Games in Training: Play Scene Investigation (PSI)

From ASTD The Buzz The Training Game Chain Store Age (09/06) Vol. 82, P. 38; Field, Katherine The Children's Place, a children's merchandise retailer based in Secaucus, N.J., is employing state-of-the-art training tools to help its workers do their jobs better. The company asked Root Learning, its training partner, to develop its latest project, a set of 11 modules about store security and loss prevention, into an instructional design that The Children's Place staff, which is between the ages of 18 and 30, could relate to. Since the business' employees have grown up with the Internet and gaming, they have a completely different learning attitude than the typical "push" approach, says David Serdynski, Root Learning's managing director of e-learning. He states that the 'Play Scene Investigation' (PSI) game, which is modeled after the "Crime Scene Investigation" TV series, has the employees search for data, as opposed to simply clicking 'next' to proceed through a module as they would in a PowerPoint exercise. The PSI modules are only one of part of a total training program that has evolved during the past three years into a completely customized, blended solution that incorporates a CD-ROM section with paper printouts that employees either answer by themselves, with a learning partner, or with the help of store management. All instruction occurs during store hours on learning laptop stations. The Children's Place eventually wants to have its staff receive e-learning via the cash registers. An innovative tracking procedure permits The Children's Place to make certain that every new employee has finished the mandated training modules.