. His point was that effective serious games blend instructional design, game design and cognitive task analysis in a process that works for internal teams and clients alike. He planned a candid account of the highs and lows of making successful serious games, drawing on the process used at Virtual Heroes for America's Army, Pamoja Mtanni, Hilton Ultimate Team Play, Zero Hour: America's Medic and the Virtual Peace Project. Stakeholder management, goal alignment and subject-matter-expert interaction were singled out, and the talk gave particular attention to the dialogue that has to happen between the three disciplines. Bringing them together is hard, and the abstract describes the effort as demanding in both physical and mental terms.

Virtual Heroes still has a website at virtualheroes.com, titled Virtual Heroes, A Division of ARA, with the line High-performance simulations for high-stakes training. Its sections cover commercial, government and military, and medical and healthcare work, along with capabilities in modeling and simulation and training, case studies, a portfolio, a project showcase, a video gallery and a team, history and awards page. The page for Applied Research Associates is linked from the menu.

The five games Heneghan named are listed in the games directory with their status unconfirmed.