CDSA

Every organisation’s people are crucial to its security. Giving them the confidence to know what they need to do to protect their company’s security can only be achieved with the use of compelling learning that increases how much information they’ll retain, according to Xcapism Learning.

Adding gamification through storytelling, interaction and discovery goes a long way, company executives said 22nd March during the session “The Great Xcape!” at the eighth annual Content Protection Summit Europe.

The event was held in conjunction with the sixth annual Content Workflow Management Forum at the Cavendish Conference Centre in London and as virtual events via the MESAverse, allowing for remote attendance worldwide.

Meera Mehta, CEO and co-founder of Xcapism Learning, started off the session by pointing to one problem with typical online mandatory learning: Many people just “click all the way through to the end without actually reading any of the content and you’re kind of taking a guess” for the answer to each question in the quiz at the end.

Many people don’t actually learn anything from the learning assignment as a result, she said, adding her company provides a solution to this challenge.

Xcapism Learning is a training awareness company that “specialises in fun, interactive training,” noted Bob Bryden, its CTO.

He’s spoken to representatives of many companies who view mandatory learning as something they offer just to “satisfy compliance obligations,” he pointed out.

“If we continue doing the traditional style of learning, it wouldn’t help people really learn,” he warned.

Traditional learning typically includes some slides and PDFs to read, along with video content in plain narrative style and demonstrations, he noted.

“There’s nothing wrong with the content in these types of methods. It’s more the delivery that’s the issue,” according to Bryden.

The “super-important question to actually ask” is whether the training methods being used by companies are actually influencing behaviour, Mehta said.

“If people are retaining the information that they are being given, they’re more likely to act on it and, if they’re not, they’re not going to remember anything,” she cautioned.

“Here’s the science,” she said: “Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.”

People generally only remember up to 30% of information they are given through traditional communications and awareness learning at work, she pointed out. That is because “you’re not fully engaged so you don’t remember as much, which means you’re unlikely to change your behaviour,” she warned.

By practicing, the subject can retain up to 75% of the info learned and if the experience is done really well up to 90%, she said.

But “to truly have a positive impact on behavioural change, we need to start engaging our colleagues,” she stressed.

“Discovery is the key,” according to Xcapism Learning. When people are discovering information, they are “already engaged and retaining knowledge without even knowing it,” Bryden said.

Making the content immersive and engaging with a story in which one puzzle leads to the next puzzle and there is a defined goal at the end makes the training even more effective, he explained.

He went on to point out that cybersecurity awareness and communications campaigns have typically featured a faceless hacker in a hoodie, “when in reality a hacker could be anyone” around you.

Such campaigns need to be simple and as relatable as possible, he added.

Concluding the session, Mehta told attendees and viewers: “There is no reason why you can’t gamify every subject.” Colleagues will have fun learning and will be more likely to remember the information, she added.

To view the presentation, click here.

To download the presentation deck, click here.

The eighth annual Content Protection Summit Europe was produced by MESA in association with CDSA, and presented by Convergent Risks, with sponsorship by archTIS, NAGRA, Signiant, and BuyDRM.

The sixth annual Content Workflow Management Forum was produced by MESA in association with CDSA, the Hollywood IT Society (HITS), the Smart Content Council, the Content Localisation Council, and presented by Convergent Risks, with sponsorship by archTIS, NAGRA, Signiant, Whip Media, AppTek, BuyDRM, LinQ Media Group, OOONA, ZOO Digital, EIDR and Titles-On.