Making Online Training More Effective
Using storytelling in immersive learning platforms to enhance learning
Hana already had a lot to do, then the meeting reminder popped up on screen. “Secure Dev Training”. Great! Forty five minutes would now be lost to another monotone death by PowerPoint. With a click of a link the training platform opened up, to reveal an avatar builder. Unexpected, but a streak of spiky green hair and some orange flares was the look to be rocked today.
All around the virtual room Hana could recognise colleagues just from the avatars they had each chosen. Then came an announcement to assemble for an important mission briefing. This wasn’t the training Hana had expected, it was both intriguing and just a little exciting. Maybe squashing those bugs could wait for a while!
Like Hana, most of us have to attend training sessions as part of our job. At one time or another we will have been taught about subjects such as fire safety, diversity and equality, customer care, sustainability or security awareness. Many of these will have been instantly forgettable experiences. In this article we’ll explore how to make this type of training more engaging and more effective.
Most training sessions are still delivered in classroom style, in the past that meant in an actual classroom. These days it is usually online, where the tables, chairs and projector have been replaced by a zoom call and someone sharing a PowerPoint presentation.
When we have busy lives, why should we be excited, motivated or engaged with training like this?
In the case of our software developer, Hana, we want the code they write to be secure. But they will be willing to invest time in understanding the complexities of a very technical subject, they need to be aware of why its important and relevant to them. This is equally true of any topic in the workplace.
The Components
When we are building an activity to increase awareness on a specific topic, what are the key components that it must include?
Firstly, it must be very clear to the learners how this is relevant to them in their role.
The activity must also be engaging and must ensure the learner is not impacted by the many outside distractions we face when working remotely.
Most importantly, the activity should not focus solely on the delivery of information we need our learner to retain.
Instead, it should help to build and foster a culture within the organisation where the importance of the topic is actively embraced, not simply tolerated as something that is mandatory but of low value.
To do this we first need to engage the learner. One proven way is through an innovative learning platform and an engaging narrative.
Lets look at an example of this in action.
The Case Study
Like Hana, software developers should be trained about why Security in the Software Development Lifecycle is important. In our case study we look at an example of this delivered in the gather platform.
For those of you who aren’t aware of the gather platform, you can take a look at a sample online world we’ve built here. Note that only 10 concurrent users can be in this space and please come back here and keep reading when you’re done exploring!
If you visited the gather link above you would have found the starting point for our online software security training. In it your team plays the role of investigators who need to help an organisation fix security issues in their code before they are exploited by hackers.
In this mission the learners get to explore the hacker’s HQ, learning their structure and approach to targeting organisations. Then once the hacker plans have been discovered they need to hunt down security bugs in the target organisation's code before learning about tools and techniques that can be used to fix and even prevent them in the first place.
If you are successful in the mission you get to help the company fix its systems and ensure the hacker’s plans are foiled. In turn this will show you through the narrative why writing secure code is important, allow you to discuss that with your team, as well as highlighting good sources of information for further reading.
Its aim is to build understanding and consensus about the importance of software security in a fun and engaging way. The game mechanics like role playing, exploration of the world and the overall mission make the training more engaging. The interactions between team members that are needed to complete the mission also contribute to both the engagement and the learning.
The Wider Context
The case study was very specific, focussing on shaping the culture of software security within an organisation. But does this approach work in other environments and contexts. Yes it does, but why?
When using this approach, we link an initial curiosity about a story we are being told to a purpose that we must fulfil. When we realise we have the agency to reveal and shape the narrative, it is very easy for us to fully engage in the activity.
This approach works well with any topic we need to teach. To teach fire safety, we could become an investigator learning for ourselves the causes and preventative measures of a fire. Or to teach customer care, we could have a mission requiring us to interact with characters who then serve to hinder us, enabling first-hand experience of the impact of different behaviours on our customers.
If we can build a compelling “mission” for the topic we need to teach, this approach will work.
In our online world we can still use traditional learning materials to teach core skills or knowledge. However, by carefully integrating them into the storyline the learner can be switched between passive and active learning methods. It is the active element that strengthens and deepens learning, far beyond the use of solely passive techniques.
Maybe the most important aspect of this form of learning is that it is a shared experience. Whenever we are looking to foster cultural change, whether that is attitudes towards inclusion and diversity, safety in the workplace or cybersecurity, this requires more than individuals simply acquiring knowledge. Yes there is a baseline of knowledge that is required in any subject, but this must always be put into a real-world context and above all else the learners must see why it is important.
To do this in other aspects of our lives, around our values and beliefs, we discuss things with other people. We listen to their stories, we reflect on them and we talk about how they make us feel. This is an important part of learning who we are, so why shouldn’t we do this for subjects in the workplace?
This type of online immersive world natively supports social interaction and therefore provides a forum for discussion of the topics as they are encountered. We can share our thoughts, listen to others and understand how our team feels about the topics we encounter.
If we factor in everything we have discussed then it should be clear that this approach is applicable to any subject we wish to teach in the workplace.
The Impact
At chronyko, we have used this type of training across multiple subjects in different industry verticals. Early results are promising: at one 500+ person company, over 99% of employees preferred it to classroom learning. In another self-assessment of the topics covered by the training improved over 50% compared to previously used approaches. While not scientifically conclusive, these signals warrant further investigation.
The observed increase in learner engagement in this approach is likely to be a contributing factor to other positive aspects of the data. These showed greater gains in the understanding of key concepts than compared to previous training delivered within these organisations.
There were also improvements observed in other lagging company KPIs and OKRs that could be linked to the learning outcomes of the immersive training. Only qualitative evidence exists for a link between the two, but has been powerful enough for key stakeholders to continue to sponsor this approach.
The activity described in the case study was run with a variety of software development teams globally, with similar feedback to that presented above. With these teams it was also interesting to observe the different approaches they used, but more interesting was the discussions it stimulated at the end.
Many teams have used it as a call to action, enabling them to begin their journey towards higher maturity in this area of security. These teams have subsequently encouraged more learners to take the training and used advocates created by completing the training to continue to support a positive attitude towards security.
So What’s the Downside?
So far everything seems perfect, so what’s stopping us from fully embracing this approach? As with any form of learning there are some potential traps we need to navigate around. Many of these are easy to avoid, but need to be understood in advance.
The first of these is optics. Unfortunately, human beings are full of intrinsic biases and when we have spent our lives being educated using a particular format or style, we find it hard to let go of that.
This is more of an issue when the new approach seems game-like. So the optics of this approach with senior stakeholders are important. We should always should focus on the benefits of our approach, and use data to back-up our assertions about the impact of the training on an organisation.
We also need to be mindful of the perception of our training in the eyes of the learners. In recent years we have all probably observed examples of poorly gamified learning. Coupled with story lines that have no sense of authenticity, these can actively disincentivise learners from engaging.
The only answer to this is good experience design, accompanied by honest and open communication with learners about the successes and failures of the new approach. More than anything else the latter will build trust with your audience and give you the opportunity to refine and approve your execution of the training.
The other major downside to this type of learning is when the gamification or storyline obscure the learning outcomes. For example, when time pressure forces learners to seek approaches that do not embrace the intended behaviours. Or when a desire to be top of your leader board results in cheating, just to secure those few extra points.
One effective technique to ensure the right learning is taken away is to stimulate discussion within the group at the end. A facilitator can bring the group together and encourage them to reflect on what they experienced and learned. This is the most important aspect of the experience design, and once an effective method of doing this that works for your people and your organisation, it is easy to repeat across training courses.
Getting this aspect right is part of effective design and you can read lots more about this nuanced aspect of immersive learning in this Medium publication.
The Conclusion
By changing our approach to training we can have a major impact on its outcomes. Narrative-based immersive learning can be achieved online, just as as it can face-to-face. The use of innovative online platforms can increase engagement with learning and also improve its effectiveness.
The use of this approach can also achieve higher levels of learning than more traditional techniques. By naturally facilitating social interaction and discussion of the topics involved it can be a catalyst to further self-directed learning and can stimulate positive change within a team or an organisation.
When designed effectively, immersive online learning can bring huge benefits to any organisation. Hopefully you have been encouraged to try this type of learning for yourself and we would love to hear your feedback and experiences of putting it into practice.
Martyn is a founder of chronyko who have over 15 years experience building and running escape games and many other types of immersive training and skills development experiences. He has seen first-hand how immersive learning can have a measurable impact. He is a passionate believer in how we can all learn from these experiences to better support lifelong learning for everyone.
