You want to create an educational simulation. How do you choose the right tools?

2 Consider your target audience

Another important factor to consider is your target audience. Who are your students and what are their characteristics, needs, and preferences? What are their prior knowledge, skills, and attitudes towards the topic and the simulation? How will you accommodate their different learning styles, levels, and abilities? How will you motivate and engage them throughout the simulation? Knowing your target audience will help you choose the tools that can suit their needs and interests, and provide them with a positive and meaningful learning experience.

3 Choose your simulation type

There are different types of educational simulations that can serve different purposes and goals. For example, you can create a physical simulation that replicates a real-world situation or environment, such as a flight simulator or a chemistry lab. You can also create a conceptual simulation that models an abstract or theoretical concept, such as a cellular process or a mathematical equation. You can also create a social simulation that simulates a human interaction or behavior, such as a negotiation or a role-play. Depending on your learning goals and target audience, you need to choose the simulation type that can best represent and illustrate the topic and the learning outcomes.

5 Design your simulation scenario

After you have selected your platform, you need to design your simulation scenario. This is the core of your simulation, where you define the elements, events, actions, and feedback that will make up the simulation. You need to create a realistic and relevant scenario that can challenge and engage your students, and provide them with opportunities to explore, experiment, and learn. You also need to create a clear and coherent narrative that can guide your students through the simulation, and provide them with instructions, goals, and feedback. You can use tools such as storyboards, flowcharts, or scripts to design your simulation scenario.

6 Test and evaluate your simulation

The final step in choosing the right tools for your educational simulation is to test and evaluate your simulation. You need to make sure that your simulation works properly, meets your learning goals, and satisfies your target audience. You can use tools such as surveys, quizzes, interviews, or observations to collect feedback from your students, peers, or experts. You can also use tools such as analytics, logs, or reports to measure the performance, outcomes, and impact of your simulation. Based on the feedback and data, you can improve and refine your simulation, and make it more effective and engaging.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?