As you all know I changed my thesis topic, I’m currently working in Knowledge transfer through Serious Games and Interactive Storytelling. This is a great research topic strongly connected with e-learning and new learning methodologies using virtual world and serious games.
I started reading some books about experiences that combined simulation with learning and I end up reading a book called “Simulation and the future of learning” written by Clack Aldrich, it was an enriching experience the book gives an unique and new perspective about the learning experience comparing old and new methods.
The author outlines several important gaps in today learning process in the majors companies, criticizing the use of linear content like power points or even videos, since they can not offer a dynamic experience like the one that we all have in real life. The author concludes that all the organizations that care about training use computer simulation because they have no margin of error. I’m talking about the army sector or even for example NASA where an error of an employee can lead to the death of many people.
In many of today lead companies they don’t care about the quality of the training given to their employees, they only care about the the amount of topics or courses offered and their costs. Since real life is dynamic how can a person have a good training using only linear and static content? How can we evaluate the effectiveness of such teaching?
Today’s computer games can provide a new and refreshing way of learning with a high degree of immersiveness and dynamism, providing a way to test and simulate several scenarios putting to test the user acquired knowledge.
The book also talks about the experience of building a new simulator called Virtual Leader and ways to create a new computer model for leadership and human interactions in the context of a business meeting.
Undoubtedly one of the best books I ever read, I strongly recommend this book to all the IT and HR managers it will change your view about the learning process in your company.
Here are some reviews about the book:
“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 shape the 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