"By 2006, 70 percent of all off-the-shelf and custom E-Learning content will
include some application of simulations."
- Gartner
Simulations - the next big revolution in E-Learning
Different types of Simulation-based training
Animation or Spatial Simulation
This is a technology-supported graphic representation of a physical
object or space. The learner is able to simulate user interaction within
the animated space.
Role Playing
Simulation may also take the form of role playing. A scenario is
presented, one or more individuals are assigned roles, and the learners
act out their roles within the simulation to solve a problem, reconcile a
relationship issue or learn about a process.
"If-Then" Process Simulation
Technology-enabled simulation can provide an if-then methodology for
learning. The student is presented a situation that has multiple
outcomes, and he or she responds by choosing an outcome.
"What-If" Interactive Models
What-if models are built using a set of factors that collectively
determine the outcome of a question or problem, for example, "What
size big screen TV should I buy?" The learner is able to modify the
value of the factors and is provided an outcome.
SIMSTUDIO
Simulation-Based E-Learning from Percepsys
percepsys.com
"I see and I forget, I hear and I remember, I do and I understand." - Confucius
We all know this
instinctively, however,
turn-of-the-century
educationist Edgar Dale
illustrated this with
research when he
developed the "Cone of
Learning" - which states
that after two weeks we
remember only 10% of
what we read, but we
remember 90% of what
we do!
E-Learning today has
advanced beyond "pageturning"
electronic
courseware to
Simulation-based
training. Simulation
training puts the subject
matter of the learning
objectives into the
context of a scenario
which allow the learner
to experience training as
it relates to a life-like
situation.
E-Learning content too is undergoing a transformation with the focus being not just on knowledge transfer, but on applying
knowledge. This is where simulation comes into play.
One of the key reasons that simulation technology will take off is the need for people to learn skills faster and more
completely than in the past. Numerous business drivers are poised to enable higher-value learning - if there was ever a
promise of double-digit increases in productivity, e-learning simulations offer that opportunity.
Many high-end business simulations are beginning to resemble computer games. While the look and feel of computer games
may differ from simulations, many of the design principles do not.
Computer games and simulations have more in common than one might think. In an evaluation of what it takes to build and
deploy computer games and simulations, almost every category showed that both simulations and gaming had similar
approaches.
A difference between computer games and simulations is in what the main objective is: entertainment versus skill building.
This is one of the profound areas where we expect to see transformation - building skills while playing a game.