Presentation number two today was my part in the The Great ILS Challenge 2.0 a presentation idea that intrigued me when Mark Oehlert first described it; as a knock off of the Great Design Challenge done at the Game Developers Conference.

Last year a roomful of lucky attendees got to watch as three top-notch designers created game-based solutions to deal with an incredibly difficult learning challenge. This year we’ve invited three more ILS/Serious Games experts to step up to the challenge.

The Guild understands that, whether you call them Immersive Learning Simulations (ILS), Serious Games, or the greatest thing since sliced bread; you are looking for ways to use these powerful technologies and methodologies to improve learning outcomes for your organizations. You are also looking for inspiration and ideas for any and ALL of your e-Learning projects.

The premise is the 3 panelists are presented a scenario for a project, idea and they need to conceptualize an original or creative solution for it- not actually do it, but present the idea.

Last years one had something to do with designing a game to reduce recidivism among people just out of jail. Now that is a challenge. Ours this year was a bit more nebulous (by design Mark says):

A large, North American corporation that you are either already employed by or hired by, wants you to develop something (we know it will be an ILS) to help them integrate two recent acquisitions, one a company in Africa and the other a company located in Korea. These two new divisions directly impact your production capability and so alignment and a shared culture between all three entities is critical. Design an ILS that will foster this shared culture and common understanding. Challenges include a mix of languages, religious backgrounds, socio-economic differences, and educational levels not to mention time zones. Oh, and the big shareholder meeting is coming up too. Go.

I was stymied for a long while with this. I was thinking the other panelists might take structured or technical approaches, and I mulled it over until the concept hit me. I’d have to say, my idea was off on a different curve- I really appreciated the different approaches taken by the other panelists, who ticked off carefully constructed plans, rationales, outcomes…. I just ran with a metaphor.

So…

I looked for something everyone in every culture has in common, or “what unifies us”… and came up with…. Mom.

That’s what I said.