Wii-velopment for staff

For sometime now we at Staff Training & Development at DMU have been musing over whether we should be introducing some appropriate technologies to enhance training sessions; after all, learning technologies is for [both academic and support] staff too, and not just for enhancement of student learning.

There is another justification to using technologies for staff development, which is for students to appreciate and use learning technologies, it is fundamental that staff understand and use learning technologies. For staff to use learning technologies effectively it is crucial that the staff/educational developers also understand the use and appreciate learning technologies. Staff/educational developers therefore have an important role to play but are generally reluctant to do so because they are not yet sufficiently capable, or moreover, simply not confident. Therefore it is incumbent that Staff/Academic Developers employ techniques in their training with learning technologies; more so at De Montfort University where our strapline is Professional, Creative, Innovative.

At T&D we had been thinking for ways of incorporating gaming, especially video consoles, but had refrained because we thought that video consoles wouldn't go down well with training staff, especially the academic; put beautifully by an academic colleague from Academic Professional Development Unit, "They'd [staff] simply walk out"!

However there was another issue that was at the back of our minds, at DMU we have around 3000 staff and are committed to recruiting appropriate people from all walks of life and ages, and so we may have many "digital natives" now amongst our work force who have grown up along side all sorts of technologies, and by using new technologies in training and development we may tap areas that are natural and indigenous in their lifestyles.

However, this shouldn't be at the expense of others being left out. We couldn't expect staff who are new to many concepts in technology to join in and naturally feel comfortable with a Playstation controller and the latest shoot 'em up like Resident Evil. Well, not until now; several months ago Nintendo released a new games console aimed at a broader demographic than that of their counterparts such as Sony and Microsoft. Nintendo claim that this console will attract people from all ages to play video games, and many titles together. See clip below.

Wii Made History



Richard Hall already commented on a previous post about his experiences with a friends family (and an eight-year old who thrashed him on a virtual game of Tennis) using a Wii; only recently did I learn that a US study showed that surgeons playing a Wii before entering the operating theatre perform better.

If studies show there is an improvement of performance using such technologies then perhaps similar appropriate techniques be used appropriately during staff training & development - or should we call it Wii-velopment.

One such example where Wii's can be used that quickly comes to mind is during ice-breaker session towards the beginning of a training event. Instead of spending 20 minutes having each member introduce themselves, or any other popular ice breaking examples staff trainers employ, participants can be gathered together and put in front of a Wii to have a game of bowling.

Richard Hall and I are currently discussing this initiative to see where other scenarios a Wii can be used in Staff Training/ Development/ or Teaching and Learning, and we will subsequently investigate, and experiment to see whether this particular technology do in reality enhance training , teaching or learning.

If anyone has any suggestions or ideas the do let me know.

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No Wii?! I'd die

I played my first game on the Nintendo Wii last night. Okay, I got thrashed by an eight-year-old at tennis, and I've woken up this morning with an ache in my shoulder, but the way in which I holed-out on the ninth to snatch victory in a game of golf was magisterial. That said Jude (a very mature eight-year-old) was also playing Ben 10 on his PS2, whilst attempting to give me the runaround. Now whether this was because he was bored of my company, simply multitasking, or just living his life is another story. I also happened to be texting a few mates and taking photos of the avatar created for me on the Wii by Jude's Mom.


His mum's take on why he focused on both the kinesthetic and cognitive outcomes from both games was put in terms of "socially interactive" and "emotionally engaging". Watching Jude in action, the games were not just about achievement, but competition, and in gathering new resources. In Ben 10 these included new moves for the game and also movie clips, which could be watched outside the game and saved. This developed into a more holistic experience, perhaps focused around the brand of the game, but also in an environment where these resources can be shared with friends. Jude's engagement is central to his lifestyle, which is underpinned by words like "cool" and "wicked".

So when I asked him about what he would do if he didn't live an interconnected life, one in which the Web had never existed and he didn't have access to a PS2 or Wii, it is said that "I'd die". When I pushed the issue, he said that he "would play marbles", or "I'd invent them".

What I thought was interesting, was the dynamic of the space in which we were engaging, and how engaged we all were. The mix between technology and physical space is taken for granted.That becomes more so when WiFi and mobiles become dominant factors. This enabled us to sit quite happily in the front room, using mobile phones and two types of game console, one of which was hooked up to a TV, whilst we discussed how best to return serve, access a particular game level, whether Merlot was a better grape than Shiraz (Jude had some good things to say on this point), and the impact of continual performance testing on schoolkids.
Rather than distancing us, in this context, it was really interesting to see how technologies enhanced social bonds.