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Simulations and the Future of Learning: An Innovative (and Perhaps Revolutionary) Approach to e-Learning

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High profile e-learning industry analyst Clark Aldrich became disenchanted with the yawning gap between the promise of e-learning and the reality. Attracted by the potential application of computer gaming techniques for training simulation purposes, he quit his job with the Gartner Group and joined a project team attempting to design a computer-based leadership development simulation. The result was Simulearn's Virtual Leader. Aldrich's book recounts the experience in this book.

Despite the promise of the title, the book is a curious mix of speculation, case study, and product promotion. Aldrich provides accessible frameworks for thinking about the underlying design considerations for the development of simulations, and some useful insights into the analysis of content and development of simulation architecture. Yet the book is not a tool kit or primer for would-be designers - the advice is rarely actionable - nor is it a deep study of the concepts and application of simulation models. As such its greatest value is as an introductory case study into aspects of simulation design. The case in question is the development of Simulearn's Virtual Leader product, and the book gives little insight into other forms of electronic or other simulations. The author is a Vice President of Simulearn, so his views are not impartial.

Aldrich makes some refreshingly provocative assertions: e-learning has failed to deliver because it's not sufficiently user-focused - it has been sold to senior managers as means of lowering the cost of training, rather than enriching the value of learning. Aldrich believes that education and vocational training are too "linear", emphasizing the acquisition of facts in a sequential, guided way rather than "open-ended", allowing the development of decision-making, interpersonal communication and creative capabilities required for success in work. In contrast, simulations offer rich combinations of linear, cyclical and open-ended learning, with the freedom to make mistakes, try new approaches and hone skills in a secure environment.

The book is often entertaining. Aldrich's account of the analysis of the leadership content in order to arrive at an underlying simulation model and architecture is amusing - framed as a quest to find the meaning of leadership and render it into electronic simulation, with himself as hero. It is slightly clouded by digressions on the nature of leadership - Aldrich seems to approach the subject with little background, and is suprised to find that (to paraphrase Warren Bennis) so much been written by so many to so little effect.

A number of glaring issues go unexamined: the leadership model and the simulation design of Virtual Leader require a standard of behaviour and ethics that are possibly more ideology than reality. Success in Virual Leader requires a degree of conventional virtue that most organizations espouse but is not always practiced by those in power. A fundamentally Machiavellian approach apparently won't work in Virtual Leader, but it is arguably an effective means of gaining and retaining power in most organisations. The player's experience of Virtual Leader is not evident from the descriptions -despite extensive descriptions of the design process and interface, the book gives little insight into how the player interacts with the game.

Aldrich is evangelical, which gives his writing energy and persuasive power, but like many evangelists, he is strong on belief and short on evidence for his views. While he is right to question the validity of conventional models of education and learning, his opinions are largely speculation, or based on the anecdotal evidence of others or his own experience.

And despite the evangelism, if Aldrich's predictions hold true, most organisations will never design a simulation using his approach. They are prohibitively expensive, costing many millions of dollars. At best, they may purchase an off-the-shelf simulation, and customise it to some extent, which is possibly one of the promotional intentions of the book.

This book addresses a very interesting subject and one that is near and dear to my heart. How does a generation, who spent their childhood playing games, react to linear learning? This generation has overcome the linear educational system and is now in the workforce facing the myriad of training courses provided by companies. Are these courses any more adequate than schools and university courses to teach a generation who are used to complex and immersive learning environments? Anybody who has ever played a computer/video game will realize that they are learning some very complex skills and actually enjoying it! Obviously most of theses skills being learned don't seem to be very useful anywhere outside the game, but the realization that learning is happening is one that has some fundamental implications to the future of education. All learning should be as fun as games and that has been the holy grail of e-learning.

Clark Aldrich takes us on his own very personal journey from his days as the research director for Gartner Group's e-learning initiative through to setting up a company, Simulearn that could fulfill the promise of e-learning.

The book is split into 4 Parts that follow the `Hero's Journey/Story Arc' of Aldrich's quest.
Part 1: `The Call to Adventure' or "The Simulation Way" - where Aldrich first realizes the potential of e-learning and from his advantageous position of seeing all the current e-learning products available also realizes that no one has as yet achieved this potential.
Part 2: `Crossing the Threshold' or `Modeling Reality' - this is where Aldrich describes in detail the process of making the "Sim". It describes the design principles behind creating a truly immersive simulation and even goes as far as to describe the actual modules (Calculation, AI, Dialogue, Physics etc...)
Part 3: `Approach the Innermost Cave' or "Philosophical and Technical Realities" - This delves deep into some of the hurdles, issues and problems that Aldrich's team encountered. He delves into some core pieces that are needed to make a truly immersive simulation game (Interface design, game play, scoring etc...)
Part 4: `The Road Back' or "The Way Ahead" - This is where Aldrich summarizes his issues and hurdles into a list that will be valuable to anyone attempting to achieve the potential of e-learning.

Summary:
Any book that starts off by insisting that you play games has to be one that is worth reading! I thoroughly enjoyed this book, but I have always been a sucker for good story about challenging technical projects. In all seriousness if you are interested in game based learning and the potential of e-learning then you will find this book very rewarding. Following Aldrich and his team through tackling this problem without stepping down from the challenges, is a fun read. There is a lot more design details than you would expect from a book like this. Aldrich really does lay bare the principles, designs and challenges that were faced. My only concern was that this whets your appetite and leaves you wanting more technical details, but I understand that this would be giving too much IP (intellectual Property) away. This is a quick and rewarding read and Aldrich's personal story makes this a surprising page turner.

Clark Aldrich has written a personal story about developing a new genre of leadership development program. He takes you along for the ride as he becomes disenchanted with eLearning, quits a prestige job to find a better way, surmounts numerous hurdles, and ends up with Virtual Leader, a product you can buy today. Unlike most books on learning, Clark's is well written and witty; it's fun to read.

"What would the world be like if eLearning truly worked?" If eLearning could bestow understanding and the ability to control things, the training organization would be more important than the lawyers. I'd be bragging about last night's learning experience.

Of course, eLearning has not lived up to its potential. It's mainly virtual classrooms and online workbooks. The lessons have been degraded to the lowest common denominators of bandwidth, packaging standards, and generality. eLearning is sometimes no more than the pre-reading in a "blended" solution.

There is an exception: the learning of people who must perform. Life or death. Soldiers, pilots, nuclear power plant workers, and Wall Street traders. They learn from simulation.

Clark posits three forms of content: linear (most of what we're exposed to), cyclical (hitting balls on the driving range), and open-ended (with multiple paths and outcomes).

He recounts the early days of eLearning from his perspective as the chief analyst in that space at Gartner. Vendors visit with dog-and-pony shows, some tripping themselves up irrevocably in the first ten minutes. Hundreds of companies and not one that was sufficiently compelling to inspire him. Or others. eLearning is to learning as fast food is to nutrition. It's all linear. It's crap.

Next Clark quits his secure, prestigious job at Gartner to create exemplary eLearning, the best-of-breed that the eLearning vendors never showed him. He's out to build a "concept car" that will guide the industry.

His chapter on "The Myth of Subject-Matter Experts" skewers leadership gurus mercilessly. They don't have the three forms of content. They don't have very deep models. They have anecdotes. They want a fortune to have their grad students cook something up. At a leisurely pace. If you're thinking about taking content from nationally-known authorities, read this chapter first.

After months of research, reflection, blind alleys, and enough tid-bits to cover the walls with Post-It Notes, Clark and his mates arrived at a model of leadership that had the ring of truth. Leadership is "Getting a group of people to complete the right work." This is great stuff.

I should know. Six years ago, my firm's EVP told me our clients needed a program on leadership. Could I come up with a model that could be the foundation of a workshop? Something compelling. (Worldwide, a million bankers had participated in our workshops. We considered ourselves the crème de la crème of bank training.)

I jumped on the project with gusto, reading articles in the U.C. Berkeley library and on the web. I read Bennis, Kouzes, von Klausewitz, Peters, Drucker, my former professor John Kotter, and dozens of others. Eventually I boiled leadership down to a model of leadership and management accompanied by a page of bullet points.

I appreciate Clark's model and methods because they are so much better than what I came up with. Clark would call my results "linear," the ultimate slur. Clark's model is good enough to become a Harvard Business Review Classic.

About a third of the way in, the book totally changes direction. Clark takes us into the nitty-gritty of constructing the Virtual Leader simulation. We learn about principles of simulation, set design, character creation, animation, speech generation, control of movement, and magically making the cast autonomous, like Pinocchio turning into a real boy and wandering out of Gepetto's workshop. Some of this was fascinating but other parts of it read like Popular Science. The story from the first third of the book had turned into a how-to talk. This section was well crafted but it wasn't what I wanted to learn.

The final third addresses what happened when they flipped the on-switch, the futility of grades, why there aren't more simulations, and what's wrong with schooling.

Summary: Almost all training is linear. The world is open-ended. This is why almost all training fails. Simulations are open-ended. They are expensive but they work. Simulations are the way of the future.

Thanks for taking us along for the journey, Clark.

Clark Aldrich is one of the few true visionaries in the training profession. This book convinces us that - despite numerous challenges - simulations can indeed change the way we learn. With clear, powerful arguments, Clark lays out why simulations are simply a better way to learn than the static webpages that we know as e-learning today; and suggests to us how simulations can and should be built. Clark is also a captivating writer and the book is a fascinating tale of the creation story of one of the more complex leadership simulations build to date - including all of the challenges that the development team faced and overcame.

Knowledgeably written by Clark Aldrich (the international team leader that created SimuLearn's Virtual Leader "concept car" of e-learning), Simulations And The Future Of Learning: An Innovative (And Perhaps Revolutionary) Approach To e-Learning is an enriching resource for classrooms and businesses wanting to prepare for and operate within our modern technological age. Individual chapters accessibly address using systems to effectively and logically model reality; the philosophical and technical realties; the crucial essence of leadership itself, and more. A thought-provoking supplement for teachers, trainers, and students determined to embrace all the tools the twenty-first century has to offer the art and science of education.

It is frequently being suggesed now, by John Seely Brown and others that computer and video games,etc., are developing a young generation that is learning differently, that is very impatient with the lecture and traditional classroom This excellent book describes in detail the development of and a specific illustration of learning tools for this new generation. About leadership training for business, it neverless has important implications for all education.

The book is broken into four sections.

Background: Aldrich gives the reader some background on e-learning and computer games today. This section is quite easy to read and funny at times, especially when he talks about the challenges of being an analyst.
* Do You Want Fries with That E-Learning?
* In the Game
* The Primary Colors of Content
* The E-Learning Arms Race

Rethinking Educational Experiences: Building a simulation requires a higher standard of consistancy, rigor, even imagination than an academic lecture or book. Aldrich looks at the topic of leadership through the classic linear perspective, and then expands it along the new dimensions of interactivity. Other people have mentioned this as well, but I learned more about leadership here than through any other formal process.
* The Myth of Subject Matter Experts
* The Search for Contents
* What Would a Leadership Situation Look Like?
* Uncovering the Essence of Leadership
* The Lure of Linear Content

* Rules for a Post-Textbook World: Simulation Design Principles

The Technical Issues: In the same way that traditional academic leadership material made for insufficient content, so was the classic, existing computer game genres insufficient for a template. Aldrich explains the process of creating a whole new type of computer experience, (as different and as similar to computer games as computer games genres are from each other)based on their leadership content. I can see how people might skim these chapters (and I breezed through some pages myself), but I found them oddly satisying in bridging the chasm between high level theory to specific. Aldrich did a good job at making technical issues understandable to someone like myself who is not at all technical. Most importantly, he describes a kind of work that seems necessary to create a educational experience, but totally absent from most academic content today.
* The Beginning of Open-Ended Content: Sets and Figures
* What Do People Do All Day? The Animation System
* The Ultimate Hurdle: The Dialogue System
* Modeling a Little World: The Physics System
* Modeling the Inhabitants: The AI System
* A New Look at Work: The Interface System
* The Scariest Word of All: Gameplay
* Why Use Grades, Anyway? Metrics, Scores, and Simulations

Conclusions: With each of the final chapter, Aldrich zooms out one layer. First he wraps up the Virtual Leader story, then discusses the implications for any simulation designer, any corporate environment, and most interesting and controversial, all schools.
* Virtual Leader vs. the World
* 17 Simulation Issues
* A Manifest Destiny: Simulations and the Training Industry
* Looking Back at Schools

Simulations and the Future of Learning is undoubtably a "big" book, probably one of the most important books I have read in a long time. I have read it twice and still haven't come to terms with all of the discoveries and implications. Now I am just waiting for some colleagues to finish it to get some more perspectives.

I had someone teach me to program over twenty-five years ago so that I could create a simulation with which to teach history. I've built many such simulations since then and seen many more come and go. This book is really the first time I've been allowed to look over the shoulder of someone else tackling all the serious issues associated with such an effort and commenting on them as he went. More importantly, Aldrich achieves something else that is rare in my experience -- he clearly articulates the lessons he learned the hard way so that I can avoid them myslef.

So there are at least reasons to read this book. To understand the potential of well crafted simulations for learning, to appreciate the complexity of the craft required to build them, and to learn an enormous amount about that craft. The original Encyclopedie created by Diderot and D'Alembert and their fellow philosophes starting in 1751 set out not only to describe things but to show people those things and explain how they came about. Aldrich has risen to that same pedagogical imperative with an enthusiasm that is infectious. It will have the same value in this century that the thinkers in the 18th wished for their tomes -- it will help generations make things better.

Clark's book not only describes an intriguing process for the development of simulations and the future of e-learning, he does an excellent job describing a leadership model that works.

In fact, Clark's leadership model was studied and utilized by a number of my students in a team-based class. Using Clark's book, they were able to apply the concepts of balancing Power, Ideas and Tension successfully to accomplish work. Just as Clark described.

The story Clark tells is fun to read, interesting and educational. I strongly recommend it to all my students...and they love it. My instructional technology students all relate to interactive computer environments from PS2s to Xbox to Riven to SimCity and Roller Coaster Tycoon and they see no other alternative to what Clark describes in terms of how they want to learn in the future (and now for that matter). My students also appreciate the insight into the development process of a major learning initiative. The story of the success and failure of bringing the product to market.

I completely enjoyed this book because it adeptly foretells the future of learning and where academics and corporate training folks need to go. If you are involved with designing or managing learning within any type of environment, you need to read this book.

Clark has written a book both simple and detailed - for both the specialists and the generalists - in the big, bad, and exciting world of simulations.

Sometimes the process IS the product - if you believe that you will love the notes in the book from Clark's developer's diary - he brilliantly captures the tradeoffs of design, technology, learning, legal and commercial issues, in the process of creating the simulations.

I recommend this to anyone serious about simulations development or use.