Who s game?

Who’s game?

Perhaps not surprisingly, the biggest users of simulations and games for training are the US military. The DoD has invested more than $1 billion in JSIM, its high-end simulation technology and uses digital game-based learning to train soldiers, sailors, tank-drivers and strategists. And it’s not just the safety arguments that drive this - the US military are aware that their new recruits are probably the first generation that grew up with computers, and who are liable to get bored with traditional classroom instruction.

Of course, simulations play an important part in IT training. Vendors like NETg use simulations to allow the learner the freedom to explore in a 'safe environment', with no risk to real data. In fact, NETg boasts that they incorporate more simulations in its training content than any other vendor, with some courses including over 900!

But it is in the soft skills arena that some of the most innovative applications can be found. Simulations and games make it possible to ditch the tired old ‘tell and test’ strategy and bring about learning by discovery. According to soft skills publisher Xebec McGraw-Hill (no longer with us), “discovering for themselves helps students own the information, which in turn makes it more certain that they will apply what they’ve learned – whether that’s a change in attitude or behaviour, or applying a new technique”.

Another publisher, Knowledge=Power, uses game-like 3D technology to build virtual ‘learning worlds’ for learners can explore. Even the potentially tedious pre-test has been re-designed as a quiz game. And at e-learning solutions provider Wide Learning, stories and cartoon characters figure extensively. Says Wide’s Sam Woodley: “Storytelling is a great way to get people in organisations to communicate. Often these stories can be humorous and humour can change moods and unlock creative thinking.” We are talking about learning, aren’t we? It’s easy to forget.

Used to its potential, computer technology opens up possibilities for doing so much more than copying the classroom, but to develop these new approaches takes time. Remember that the earliest TV dramas used no more than a single camera pointing up at the stage to record a live performance – it took decades to really develop the potential of the medium. When it comes to learning, we already have the technology – the networks, the multimedia capability and the sheer processing power. What we need now is the imagination and the enterprise to harness this technology and deliver the learning experiences of the twenty-second century.