From the Inside Flap
The Complete Guide to Simulations and Serious Games
The Complete Guide to Simulations and Serious Games offers an encyclopedic overview and complete lexicon for those who care about the next generation of educational media. This is the essential reference for not only those directly involved in simulations and serious games, but also for researchers and writers, computer game designers, policy makers, and entrepreneurs.
Organized as a style guide, the book includes more than 600 easy-to-browse entries and definitions, divided into key topics with introductory essays highlighting essential concepts. Written by Clark Aldrich—acclaimed educational simulation game designer—the book creates a unified view of capturing skills and knowledge and then developing them in others, through different uses of: computer interfaces, level design, bosses, dynamic systems, game elements, displays, units on maps, skill cones, feedback, assessment strategies, even balanced scorecards and artificial intelligence, just to name a few.
It balances tactical (what needs to go into a first level of a sim; what are questions to ask subject matter experts, how should programs be evaluated; when and how should coaches be used) to strategic (what is the difference between learning to know, learning to do, and learning to be; what does situational awareness look like when developing leadership or stewardship). In the spirit of Webster, Strunk and White, and Tufte, filled with helpful guidance and illustrative case studies, The Complete Guide to Simulations and Serious Games is the definitive "go-to" bookshelf reference for this generation.
From the Back Cover
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Essential resources for training and HR professionals
"Ready to blow your mind? Spend 15 seconds reading Clark Aldrich's The Complete Guide to Simulations and Serious Games. Witty, fast-paced, and non-linear—it's Spock meets Alton Brown." —Lynne Kenney, Psy.D., The Family Coach
The Complete Guide to Simulations and Serious Games
How the Most Valuable Content Will Be Created in the Age Beyond Gutenberg to Google
Clark Aldrich
Author of Simulations and the Future of Learning and Learning by Doing
Praise for The Complete Guide to Simulations and Serious Games
"Yes, this is an encyclopedic overview of the simulations and serious gaming world, but it's far more important than a 'how-to' book. Aldrich is signaling the end of the age of Gutenberg. Aldrich takes direct aim at why the K-12 and higher education system are failing—myopically trapped in a nineeenth-century world of 'learning to know' in a twenty-first century world that requires the judgment and skills of 'learning to do.' Aldrich's revolution transforms the way we learn."
—Jeff Sandefer, founder, the Acton School of Business
"Clark Aldrich provides his clear vision of how 'learning to do' will liberate us from our industrial education legacy that has for too long been shaped by outdated, linear, passive instruction. I recommend this book without reservation for anyone interested in the future of learning."
—Don Williams, manager, global learning research, Microsoft Corporation
"This exhaustive guide to computer gaming and simulation points the way to a new, more powerful way of learning by doing. It is a must-read—a must-read and study—for those involved in education and journalism."
—Bill Kovach, former Washington bureau chief of the New York Times, and former editor of the
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"Aldrich has done it again. He provides an intuitive framework for those interested in (and perhaps overwhelmed by) simulations, games, and virtual worlds. Before you're halfway done with this book you'll be looking with a new perspective and set of competencies for creating interactive experiences."
—Denis Saulnier, educational technology director, Harvard Business Publishing
"The Complete Guide sets the standard as the encyclopedia for serious games and simulations. In this comprehensive volume, Aldrich uses hundreds of examples for this new medium. If you want to stay at the forefront of education, this book is a must-have!"
—Jerry Bush, program manager, Learning@ Cisco
