A well-craft online simulation of a sales call, operating a piece of equipment or troubleshooting a difficult situation can impact a learner’s behavior and serve as a powerful educational tool.
Learning focused simulations are meant to blur the line between receiving one-on-one instruction and being involved in the actual situation. Simulations provide authentic practice for authentic tasks. For example, if you are doing a medical simulation and a patient might die in real-life, the simulation can (and should) reflect that reality. Not only can simulations mimic real-life, they have the added benefit of being able to provide a hint or guidance to solidify a learner’s knowledge and help them understand what they need to know to perform their job.
The human mind can easily place a person in the situation into the situation in which he or she needs to perform, even when they are “just” sitting in front of a computer. If you have ever been emotionally moved by a book or cried while reading a sad story, you understand how humans can easily be placed into a desired environment with little external stimulation or cues. Now add high quality graphics, animation and realistic sounds and suddenly a person is transported into the situation in which they are required to perform.
Simulations like the ACT-600A above are effective teachers. Simulations provide training and education with a high level of clarity and detail. More importantly, they connect learning to the affective domain—to the emotions of the learner. This type of connection rarely occurs in an instructor-led training program. Simulations are necessary items in the toolkit for teaching how to be good technicians, scientists, managers and salespeople.
Simulations are patient and understanding instructors, they don’t get bored, tired or frustrated no matter how many times you make the same mistake. A simulation repeats the sequence over and over again until you determine what actions are needed to successfully accomplish the task at hand.
Consider adding online simulations to your instructional toolkit.
Karl is co-author of Learning in 3D.
