Put a gamer together with the world-renowned, safety-minded manufacturer of aluminum products and you get the global launch of a serious game.
Etcetera Edutainment and Alcoa Inc. have joined forces to introduce the interactive training game, Alcoa SafeDock, a cutting-edge tool that promotes job safety through the creation of a virtual world of occupational hazards, teaching “real world” safety procedures in a loading dock environment. The tool will be piloted at Alcoa businesses in Pennsylvania this spring and will be launched throughout operating locations worldwide.
SafeDock is the company's largest contract for downtown company Etcetera Edutainment, a three-year-old start-up that has grown to 20 people and plans to keep growing. The training is “highly immersive,” explains Jessica Trybus, founder and CEO of Etcetera Edutainment. Unlike lectures or manuals, SafeDock puts the participant behind the wheel, virtually, in simulated scenarios. Employees learn and interact with others and a trainer while they play, dealing with cranes, forklifts and occupational dangers.
“It’s three-dimensional and hands on. People retain and understand more from interactive simulations than they do from passive instruction. It’s the new wave for learning technology,” says Trybus.
Etcetera was founded by Trybus, a faculty member with Carnegie Mellon University’s Entertainment Technology Center, a world leader in engaging computer-based education. Alcoa, with headquarters in New York and administrative offices in Pittsburgh, is the world’s foremost producer and manager of primary aluminum, fabricated aluminum and alumina facilities.
Writer: Debra Diamond Smit
Source: Jessica Trybus, Etcetera Edutainment
Image courtesy of Etcetera Edutainment Inc.