What would technology integration look like in your lab simulation?
Vik Aurora
Senior Vice President - Strategic Partnerships and Co-Founder - Hello, It’s Me??
There is no doubt that technology can lead to expanded thinking, and innovators worldwide use various tools to harness the benefits of technology to stimulate learning. Digital products such as instructional videos and learning objects can meet an educator’s goal to achieve the highest outcomes from content that is delivered to the learner.
Digital technology has allowed educators to leverage virtual reality and bring lab experiences to life. Simulations are modeled on real-life scenarios and interactivities that increase student engagement and motivation. As a result, students can apply learning to analyze different scenarios. The intent is not to make the right or wrong decision, but to analyze the situations and use problem-solving skills to understand what the possible outcomes are and how behaviors impact these outcomes.
Virtual simulations can be built in an immersive environment that lets students role play and also communicate with their peers virtually. Students have opportunities to learn from each other and see the effects of their decisions. Simulations have a reporting and assessment system that lets instructors collect data and measure learning against established behaviors in similar real-world situations. Instructors can view the recorded behaviors and hold discussions about outcomes in a real or a virtual class.
Instructors should not just encourage predictable behaviors. Simulations can be designed to address nonlinear behaviors, which can lend to fascinating results.
Simulations bring lab experiences into the twenty-first century. Students still receive hands-on learning but at less cost and in a faster time frame. Learning objects, such as 3D animations, are especially good tools that increase students’ understanding of key concepts.
Technology has already impacted the way we think, learn, and interact. Students routinely use digital technology to create and communicate in new ways. Educational institutions and corporations will find no reason not to embrace technology. Games and simulations provide powerful learning opportunities for instruction and help students develop cognitive skills. As students perform the tasks in a simulation and make choices, they are in effect controlling and altering the simulation. They are not just “learning” information—they are “creating” what they are learning.
Imagine how students can transfer their new ways of thinking to any new situation. They can become not merely students who are learning information, but creative problem-solvers and communicators who will shape the future.
Senior Vice President - Strategic Partnerships and Co-Founder - Hello, It’s Me??
10 年I Agree with you Paul. There is no substitute for realism. That being said, we have built several decision based simulations that have helped in building an eco system for cross functional engagement with real world situations. These simulations are driven towards total immersion and have also built a reasonable confidence. I do think there is a strong need to blend these virtual simulations with a lot of realism, particularly at work place with mock situations and projects.
President - iFive Alliances, LLC
10 年What you have described is wonderful - but not new or proven to create business results. What has been proven is what we have observed works to produce results across multiple industries for years. This is that the learner applies several methods to solve a problem - these include - phone calls, meetings, written correspondence, thinking, presentations, learning and perhaps texts and social media - there are probably other tools. New might be to allow the learner to apply all these on a real situation as a cross-functional team works on a problem together. Simulations tend to incur too much cost on building "realism." I would rather see simulation benefit from the realism that exists and provide results. Baseball players prepare by using real bats, balls and gloves in their simulation activities - perhaps we in the workplace could use real tools as well in our simulation activities.
Novel writer
10 年What's new?