Collaboration Tools in Training

I read with interest my friend Chase's thoughts on his own VARK assessment. His and mine were not the same. It's as if I get a peek into another style of learning and understanding by getting to read what you like. So often I think we assume that since we learn one way best, all others must learn the same. 

I like that Chase discussed collaboration tools. Recently, I've been trying to utilize more collaboration tools in our online offering. Unlike these courses which are weeks and months long, where discussion boards make sense, we usually only see our learners for hours and in some cases days. This means the collaboration tools must be quick and fast both in terms of their use but also in terms of the results, or they have to be intriguing enough that learners will want to use them after class when training ends and they are out on their own time. 

One thing we mulled around a while back was both a collaboration tool and an interactive game. We saw a Walmart training app that allowed users to learn the basic functions of a store associate and even see how that associates responsibilities grew over time and with their career (see more here). 

We wondered what it might take to create a refinery game that forced the player to work safely by picking the correct tools and safety equipment and if they could work with others to get high scores vs other teams within our company. It would have been collaboration, safety training reinforcement and career development. 

I wonder what Chase would think of this type of collaboration tool, or if he has seen anything like it.