C3 SoftWorks Blog

C3 SoftWorks: Super Bowl Challenge

2010-01-30T14:22:00.000-06:00

Play the Super Bowl Challenge

(Created with BRAVO Game Builder Suite)

For pricing, contact C3 SoftWorks at: sales@c3softworks.com

For more information on BRAVO, click here.

Easily brand your game with your logo and colors

2010-01-20T10:30:00.001-06:00

This week I was working with a client who was putting together a game for a kiosk at a trade show. During the course of the conversation, she kept raving about how much she loves BRAVO! She said, that she loved how easy it was to build a game, and was surprised by the flexibility she had in branding the game for their client.

She began, by showing me the game she created, and honestly, I was quite impressed. She had used her client’s corporate colors and logos to brand the game, and had used an animated Flash intro screen, (this appears when the game is first launched), with the clients’ artwork, to really give the game a custom look. She even created a unique stage, that went along with the theme of the game (a retro 1970’s theme). Additionally, they created their own Avatars, complete with custom clothing and hair styles from the 70’s, to go along with the theme. Once she realized how much she could customize the game on her own, there was no stopping her!

What is unique about the BRAVO! game builder suite, is that it is the ONLY game builder suite that allows a user to customize just about everything in the game. Not only can you easily add your own content, but, you can also customize the overall feel of the game (and you don’t have to be a programmer to do it!) Your game, when it is done, will look like you spent thousands of dollars to have a custom design made specifically for you.

One of the things our client mentioned, was that they had spent a lot of time looking for game builder software. She said that she found one product that allowed some very basic branding (like the ability to add a logo, and a limited template selection), but that was it. This software developer provided a “customizing service,” for a fee. “Why would I want to pay them,” she said, “when BRAVO! allows me to do all of the customizing I need, without any outside help?” We couldn’t have said it better ourselves. ;-)

When less is more - A personal relfection on the objectives of training

2010-01-11T12:28:00.001-06:00

Recently, I sat through a session where an instructor jammed packed it with so much stuff, if I could have retained a quarter of it, I would be a rocket scientist by now. But the fact is this, and I see it all the time, where instructors get so bogged down in the list of what they want to cover they lose sight of what their true objective is, which is to make sure their students learn something.

This also reminds me of a conversation I had with a colleague recently about an upcoming training session we were going to present. My colleague made a list of things we should include; it was quite impressive I might add. After I heard the list, I asked this question: What is the objective of the session? Is it to cover the list or is it to have our audience feel comfortable and actually learn something? Because if you want me to cover everything on the list, I can do that blind folded, I can spew out information all day long. But if you want my audience to actually retain information and learn something and actually be engaged in the learning process, then that requires a different strategy.

I realize that sometimes we get stuck in a situation where we need to cover X,Y, and Z, and it needs to be covered in a specific time frame, but if you do have an option of the content you can deliver, consider these wise words: “Sometimes, less is more!”. I find myself more and more looking at what is my true objective, and it usually boils down to getting my class to learn. And just because I can spew out data, facts and other stuff all day long (and man I can do this without batting an eye), I have to look at what is my true objective, and whenever possible, I find myself teaching less content so my students can learn more.

Be careful on what you call it: Perception, perception, perception.

2010-01-06T09:40:00.001-06:00

In my previous blog, I talked about how a client was concerned about the “gamey look” of a game and that it may not be viewed as a serious teaching tool. I’ve since followed up with that client, and here’s what we found:

Of the 7,817 people that played the games in the past 15 days (3 different groups and three different games), the data suggests that it was a success. The majority of those who played a game, played it all the way to the end. About one-third, played the game at least twice, and the average time spent playing the game was 5:15 minutes. The game consisted of 9 questions, and featured additional teaching points in most questions.

The issue, as they saw it, was with one of the test groups. This group had the largest audience, and in fact had the smallest number of plays compared to the other groups. At first, they thought the “frivolous” look of game may have prevented many from playing the game. But, after studying the data, they realized that the game was not the issue at all – it was the way it was promoted that kept their audience from playing.

Let me give you a little information so you can follow:

The data collection starts as soon as a game is launched. If their original observation was correct (that people opened the game, thought it was too gamey, and immediately closed it), then we would see a higher number of clicks or opens of the game, but a much shorter time in game play (much less than 5:14 minutes). Since we know that the majority of people who clicked on the game, played it all the way through, we know we had a different issue. It became obvious, to the client, that the issue was rooted in perception.

Why? We believe that the game was presented to this group in a way that marginalized the educational impact of the game. They actually doomed the game before people even got to it, by describing the game as a “fun holiday trivia game.” In fact, the game (although it had a holiday theme) contained no holiday content. It featured questions, based on educational articles from their website, that would not only teach them something, but encourage them to dig in and learn more.

This goes back to something I have mentioned many times, “be careful how you describe your game.” Be aware that the word “game,” connotes many things to different people. Games provide a powerful vehicle for delivering instructional content, but may be perceived as a frivolous exercise. If you want your game to be taken seriously (and reap the benefits that games provide – engagement, motivation, interaction), make sure you let your audience know that they might just learn something while “playing”.

“Bait & Switch” your trainees

2009-12-28T11:52:00.000-06:00

Why using training games can help to deliver your content

I recently had a discussion with an organization about the use of a training game or games to review or deliver information on a website. Their concern is like many others when it comes to games: How will it be perceived? Is it too gamey? Will it not be taken seriously? These are all excellent questions, and one that I get from classroom instructors all the time.

The answer is simple…it is what you make it out to be. If a game fails to deliver content, it’s probably not the games’ fault, it’s most likely in how it is being used or misused.

Here are a few tips to keep in mind when using games in your training:

1. Make sure when creating questions, you have a specific objective in mind.
2. Be sure to include additional teaching summary screens before and/or after a question. (These summary screens need to be simple and to the point)
3. The questions are simply a guide to help you deliver your teaching points.

Many people are not opposed to using questions online to review or test knowledge. What they get hung up on is the game concept - they think it may make the subject appear less important or not as serious as it should be.

Think of it like this, you are using the game to get them to view your content, then once you get them to play, now you can deliver your information to them, a form of “bait & switch” if you will.

What’s great about delivering games in this format is you can have as few people or as many people playing at one time – in the classroom or online.

Firefighters use BRAVO! and Audience Response Pads to deliver information

2009-12-18T16:12:00.001-06:00

Every year a local fire department likes to have a little fun and mix it up with a review game for the last fire training drill. The host was a firefighter that wasn’t new to using games, and in the past they have used a PowerPoint Jeopardy template to deliver their training games. This year they went high tech if you will, and use the BRAVO! game builder suite and audience response pads. This was a big step for them. I did help them a little with content, but they were going to host the games on their own. And I was just going to observe.

For the first run, they had just over 50 participants playing a QuizShow game. They broke the group into 4 teams representing each station and each attendee had their own audience response pad which was assigned to a specific team. During the game, they would be presenting questions which each participant would answer individually in the class. When every one answered, the host would then reveal the results showing how everyone did. He was then able to discuss why it was right or wrong and add any additional teaching points. QuizShow automatically calculated each team members’ response by playing a sound effect and a chart revealed each teams’ responses. This created a little excitement as each team watched the results.

Following this first game, they decided to play SpinOff which added a different twist to the second game which contained only 8 questions. Each team chose a representative who would then be assigned an audience response pad. This game would be played similar to the first game but with a more competitive twist and of course only 4 players. In the first game each user was scored based on whether their answer was correct or incorrect. However, this game was set up in All Play mode which is based on 2 things: (1) a correct response (2) how fast they answered. This added a different layer of fun to the game and created excitement for the viewing spectators.

This was this instructor’s first use of BRAVO! and the audience response pads. I asked him how it compared to the PowerPoint Jeopardy versions he did in past years, and his response was simply that there was no comparison. The game was much easier to control, he knew what the audience knew, he did not have to keep score or work hard at running the game. Best of all, the game was simply his guide through the content – all he needed to do was to deliver additional teaching points and not worry about being the “game show host”.

Using a game to orient students on an Automatic External Defibrillator (AED)

2009-12-16T12:18:00.001-06:00

Recently, I was asked to participate in an Automatic External Defibrillator (AED) orientation session for 1000+ High School students. There were four of us involved in the training sessions, and we would be working in groups of 2. The purpose of the training was to orientate the students and staff, on basic uses and applications of an AED. We realized the importance of training the staff at the school on the use of an AED, but we also wanted to make sure every student and staff member knew how simple they are to use, and where they are located in the school. My task, was to help them come up with the outline and questions, (I have trained on AEDs for over 18 years, and have placed AEDs in 100s of locations, including schools and businesses). I didn’t want to be the lead presenter; I wanted to help them develop the comfort level so they could do this on their own. I was most interested in seeing this content delivered as a training game and observing them using a software program called BRAVO! as a teaching tool.

The average session would have 25 students in attendance, and would run for 20 minutes. We would start out each session with a quick demo of the AED, and pick a “volunteer,” to come up and use the AED (with no prompting on how to use it). This, we felt, would illustrate the simplicity of the device. Once the demonstration was over, we would use a 6 question game along with Audience Response Pads (each student and teacher would get one) as a quick assessment.

We used the game as a way to deliver the content and information we wanted to cover. Just before the first question, for example, we had a slide emphasizing that this was an orientation session, and encouraged people to take a CPR and AED class. The first question, a poll question based of the AED demo, asked attendees, “how many people feel comfortable using the AED?” As we continued through the game, we used game questions to guide the presentation of our content. The questions, along with the Audience Response Pads, allowed us to see what the class knew. By understanding what the audience knew, we could then build on their responses. In fact, the incorrect answers really helped the instructors deliver the content more effectively.

For example, one question asked, “What is the biggest mistake you can make using an AED?” The answers where all over the place, but this allowed the instructors to address each response and to clarify common misconceptions.

The Response: We knew the kids would like it, but I was curious to see how the other 3 presenters liked it as a way to deliver information. I was curious to know if they felt it was effective, especially since they rarely present or teach in the classroom. They loved it. They found that the game helped them feel more comfortable, especially since the game was the focal point and not them. Sure, we could have presented the information in PowerPoint, but all of us felt it would not have been as effective as the game was. The game made the training process more enjoyable for all those involved.

To play the game we used during this training session, click here: www.c3softworks.com/games/east_ridge_hs_AED/play.html

NOTE: Notice how teaching points have been added throughout the game.

When Less is Better

2009-12-14T12:45:00.002-06:00

Have you ever had that awkward moment, when someone shows you a baby photo, be it their own child or a grandchild, and you take one look and try as hard as can to say, “wow, what a cute baby”, when you’re really thinking, “I’ve seen cuter monkeys at the zoo”?

Recently, I was working with a fellow EMS instructor, and she wanted to create a game to review for the final EMS training session of the year. She had a clear objective in mind, a game with educational content, but she wanted it to be fun as well. She is an admitted “technophobe” (one who fears computers and anything that plugs into them). I showed her, in about 2 minutes, how she could enter her questions, answers, preview, and summary slides using the BRAVO! game builder. On the day of the training event, we met a few hours prior to the first session. (Did I mention I was going to help her co-present?) Well, when I saw her game, I felt like someone showing me a photo of some hideous looking baby (I know some people are thinking that I am being cruel, and that all babies are cute. These are also the same people who say there are no stupid questions -- yeah right). She fell into the common trap that I have seen many instructors fall into, when she asked me what I thought (Just like any proud mama or grandparent). I did everything I could to not feign an illness that required me to exit the building. Did I mention that she expected me to co-present this game with her, since she had never done it before and there were going to be 60 or so co-workers in the class? So much for my reputation ;-) But hey, I was brought in to mentor her, so let the mentoring begin! (To be fair, she is a very good presenter and she really knows her stuff.) Here are some of the issues I addressed, and some basic guidelines I like to follow:

1. Frilly Font: She chose a curly or pretty font she liked. Which, combined with the length of her content would have driven most people to reading glasses after the class or to poke their eyes out to make it go away. A general rule that I teach is, “Above all, make your text readable.” Look at the network news or news print. Do they use frilly text in their newscast or on the cover of their papers? I think not! This isn’t about boring; this is about readability, simple as that. There are ways to “dress up” the look of your game board, but text should not be one of them. For readability, especially for electronic media like PowerPoint, stick with a basic sans serif font like good old fashion Arial or Verdana.

2. Lengthy Questions: About half of the questions where over a paragraph in length. Way too wordy. Sometimes you need to give more detail for a question (i.e. when you are using a scenario). What I do when this is the case, is I set up the scenario in the preview slide that precedes the question. Here is an example of a bad question: “You are playing basketball and a 43 year old teammate suddenly collapses. You check for consciousness, and find he is unconscious with no pulse and no respirations. You direct someone to call 911 and get the AED. Until the AED arrives, how many chest compressions to ventilations should you give? Good heavens, you have just cost the students precious minutes they will never get back. Get to it; simply ask the question. None of the other information in the questions makes any difference for the answer. Here is an example of a straight forward question: “For an adult victim, what is the compression to ventilations ratio?” I want you to understand, that this is just as much about keeping it simple, as well as how it looks. When you get too lengthy, especially in a game, it looks intimidating, and looks too much like work to read.

3. Lengthy Answers: Many of her answers were very lengthy and, in a few cases, rolled over into two lines on the game board. I like to keep my answers to less than 4-6 words when possible. People should be able to quickly glance at possible answers to a question choose the correct one immediately (providing they know the answer). In her game, I knew the correct answer, but she had so much information in each answer, that I had to read each answer twice to make sure I got it right.

4. Wordy Summary Points: In many cases the summary text was way too much. As with PowerPoint, you don’t create a slide that contains your script – just your main teaching points. You just need a few points on the slide to guide you, and your class, through the content you’re presenting. Less is better.

So, what did I do? I actually considered letting her do it her way and letting her see for herself. But, I was supposed to co-present, so that was not going to happen. Fortunately, the game Gods where with me, and she had to leave for a while, leaving me with these magic words: “Hey, you are much smarter than I am, and you are the game God, so I would consider it an honor if you could clean up my mess.”

When she returned, I showed her the changes, and, when it came right down to it, I just moved some of the text around. In the lengthy questions, I just moved the set-up to the preview slide. In fact, I resisted the urge to delete or shorten anything, she wrote. I decided to leave the summary as is. The only thing that got changed or removed were some of the answers. I cleaned them up quite a bit, shortened up the answers, and just reworded the questions, so the answer worked. In no way did my changes affect her teaching points.

I started the game off for her, explaining the rules and playing the first 3 questions, and then stepped aside and hid in the shadows. What was cool, was that she expected that she’d be real nervous, but found that she got comfortable very quickly. The game was a hit and, to her credit, she looked like a pro -- the game became the focus for the audience and not her. She was simply the subject expert, and the game, along with the audience response pads made it much easier for her to concentrate on her teaching points.

Ultimately, her students not only loved the game, but they also mentioned that the questions were a little wordy. Useful feedback she can use for her next presentation!

NOTE: From time to time, I will write about my experience of working with other presenters that use games in the classroom. This helps me to learn more on how they use the games, both good and bad, and also their experiences.

Don't ignore your company brand when it comes to training games!

2009-12-09T11:49:00.000-06:00

You have put time and energy into into your training games and this is what it honestly deserves but does every trainer have the dedicated time and effort to make it great?

As trainers, when it comes to building games, we don’t think about brand nearly as much as we should. Here at C3 SoftWorks we care. We think it’s important. We’re busy thinking of new ways we can make custom game development easier without the hassle of extra productional costs.

As more and more people are convinced that the same product is better just because it has a certain brand, doesn't it make sense to brand your own training games?

Sure, there are other programs out there, but not that give you 100% control over what your games look like. BRAVO! Training Software gives you that custom look and feel and it's simple to do!

Here's an example of what you too can do with BRAVO!:

So what are you waiting for...give your game development the time and energy it deserves.

Need further convincing? Check out the BRAVO! video or visit us on the web: http://www.c3softworks.com/

BRAVO! Update Release (v1.30)

2009-12-04T11:33:00.000-06:00

Find out what's new in the latest update for BRAVO:
http://c3softworks.com/news-events/news-releases.html

Play the Holiday Trivia Game!

2009-12-03T16:10:00.000-06:00

Play the Holiday Trivia Game

(Created with BRAVO Game Builder Suite)

For pricing, contact C3 SoftWorks at: sales@c3softworks.com
For more information on BRAVO, click here.

C3 SoftWorks Holiday Special 2009

2009-12-02T10:57:00.008-06:00

C3 SoftWorks
Holiday Special 2009

50% OFF BRAVO Training Bundle

Click here for more details.

Training Media Review: 3.5 out of 4 stars!!!

2009-11-30T12:48:00.001-06:00

Training Media Review (BRAVO! PART I: Overview 2009):

I've not seen gaming software before that lets me, or should I say encourages me, to tweak the game interface. For example, I can customize the game intro page to show off my company logo or my corporate brand! Or better still, pre-assign team names based on company groups or divisions. Is that cool or what?

RATED: 3.5 Stars out of 4

To read the entire article, click here:
http://www.tmreview.com/Review.asp?ID=1742

Play the Thanksgiving Trivia Game!

2009-11-24T14:34:00.002-06:00

Test your turkey day knowledge and have a great Thanksgiving!

From your friends at C3 SoftWorks!

C3 SoftWorks Holiday Survey

2009-11-23T10:21:00.002-06:00

Our blog has undergone a few changes in 2009 including two visual redesigns, the addition of a Twitter powered news feed and a ramped up publishing schedule. We want to make C3 SoftWorks even better in 2010 and with the holiday season approaching we thought it was as good a time as any to ask for your help. We really value your readership and RSS subscriptions and need your feedback. If you would like to help the future direction of this site please spare a few minutes to fill in our simple “C3 SoftWorks Holiday Survey” below.

Complete the Google Form online

Thank you for taking time to complete the survey, we appreciate it.

EMS EXPO Games

2009-11-06T13:45:00.002-06:00

EMS EXPO 2009 - PLAY, LEARN, WIN!

During the EMS EXPO 2009, students had the opportunity to earn CEU points and win prizes by playing games built with BRAVO! EMS facts and concepts were introduced in a fun way which encouraged students to play and win while learning at the same time.

Click here to visit the EMS EXPO site and try your hand at playing an EMS game show!

Play the EMS1.com Halloween Game

2009-11-04T14:02:00.000-06:00

Recently, we made a game for EMS1.com, the online magazine, that is for EMS providers that providers a variety of articles, recent EMS news, videos, forums and much more. It is free and all you have to do is sign up. We made a custom game for them with a Halloween twist to it along with questions based on medical practices. The objective of the game was to get people to play the game, have a little fun, but also learn or review a variety of stuff, like dehydration, diabetes, shock, burns, etc. This game shows how you can really customize the look and the feel of the game, from the intro screen which contains a flash animation of a grave popping out of the game with spooky music and sound effects. To the background of the game board that shows a spooky house with bats and an ambulance out front (even monsters can have medical emergencies). The avatars where easily converted to represent some characters like a "Psyho" with a hockey mask, a green witch, and so on. So please play but play at your own risk...Que spooky music.

Play Halloween EMS Game, and welcome to the night shift.

November's Spook-tacular Special

2009-11-02T14:04:00.000-06:00

FREE PING VRP (Virtual Response Pads) when you buy BRAVO! Response.

Click here for more details.

EMS1.com EMS Halloween Game

2009-10-31T09:09:00.003-05:00

Recently, we made a game for EMS1.com, the online magazine, that is for EMS providers that providers a variety of articles, recent EMS news, videos, forums and much more. It is free and all you have to do is sign up. We made a custom game for them with a Halloween twist to it along with questions based on medical practices. The objective of the game was to get people to play the game, have a little fun, but also learn or review a variety of stuff, like dehydration, diabetes, shock, burns, etc. This game shows how you can really customize the look and the feel of the game, from the intro screen which contains a flash animation of a grave popping out of the game with spooky music and sound effects. To the background of the game board that shows a spooky house with bats and an ambulance out front (even monsters can have medical emergencies). The avatars where easily converted to represent some characters like a "Psyho" with a hockey mask, a green witch, and so on. So please play but play at your own risk...Que spooky music.
Play Halloween EMS Game, and welcome to the night shift.

PLAY TO WIN!

2009-10-19T14:08:00.000-05:00

Passive Learners vs Active Learners

I had the opportunity to speak with Kris Kraul about the differences between the passive learner and the active learner at the NAEMSE Conference in Orlando Florida this month.

Optimal performance with SpinOff

2009-10-16T14:10:00.000-05:00

SpinOff resolution should be set to 1024 x 768
It was recently brought to my attention that the optimal screen resolution for your SpinOff games should be set to 800 x 600. If not, then you'll notice a dramatic difference in your wheel speed. This suggestion has been noted and we will be adding this to our game documentation.

Hockey player avatars anyone?

2009-10-14T14:11:00.000-05:00

We've added yet another feature enhancement to our avatar builder...hockey players! Create your very own hockey player avatars with the latest BRAVO! update v1.20. So don't get put in the penalty box and download the latest update today! Click here to download the latest version of BRAVO!

BRAVO! at the Minnesota Wild

2009-10-12T14:14:00.000-05:00

The Minnesota Wild hockey organization featured a BRAVO! Quiz Show game between periods of their first hockey game of the 2009 season at the Xcel Energy Center. The BRAVO! game board was displayed on the big Xcel Energy Jumbo Tron allowing the entire stadium to visually participate. Jim Cunningham was the MC and helped deliver a new exciting way to play game shows with BRAVO! BRAVO! will be featured at every Wild home game for the 2009 season.

Click here to see more photos.

SEPTEMBER 2009 - C3 SoftWorks Releases PING (VRP)

2009-09-21T14:16:00.002-05:00

C3 SoftWorks; Minneapolis, MN. September 21, 2009: C3 SoftWorks, a leading software provider in the training and educational markets, is pleased to announce the release of PING (Virtual Response System)...read more>>>
Click here for more information on PING.

PART 1 Tutorial - Creating a Custom Intro Screen in PowerPoint

2009-08-24T14:22:00.000-05:00

Let's face it, we don't have time to learn it all so we're trying to make your game creation life simple. In this step-by-step tutorial, we're going to show you how to create a custom Intro Logo for your game shows.

Note: This tutorial will walk you through creating a custom intro screen in PowerPoint. Alternatively, if you have a graphic program like Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Flash, you are welcome to download a free template here.

Step 1

Open PowerPoint and create a new presentation. Right-click the first slide and select Format Background. Choose from the options to edit the background format to your liking and click Close.

NOTE: We set the background solid fill to dark blue and inserted our company logo:

Step 2

Select File/Save As and save your slide as a jpg, gif or png.

NOTE: BRAVO! will accept the following file types: JPG, GIF, PNG, SWF.

Step 3

Finally, load your custom Intro Screen into the Graphics section in your BRAVO! game. Click Ok and Preview your game to view the new custom Intro screen:

Watch out for Part 2 where we will be covering more interesting custom game creation techniques.