Textra Games combine the effective organization of well-written documents with the motivational impact of training games. Participants read a handout, booklet, reprint, or a chapter in a book and play a game that uses peer pressure and peer support to encourage the recall and transfer of what they read.
Here is a fast-paced textra game for reviewing training content from product-knowledge booklets or technical reference manuals.
This ia a 3-minute jolt activity that enables the participants to explore what makes a task highly motivating.
This game is effectively shows the power and advantages of collaboration and can be a practical demonstration of the Prisoner Dilemma
The real name of this jolt is Proactive Planning, but using that name will give away the key point that we want players to discover. Presented as a word game, this jolt lulls lures players to go after immediate gains in a mindless fashion only to regret the action later.
This jolt demonstrates how the natural human tendency of becoming heavily attached to a starting value can influence our decision making.
The participants work with two different versions of the same questionnaire. One version asks a series of questions that provide low anchor values, while the other version provides high anchor values. The debriefing discussion examines how anchoring affects our decision making.
It can be hard to involve everyone during a closing of a session. Some might stay in the background or get unheard because of louder participants. However, with the use of Response Cards, everyone will be involved in providing feedback or clarify questions at the end of a session.
Here's an experiential introduction to this activity:
What is your preferred technique for learning something new?
Write your answer on a piece of paper. If you don't have a piece of paper, just say your answer out aloud.
I am now going to ask you a different question. Once again, write down your answer (or say it out aloud).
What method do you usually use to train other people?
Compare your answers to the two questions. Are they consistent with each other? If not, why is there a discrepancy between the way you like to learn and the way you train others? Should you not help others learn the same way you like to learn?
Does this inconsistency exist because you believe that training is different from learning? Don't you believe that training has to result in learning?
Does this inconsistency exist because you believe that your learning preference is unique only to you? Don't you think that other people may have unique learning preferences? How does your training accommodate these individual differences?
Here's a closer that encourages participants to recall what happened in the session and to come up with second thoughts about how they could have benefited more. It also creates useful materials for an interesting icebreaker.
When does perseverance become foolhardiness? Here's a jolt that explores this question.