VRunners: connecting educators and transforming learning

VRunners is a serious game that enables schools, universities and organizations to leverage previous, current and future learning investment. 

35 years ago, the Centre for Creative Leadership formulated the famous 70-20-10 learning formula (70% on-the-job, 20% peer-to-peer, 10% classroom). Nowadays, in a society dependent on technology, this formula is more relevant than ever.

In most cases, organizations didn’t manage to build a supportive and agile learning environment where their employees could practice, collaborate, compete, have fun and eventually change their behavior.

“People know, but don’t apply” – this is probably the most recurrent message we’ve been hearing from customers in the past years.

Due to technology, the access to knowledge is easier than ever and often, mostly free. What actually makes a difference is the transfer into day-to-day life. In this context, the classroom and online training programs have demonstrated their limitations.

In this context, how can we reinvent the way in which learning is being provided by relevant stakeholders (academia, companies), taking into consideration the needs of generations and businesses?

VRunners is one of the solutions that we have created to blend the on-line and off-line events in a serious game. It is managed through a 24/7 accessible cloud-based platform. The game is a metaphor of an endurance training program with the aim of making work tasks, courses, projects  more interesting & fun, increasing participant’s engagement and instilling new habits.

 The game is developed to be very practical, for groups of minimum 15 people. The theme of the game is chosen together with the client (i.e. university, company) based on their learning, development, business needs (i.e. agility game, digitization game, organisational culture). The learning objectives are set with the client for each level, to make sure that the desired skills (i.e. leadership, change, collaboration etc) are being applied.

The challenges received in the app, which are related to the work/academic tasks are personalized for each client; the levels of the game can be changed in real-time (by the project team), which exponentially increases the relevance for each participant. It has the human touch ensuring the possibility of real time corrective feedback, as well as recognition (challenges are approved or rejected by the project team), this way improving the learning effectiveness.

The engagement of the players is ensured by the interaction with their avatar, as well as the economic, social and moral incentives embedded into the game design.

The learning network consisting of Supporters (i.e. peers) and Sponsor (i.e. direct supervisor) increases game adoption and knowledge.

Participants interact throughout the game with their peers, discover and share good practices, collaborate, compete and have fun. They can also bring their input and co-create the game experience (propose challenges relevant for the tackled theme).

Moreover, they have an emotional and meaningful learning experience because their individual and team effort is converted by the organizers into donations for a social cause of their choice.   

Since its inception in 2015, our game has been used in training projects, value deployment initiatives, follow-up programs, conferences and academic masters (i.e. gamifying the organizational culture course).

This is the power of our game!

The innovative approach is given by the mix of the following instruments: Action Learning, Just-in-Time & Just-in-Case Learning, game mechanics and theories from positive psychology, embedded in a serious game. However, we believe that the biggest added value is brought by the fact that we have created all the incentives that people are reacting to: economic (using a virtual currency to buy from the running expo), social (peer review, +1 strengths endorsements) and moral (supporting a social cause). 

VRunners is a unique serious game (cloud based app), played on-the-job and available 24/7 on multiple devices (mobile, tablet & desktop). Basically, each user is a “Virtual Runner” involved in an extensive “endurance workout program” with the aim to connect their on-line and off-line world. The main task is to complete “running challenges” while using “nutrition” and the help provided by “Supporters” and “Sponsor”. The technology allows the participants to have the learning “in their pockets”. The avatar-based interface, the game-based design as well as the well thought push-notification system engage the participants.

In the next 12 months we want to export this model in other 2 countries and to apply it in 2 Romanian universities. In addition, we want to initiate discussions with other potential partners, so that by 2020 we will have agreements with at least 3 foreign partners. We also want to apply it in different settings (e.g. recruitment, onboarding, support educators and students in applying skills relevant for 21st century, conferences, follow up programs for corporations). 

In five years’ time we will be a well-established game-based learning organization generating around 5 million EUR in revenue and around 1 million in profit. We will do that leveraging on four revenue streams:

• We will strengthen our position being the experts in implementation and follow-ups for learning projects
• We will create a national and international Partner network, licensing VRunners to well-established training companies
• We will start selling the B2C version of VRunners in 2019 by leveraging our B2B success and partnering with a web-marketing agency
• We will launch 5leaders, a B2B and B2C business acumen game in late 2019 

Retainment will be done through the incentives already developed in the application: social, economic and moral. We reach customers through the partnerships with different NGOs activating in education, universities and companies. Moreover, we give to the participants already using the platform the challenge to find creative ways to promote and disseminate their experience with us. When we make the partnership with a university, for example, they facilitate a meeting with the potential participants. After presenting to them the game and learning objectives, those who want to participate give their email addresses which will allow them to enter the game.

Since its inception in 2015 (under the name of Equatorial Marathon), our game has been used in training projects, value deployment initiatives, follow-up programs, conferences and academic masters. We are designing and personalizing each project to reach the learning objectives by using VRunners. Key figures: implemented in 2 countries (Romania, Poland), 24 customers, 40 projects, with 2800 participants and 340 children helped. We have implemented 3 games at The Bucharest University of Economic Studies, engaging and equipping around 200 students with 2020 skills. Around 50 teachers from primary and secondary public schools had the opportunity to share their best practices. 

In the next year we expect to reach around 2000 students seeking a job through our partnerships with companies. They will be trained on soft skills (communication, team-work, leadership, critical thinking, creativity) and assessed for the required competences. Those who will finish and pass the assessment will have a job offer. We also expect minimum 100 educators to share their best practice and apply at their class new education models learnt in programs offered by NGOs, and around 1000 employees. In 3 years we expect an increase of 100% in the number of persons reached, students, educators and employees. 

We are brought together by the passion for learning, innovation, positive psychology and games. Our team complements each other, having skills from different spectrums. We are both creative, challenging the status-quo, strategic and analytical, altruistic and autonomous, as well as competitive with our own self. Our decentralized structure allows us to communicate efficiently and to make fast decisions. Integrity, transparency, altruism and respect are our core values. Furthermore, we are working together for 1-3 years, so we know each other and how we can support one another, in good and difficult times. 

Our revenue model is based on selling personalised learning solutions for companies (using products such as VRunners, intercompany bootcamps, in-class training etc), and from franchising VRunners to other training companies from other areas in Romania, or other countries.

We believe that the training industry has been marginally touched by technology until now. The young generation, contemporary with the internet, video games and social media, will represent over 54% of the work force by 2020 and over 75% by 2025. Moreover, a study from Towards Maturity shows that 1 in 3 employees say the main barrier in their learning is uninteresting / unattractive content. In this context, we believe that VRunners is a proven solution for the learning revolution which solves the acute problem of the lack of engagement and pragmatism generated by the way in which current training projects are conceived, and the knowledge transfer is being provided; a problem which will only become bigger in the future.

The trigger was a discussion with teenagers around 16 years old about the current educational system and how the children should be taught nowadays. During the discussion we’ve realized that the current way of providing learning once in the workplace will not satisfy their needs and they want to learn fast, connect with peers internationally and in a fun way. Solve is a great platform that can offer us both exposure (finding partners) and discussions with investors to grow and scale our current product.

Someone says that if a person would be in a state of cryo-preservation for 100 years ago and bring him in a school or a training room, even after all this time that person will not feel strange. Although gamification is around for almost 15 years, we still see a certain amount of reluctance from L&D professionals. So, the biggest challenge is related with the ‘education and creation” of a big enough market in Romania first, and Europe, US afterwards, as our ambition is to internationalize our product, which we desire to achieve partly with Solve through its partners/investment discussions.