Clark Aldrich, one of the top educational simulation designers in the world and
the founder and managing partner of Clark Aldrich Designs, has been developing
what he believes is the next stage of the Serious Games/Educational Simulation
concept over the past five years.
Clark has and will continue to speak about it
this year and discuss the game changing nature of short simulations as an
educational tool, including in New York City at Revolutionary Learning 2016 to be held August 17-19, at the Roosevelt Hotel. Clark
Aldrich’s Session: Teaching and Learning with the Short Sim.
Introducing Short Sims
Early July, Clark Aldrich launched a new website where he introduces Short Sims under the motto “Simple
Educational Simulations Work Better”.
And here I quote his stand on the concept:
“Educational Simulations and Serious Games have
evolved quickly over the last couple of decades, from visionary experiments to
predictable tools used to support the leading strategies of organizations as
diverse as the US Army and global corporations. The research tells us that sims
work, and they can teach some things better than any other approach.”
“But sims as currently conceptualized are a bit
too expensive, time consuming to build, platforms dependent, and hard to update
to grow beyond a niche. This has prevented interactive content from becoming
integral to all educational media including personalized learning and more
comprehensive assessment.”
“Until now. The new Short Sim methodology is the next step in the evolution of Simulations
and Serious Games.”
“Short Sims are
interactive experiences that take a user between five and 15 minutes to finish.
Short Sims can introduce a topic,
allow a user to play with the concepts, and they can provide basic role-plays
and lab experiments.”
“Short Sims may stand
alone or be embedded in the longer document, such as in an HTML-based document,
alongside text, charts, and short videos. They can achieve goals from deeper
understanding and conviction building, to understanding the application of
processes, to user enjoyment and engagement.”
According to Clark, Short Sims are faster to create and update, platform independent, richer
content and more engaging than traditional media, 508 compatible, and more
flexible than Serious Games and Simulations.
Clark also believes that Short Sims make it possible to retain the strengths of multiple
choice tests, while testing entirely new areas of student knowledge, in a way
that is often more engaging and satisfying.
·
Short Sims can put
students in social situations with many possible options. For example, a student can be put in the
place of a doctor interviewing a patient, or a police officer interviewing a
witness.
·
Short Sims can present
complex processes for students to perform, remembering past decisions. This
could be rebuilding an engine or completing some multiple step math
problems. Short Sims could even give
diagnostic feedback or partial credit.
·
Short Sims can make it
easier for assessment to use interactive diagrams or other visuals. Students can identify the right piece of
equipment to do a certain task, or the right place on a map. These can be multiple step (first choose the
right state, then the right region in the state).
·
Short Sims can also be
adaptive, tailoring subsequent situations based on past results.
Clark Aldrich has just completed a year-long development effort building
Short Sims for The Gates
Foundation’s open education Economy 101 textbooks series.