Moviemakers have successfully revived many popular entertainment franchises of the 1980s and 1990s. Updated versions of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Transformers, GI Joe, Power Rangers, and other 80s childhood staples have hit the big screen. Kids that grew up in the 80s now lead studios, which thrive by connecting with their audiences. These now-40-something TV and movie executives understand exactly what key demographic groups want, because they lived through the same formative experiences. They tap into that knowledge to evoke feelings of nostalgia in their generation—and it’s working. The Ninja Turtles franchise is worth nearly $1.5 billion dollars, while the resurgence of the Transformers franchise has netted nearly $4 billion dollars in movie tickets worldwide.
This strategy doesn’t just work in the entertainment business; it applies to the learning industry as well. After all, the median age of the American workforce is also 40-something.
The learning industry must connect with its audiences the same way the entertainment industry does. When you consider the role of childhood experiences in the rise of interest in serious games and microlearning, it makes perfect sense. Many in this generation learned about resource management and the frontier by playing The Oregon Trail video game. They learned about parts of speech and how a bill becomes law by watching short Schoolhouse Rock! videos. These precursors of serious games and microlearning resonate with a great deal of the people in today’s workforce.
By learning from Hollywood, we can tap into the shared experiences of a generation. This focus makes learning truly effective for the largest part of our audience. Whether it’s a serious game that supports practice and failure in a safe environment that reminds them of their childhood; or intelligently chunked microlearning that is entertaining and enables quick learning and review on the job, capitalizing on a learner’s childhood experiences helps us design meaningful and engaging learning.
