I
can't wait to see what happens when online learning collides with online games
and simulation. I'm looking for a big bang!
Today's
youth have grown up on a diet of video and PC games. According to numbers
release by the Interactive Digital Software Association, the US entertainment
software industry grew to a record-breaking 6.9 billion US dollars in 2002.
Video console games accounted for 5.5 billion dollars US worth of sales, and PC
games generated 1.4 billion dollars US.
Over
the last year or so PC games have started moving online and video game consoles Playstation,
Nintendo and XBox
have started to become web-enabled. Even mobile phone giant Nokia is getting in
on the action with their proposed mobile handheld N-Gage
game device. According to Jupiter Research revenues from subscription fees to
online games are expected to grow to $1.4 billion over the next five years.
The
online PC game world has been dominated by "massively multiplayer"
titles such as EverQuest
and Dark Age of
Camelot, in which hundreds of thousands of fans pay a fee to join a world of
magic and demons. The most widely played online action game is the first-person
shooter Counter-Strike,
in which you play on one of two teams, in a variety of scenarios like rescuing
hostages and planting or defusing bombs. Every night, without fail, there are
100,000 or more people playing Counter-Strike online.
The
best selling PC game ever is the SIMS
designed by Will Wright creator of SimCity.
Released in 2000 over 21 million copies of the SIMS and its expansion packs have
been sold to date. SIMS game play involves creating a simulated person or family
and helping them get through their daily lives as they make homes, go to work,
and find friends with other computer-controlled “sims” in the game. The SIMS
was a breakout game with wide appeal to those not interested in trolls, dragons
and shoot-em-ups Forty five percent of SIMS players are women, and more than a
third are over the age of twenty four. The SIMS has now moved online where every
one of the hundreds of sims that you encounter is played by a real person, not
your PC.
Sony
hopes to establish its own breakout category for sports with the launch of 989SportsOnline.com
where online game play will be enhanced with Voice-Over-IP, live stats, message
boards, tournaments and the ability to challenge opponents anywhere across the
country.
Part
of the appeal of online games over stand-alone computer games is that game play
involves outwitting, outplaying and outlasting a fellow human being rather than
a computer.
So
far online game developers have actively ignored online learning. Marc Prensky,
author of Digital
Game-Based Learning maintains that adding an instructional designer to the
game development team takes the fun out of the game. While I'm not convinced
this needs to be the case it does seem that online game developers have an
aversion to online learning developers and actively work to maintain separation
(perhaps fearing the impact this might have on their core market of 18-24 year
old males?)
Simulation
on the other hand has a tradition of use in education and training. Long used by
aviation and defense industries for "mission critical" learning,
simulations model dynamic systems and enable acquisition of skills in a
"safe" environment.
Years
ago I worked at Canada's National Training Institute creating concept
visualizers and building 3D Real Time Interactive Simulator use into the
curriculum for air traffic controllers. Later, I was a training manager for
Hughes Aircraft of Canada where we developed air traffic control systems. One of
our principal training tools was the "simulator" used for teaching air
traffic controllers how to use the new system without actually being
"live".
Simulation
lets you model and test out real-world interactions. You can check out your
understanding, develop new skills and see how an operation works. Best of all
you can do all this safely. Crashed a plane in Microsoft
Flight Simulator? No worries, just start over. The great thing is that you
really do develop skills as a pilot.
One
organization that understands the importance of simulation and games in a big
way is the military. The US Army's success is contingent on its ability to
attract high potential young people. In July 2002 they released Americas
Army a simulation game that introduces players to different Army schools,
Army training, and life in the Army. In America's Army the emphasis is on
missions where teamwork, values and responsibility are the means to achieving
game goals. As of August 22, 2003 there have been over 2 million downloads and
Americas Army has become a key part of the Army's communications strategy to
leverage the Internet as a portal, providing young adults a first hand look at
what its like to be a soldier.
Simulations
have evolved tremendously since their early days when I first began using and
developing them in the 1980's. The Brandon-Hall report, E-Learning
Simulations; Tools and Services for Creating Software, Business, and Technical
Skills Simulations identifies the current main categories for simulations as
being;
-
Software
simulations: IT/application training
-
Business
simulations: teaching business management skills, running mock companies,
accounting practices, etc.
-
Situational
simulations: interpersonal skills, soft skills, conversational skills, etc.
-
Technical
simulations: simulating physical systems such as a piece of equipment, or
simulating processes through diagrams, etc.
-
Procedural
simulations: teaching step-by-step processes, etc.
-
Virtual
worlds: teaching by re-creating environments, workplaces, etc.
In
some ways online games and simulations go counter to the e-learning trend toward
micro learning objects. Simulations and games provide a larger
"experience", creating context based immersive learning. For an
exploration of this and other simulation issues see page 21 of Clark Aldrich's Field
Guide to Educational Simulations.
Simulations
can be subscribed to, bought off the shelf, or custom authored to be uniquely
specific. Custom authoring simulations can be complex. The software engine,
instructional design, predictability of outcome, and degree of human
facilitation are all factors. The Simulation
Classification System provides food for thought. And what's going on with
simulation "standards" and the ability of Learning Management Systems
to track simulations?
As
today's youth increasingly get their education through online learning, their
expectations as to what constitutes an engaging and interesting online
experience are bound to be influenced by their experiences with online games and
simulations. Will online learning measure up? I hope so. Who says online
learning can't be fun?
What
will it take to generate a big bang collision of online learning with online
games and simulation? A convergence of will and opportunity.
Where
is the opportunity for this big bang to occur? Well I hope right here in
Vancouver, British Columbia. We have all the players:
Where
is the will? Well good question. Amazingly, to date, there has been little
crossover pollination between these industry sectors and little discussion of
the synergy's between each. Imagine what might happen if they got together and
seriously pursued the creation of a new breed of online content - digital game
based learning and simulations.
Kapow!
Paul
Stacey, is an e-learning specialist in corporate and higher education working
in Simon Fraser University's
eLearning Innovation Centre (eLINC). Paul helps host & produce LearningTimes
an online community for education professionals. Contact: Paul
Stacey
What Do You Think? Talk Back To Paul
Stacey
E-Learning: An
opinionated monthly column exploring the current use, future potential, and
commercial value of e-learning in BC’s high tech sector.
E-Learning
Archive: an index and links to all the E-learning columns Paul has written
for T-Net going back to April 2000.
