Michael Sutton, an evolving presence in the field of Game-Based Learning, is acknowledged internationally for blending his executive, teaching, and scholarly experience with his higher education expertise in Serious Games & Simulations.
Never subscribing to the "sage on the
stage" paradigm in higher education or T&D (Training &
Development), he has demonstrated enormous success in the delivery of immersive
learning experiences. Michael is a fervent evangelist for Serious Games
deployment because he knows they work: he has seen the results of the learning
outcomes through the career advancement of colleagues, fellow professionals,
and learners – his term for students.
“There are probably about 42 different learning
strategies, of which games are only one,” Michael says. “What I have found is
that Serious Games give a better return on learning than any other tool.”
Sutton has shared his personal
journey – a historical narrative that describes his passion and motivation
for the fast-growing field of Serious Games & Simulations and how gaming has
been a critical element in his professional development. He realizes that not
every professor is excited by the idea, but he hopes that opinions will change
as educators work towards engaging generations of learners.
In his capacity to transform organizations
through the intervention of new information systems, he was also able to
introduce serious gaming into the learning environment in order to build upon
soft skills like leadership, team building, and communications, as well as the
hard skills associated with information technology. The outcomes certainly
intrigued the executives he reported to. They all noticed increased engagement,
commitment, and problem-solving capabilities, along with positive attitudinal
and behavioral changes. Michael was in his element, creating immersive learning
environments that provided the training participants with real problems to
solve and real situations and barriers to overcome. Most importantly, he wanted
to introduce fun in the learning space.
FLOW is Good Business™ (FLIGBY®) is an online Serious Game to be used in Leadership
Development programs both in academic and business settings.
Intended for decision makers, the game is based
on the Official Flow-Program developed by Professor Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and
produced by ALEAS Simulations, Inc., a Serious Games developer based in
California and Central Europe, Hungary.
Professor Csikszentmihalyi defines “Flow” as a
state of heightened focus and immersion in contexts such as gameplay. He is
inspired by the vision that the program’s lasting benefit will result in more
effective management around the world.
FLIGBY was designed by experts
to be the globe’s top leadership development game; it won the Gold Medal Prize
of the International Serious Play Awards in Seattle in 2012. FLIGBY’s credentials as a game-based
leadership teaching and training tool has evolved to prominence in the last 2
years. The Game offers a unique databank, generated by thousands of player
decisions linked to skill measures, ready to be exploited for academic and
practitioner research purposes. Creativity, flow and happiness are core
concepts of positive psychology. These traits are particularly relevant for
organizations, especially in forming value-based business management practices.
Michael will give his presentation Thursday, July 20, 2017 at
1.45 p.m. - Room A.
For more information on Serious Play
Conference, an annual gathering of thought leaders in the serious games
industry, go to www.seriousplayconf.com