There are four main benefits to applying serious gaming for soft skill training 1. Serious gaming helps with the initial motivational ‘hurdle’, by providing a fun and engaging activity regardless of the end goal. Soft skills have become increasingly important for employers around the world. To a student, soft skills might appear as a distant secondary goal when they are studying to become, for example, a carpenter or technician; jobs that are centered around interaction with things rather than people. This makes the goal of soft skill training rather unappealing for them, they don’t find it relevant. The intention is to draw in the student with fun gaming goals and challenges such as competition, badges and narratives (external motivation). While playing the game, we intend to change their perception of soft skills, creating a sense of urgency to train these skills (internal motivation). 2. ‘Playing’ naturally includes a lot of soft skills. Gaming techniques such as competition, collaboration, time pressure, strategic decision making, etc. are great examples and practical applications of the soft skills that the students find important. This allows us to implement the training of these skills on two levels: the practical assignment they will have to do (educational content), and the mechanics surrounding that assignment (gamification/serious gaming). In most cases there is only educational value in the assignments, but in soft skills we can benefit from both levels. 3. Serious gaming and digital applications in general can provide greater replayability than traditional methods. This is important, as every student learns at a different rate. Perhaps a student did not understand everything that was said during class, or was having a bad day. No problem, as a digital application is available 24/7, ready to practice when the student is in the right mindset to work on their skills. The class is already on chapter four, but your student needs more practice with chapter two? A digital application can assess these needs and provide the student with the option to practice as much as they need. 4. Serious games can offer personalized training courses. Students that are insecure about their ability can start out easy, by practicing alone at first. By providing them with fun challenges and a safe learning environment, the students feel empowered to achieve small steps in their big goals. As the game recognizes the progress of the student, it can provide progressively tougher challenges in order to keep the student challenged, and moving forward. The goal is to make every student feel like they are capable of achieving the end goal, by keeping their short term goals realistic and managable.
