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News The game's the business Jerome Monahan Published: 10 February 2006 Jerome Monahan gets a taste of some stiff competition Monahan Inc, purveyor of diamond rings, is in trouble. The second year of trading is over and losses are more than £2 million. The bank manager has video-phoned to say he's withdrawing the loan and repossessing the managing director's swanky car. What went wrong? Was it the decision to go for a mid-range product or was selling exclusively through agents a poor option? Happily, my bankruptcy need only last as long as it takes to reload The Business, a game from PIXELearning. Perhaps second time around the company will be more like that created by one Year 10 pupil at St Thomas Moore's Catholic Secondary in Nuneaton, where it is getting some road-testing. "She made some staggering profits selling the ring," reports assistant head Dr Carrington-Howell. "Her success was probably due to matching her product precisely to the market research findings with which the simulation begins." After the detailed start-up period, in which the companies are expected to opt for one of five products and set its price, quality and sales and marketing budget, there is a continuous flow of information about competitors' responses, and regular sales and cash flow data requiring action. On hand to help are a set of avatar colleagues including our mentor Jennifer and Ricky, the marketing manager. "There is still some controversy about the use of games technology in the classroom," says Kevin Corti, managing director of Pixelearning. "However, we have done all we can to avoid the kind of 'broccoli-covered-in-chocolate' approach that can make some edutainment products of limited interest to young people. The Business has been developed in co-ordination with the charity businessdynamics and offers a very realistic, potentially demanding and variable environment in which students can explore the complex nature of running a company." The game has been produced, says businessdynamics chief executive David Miller, for schools needing to give their students some experience of entrepreneurship as part of new compulsory enterprise elements of the national curriculum. "It can be difficult persuading young people that business is interesting," he adds, "especially those who are not taking related courses. The indications are that the game is a great way of embedding detailed financial learning and vocabulary that could otherwise be a switch-off." Rav Gill, head of business at Lampton School, endorses this view: "It proved a great success. The fact that scenarios can be saved means there is lots of flexibility. A single scenario can take about 45 minutes to run through, but play could be spread across shorter periods over a number of weeks. It will certainly enable lots of enterprise-curriculum boxes to be ticked." "Another great attribute," says Dr Carrington-Hall, "is the game's capacity to be tailor-made, with settings available to determine the speed with which information arises, and the fact that students can experiment with different numbers of variable elements." Click here to read the article on the 'Times Education Supplement' website November 22nd 2005 Entrepreneurial spirit on the up Britons are becoming increasingly driven toward starting up, as a new poll shows growing numbers of young people say they would like to run their own business. Research from Norwich Union for Your Business reveals that just over eight in 10 people between the ages of 19 and 30 say they would or have considered starting their own business. Young people are more keen to set up a fashion or events business, the survey found, followed by starting and running a bar, which is the dream of a third of all 22- to 45-year-olds surveyed. The internet is overwhelmingly the place of choice to do business among older workers. Half of all respondents between 31 and 50 said they would like to become an online entrepreneur. Despite the failure of many high-profile dotcom firms following the 1990s boom, respondents said they are now better informed as to what it takes to make a business successful. "Starting up on your own has always required courage, knowledge and of course some luck," said Louise Spear, or Norwich Union for Your Business. "However, the appeal of being your own boss and having greater control over your life seems to be increasingly outweighing the challenges associated with setting up your own business." Among successful entrepreneurs, Body Shop-founder Anita Roddick came on top as the most inspiring to women, while Richard Branson was most admired among men. Roddick, surprisingly, came last amongst men, trailing ice cream entrepreneurs Ben & Jerry, easyJet's Stelios Haji-Ioannou and broadcaster Chris Evans. © Crimson Business Ltd 2005 October 2005 PIXELearning are now an approved Retailer for Curriculum Online  PIXELearning has been granted Curriculum Online retailer and content provider status. This means that you can now spend your eLearning credits (eLCs) directly with PIXELearning. Here is some further information about Curriculum Online and eLearning Credits: What is Curriculum Online? What are eLearning Credits (eLCs)? October 2005 New computer game brings business to life for students ‘The Business Game’, is an innovative new computer game designed to help teachers give students experience of running a business, by putting them into realistic business scenarios. ‘The Business Game’ is the brainchild of PIXELearning, providers of games based learning products, who developed the game in conjunction with business education charity, businessdynamics, in response to the government’s National Strategy for Enterprise Education, a compulsory part of the national Curriculum from September 2005. The new game asks students to develop and market a product and is designed to be challenging and fun whilst at the same time showing how various business issues like finance, sales, marketing and production affect each other. It is supported by a comprehensive teacher’s guide. From explaining game functions to outlining the various screens which will be encountered, the teacher’s guide has been produced to guide teachers through using ‘The Business’ to deliver the core learning outcomes. ‘The Business Game ’ has been developed for 14-16 year olds and has just finished its most recent trial with a group of Year 10 business students at Lampton School, West London, an Enterprise Pathfinder School. Les Carswell, Deputy Head Teacher at Lampton School said, "Our students found this interactive game, exciting, engaging and easy to use and understand. It gives students an excellent insight into how businesses are run and will be a valuable tool in helping schools to teach young people about enterprise. We will definitely be using it as part of our programme of enterprise education. This supports the development of personalised learning." David Millar, CEO, businessdynamics said, “It is difficult to persuade young people that business is interesting, but all the students who have played ‘The Business Game ’ have been thoroughly engaged. We are delighted to be working with PIXELearning on such an innovative project that helps young people to see business as the exciting career it can be.” Russell Butler, PIXELearning said, “We wanted to develop a fun, but educational business education game that brought business to life for young people, and who better to work with on this than businessdynamics. Their expertise in this area has been invaluable.” The game takes students through various stages, from initial product selection and market research through to manufacturing and selling. Throughout the entire game students will receive information from a variety of virtual colleagues, customers and suppliers. After students have undertaken their market research they select which of the products they think would be best to develop and sell. Students investigate the various sales channels that are available to get their product to market. The decisions they make throughout the game will affect what happens later. The final and longest section of the game is where they actually sell their product. They can control their production facilities to decide how many products they will make each month. Demand for their product will depend on how effective their sales and marketing decisions are and how well they have matched their product to consumer expectations. They will need to consider pricing issues, product positioning, sales and marketing budgets and keep an eye on stock levels to try and balance production with the levels of demand in the market. July 2005 ‘The Business Game ’ Beta Testing - Lampton School PIXELearning has just finished its most recent trial of ‘The Business’ with a group of Year 10 business students at Lampton School (www.lampton.hounslow.sch.uk), central Hounslow, West London. The students trialled the game during a 90 minute afternoon class. Five groups of students, with three members in each team, played through ‘The Business’ bringing their companies products into a simulated market-place. The feedback received will help refine ‘The Business’ prior to the September 2005 launch. The students enthused that the simulation was ‘really easy to use and understand’. They found their way easily around the office environment and made key decisions on which products to sell and how to get these products to market. Once these decisions had been made the students used the management information system to monitor the company performance and to adjust production levels and pricing strategies. The students found the game environment ‘exciting and engaging’ whilst also citing that the simulation gave them ‘a good insight into how businesses are run.’ Meanwhile, the teaching staff found the simulation to be a dynamic, interactive and engaging way to approach the challenges of teaching enterprise within a school which is already well aware of the importance of enterprise education. Indeed, Lampton School itself hosts an "Enterprise Learning Pathfinder" project which involves four Hounslow secondary schools. In response to recent government initiatives, this group is developing a variety of strategies to support "Enterprise Education", a compulsory part of the national Curriculum from September 2005. ‘The Business’ game is set to be a valuable tool in achieving this goal. July 2005 “The Business” initial screening at businessdynamics Blue Skies events PIXELearning has spent two weeks during July with businessdynamics at their Blue Skies events. During this two week period some 6,000 students and 600 teachers were involved in exciting and engaging events across the UK. The events bring Britain’s most exciting young entrepreneurs face to face with 14-19 year old students in a lively, interactive, fun environment. The events provide a fresh, relevant and thought provoking environment in which to inspire Britain’s next generation of entrepreneurs. The events therefore provided the perfect opportunity to launch “The Business” game which has been created by PIXELearning and businessdynamics. The feedback from both the students and their teachers has been very positive. The students left the events with a greater appreciation for entrepreneurial ability and a clearer understanding of the need for students who can ‘think on their feet’ and be proactive. Many of the teachers view “The Business” as an excellent way of continuing this enterprising thought within the classroom, whilst also allowing the students to put ideas into proactive within a safe, simulated environment. Details on businessdynamics Blue Skies events are available from: www.blue-skies.uk.com |
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