Knowing what is safe does not yet mean you recognise the risk in time
Carbon monoxide cannot be seen, smelled or tasted. That is why it matters that professionals do not only know the rules, but also learn to recognise when a situation may be unsafe.
That was the challenge for CO Wijzer.
The audience often already has technical knowledge. Offering still more information is then not automatically the solution. In practice, technicians need to assess situations, recognise signals, make connections and make the right safety choice at the right moment.
That calls for a different way of learning.
Not only explaining what someone needs to know, but letting participants practise with situations in which that knowledge is needed. Not clicking passively through information, but looking, investigating, choosing and receiving feedback.
The design question therefore became:
How do we turn a safety training programme into a learning experience in which professionals actively practise recognising risks and making the right choices?
We started with practice, not with theory
Together with subject experts we first mapped which knowledge matters and, above all, what participants need to be able to do with that knowledge.
Which situations do they need to recognise?
Which signals do they need to be able to interpret?
Which trade-offs do they need to make?
And where can a wrong choice lead to a risk?
From those questions we translated the learning goals into several learning lines, including:
- flue gas analysis
- CLV systems
- outlets
- maintenance work
- the 36-second rule
- risk recognition around carbon monoxide
We then brought that content together in stories and MicroGames.
The stories give context. They place technical knowledge in recognisable situations with characters, problems and consequences. The MicroGames make the participant active. There the knowledge has to be used to recognise something, assess it or make a choice.
That creates a route from understanding to application.
First understand the situation. Then get to work yourself.
In CO Wijzer the participant does not only receive an explanation of the knowledge. The subject matter is linked to situations in which that knowledge gains meaning.
Stories help to set up such a situation. What is going on? Where is the risk? Which information matters? And what does that ask of the professional?
From the story, the participant steps into a MicroGame.
There the knowledge is used actively. The participant investigates situations, interprets signals, makes safety trade-offs and gets immediate feedback on the choices made.
The same movement keeps returning:
discover → understand → choose → feedback → apply again
Mistakes can be part of the learning. Precisely by making a choice and seeing its consequences, it becomes clear why a rule or way of working matters.
The learning experience leaves room to discover, with enough structure to move forward.
From safety information to a playable learning route
For CO Wijzer we developed a coherent learning experience in which technical knowledge, practical situations and active decision-making come together.
The programme consists of:
- practice-based MicroGames around concrete learning goals
- visual stories that place knowledge in a recognisable context
- interactive assignments in which participants have to look, choose and act themselves
- immediate feedback on choices and actions
- several learning lines around technical and safety-related topics
- a didactic structure that new parts can build on
Safety information is therefore not only offered, but made usable to practise with.
The participant is asked again and again: what do you see here, what does it mean, and what do you do next?
That is exactly where the connection between knowledge and practice appears.
You do not learn safety only by knowing the rules
CO Wijzer shows how technical and safety knowledge can be translated into situations in which people have to observe, think and act.
That principle goes further than carbon monoxide.
With other technical and safety questions too, the challenge is often not that information is missing. The challenge appears when someone has to recognise and apply that knowledge at the right moment.
Storytelling helps to make that context visible. MicroGames then create a safe setting in which participants can practise, make choices and receive immediate feedback.
With MicroGames and stories we make complex knowledge playable, recognisable and applicable.
In safety, knowing what the rule is is ultimately not enough.
You have to recognise a risk situation, understand what is happening and know how to act.
CO Wijzer is designed to practise exactly that.
Turn complex knowledge into a learnable experience as well?
Do you have technical knowledge, safety procedures or other content that people should not only know, but above all be able to apply?
Then we are glad to explore which situations, choices and skills are central — and how we can turn them into an active learning experience.
Discover what Play can mean for your learning challenge.
Project in brief
- Client
- 21CC Education / Studium
- Partners
- Preludens, 21CC Education, Studium
- Our role
- Learning design, storytelling, MicroGame development, didactic design and project delivery
- Developed
- 2024 – 2026
- Services
- Learning Experience Design, MicroGames, Storytelling, Gamification and didactic design
- Delivered
- A learning programme with visual stories, interactive MicroGames and practice-based learning modules on carbon monoxide safety.