Recent research studies are proving what many of us have quietly suspected all along our children are actually learning new ways to learn when they spend hour after hour with their Game Boy, PlayStation, 2, Xbox, or other video game console. Just imagine what it must be like for this generation to go from complexity, immersion, and hands-on interactivity of The Sims to a classroom lecture. Now this same generation is preparing to enter the corporate workforce, the military, public service, and our higher education institutions. Are our trainers and educators prepared to meet the escalating needs and potential of this next generation?
Simulations and the Future of Learning offers trainers and educators the information and perspective they need to understand, design, build, and deploy computer simulations for this generation. Looking back on his recent first-hand experience as lead designer for an advanced leadership development simulation, author Clark Aldrich has created a detailed case study of the creation and deployment of an e-learning simulation that had the development cycle of a modern computer game. With this book Aldrich, a leader in the e-learning field, has created an intriguing roadmap for the future of learning while taking us along on an entertaining rollercoaster ride of trial and error, success and failure. Simulations and the Future of Learning outlines the design principles and critical decisions around any simulation’s components the interface, the physics and animation systems, the artificial intelligence, and sets and figures. Using this accessible resource, readers will learn how to create and evaluate successful simulations that have the following characteristics: authentic and relevant scenarios; applied pressure situations that tap user’s emotion and force them to act; a sense of unrestricted options; and replayability.
Revealing the incredible flexibility and depth of this learning technology, Simulations and the Future of Learning challenges policy-makers and futurists as well as educators and trainers to rethink classroom-as-usual instruction and take steps toward a brighter future of learning.
From the Back Cover
“A compelling and deeply informative book that should be read by anyone who cares about the future of learning, and for those who seek to build a sustainable model.”
Jonathon D. Levy, vice president, Online Learning Solutions, Harvard Business School Publishing
“Insightful and instructive. Any organization that is serious about developing human capital must become serious about simulation. If you are serious about embarking on a simulation project within your firm, you should not do a single thing until you have read this book.”
Tony O’Driscoll, IBM Center for Advanced Learning
“Read this book, take the journey. Clark Aldrich takes us to learning in the 21st century. In this world managers and employees will have the dynamic skills needed to succeed in this dynamically changing workplace.”
Gerry Lang, Worldwide Learning Platform and Services Director, Microsoft Corporation
“Essential reading. The tools are in place to provide everyone the ability to augment their own innate capabilities. This text will be considered one of the early beacons to shed light on how and when simulations will shapethe learning revolution.”
Dylan Schmorrow, Ph.D., program manager, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)
“I read through the entire book in one sitting. Clark Aldrich has achieved a similar effect to Tracy Kidder’s Pulitzer Prize-winning, The Soul of a New Machine. Clark compels us to the conclusion that there is truly no other way to learn than through simulations. His analysis of how an entire world of game players will probably learn little in traditional environments results in the realization that we are on a collision path with the current generation when we attempt to teach them with lectures and trivial interactions and exercises. Believe it or not, the book also made me laugh out loud. In addition, I learned more about leadership by reading about the simulation than I have in thrity-five years of management training programs and book reading. These are serious accomplishments for what I expected to be a technical book.”
Gloria Gery, from the Introduction
About the Author
Clark Aldrich is one of e-learning’s most influential leaders. Analyst, columnist, author, speaker, entrepreneur, consultant, he recently lead the international team that created SimuLearn’s Virtual Leader, a “concept car” that redefines e-learning’s boundaries. Aldrich was the former research director at the Gartner Group where he was responsible for launching and building their e-learning coverage. He has was called out as an e-learning guru by Fortune and chosen as one of both Training magazine’s and ASTD’s visionaries of the industry.
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