Clark Aldrich, one of the top educational simulation designers in the
world, is about to release his sixth book Short Sims: A
Game Changer, a revolutionary proposition for finding the synergy between
meaningful interactivity and cost effectiveness that is necessary for broad
adoption. A proposition that aims to democratize interactivity in educational media.
Why Short Sims?
According to Clark, there is a growing realization that significant
interactivity is necessary to a successful learning program. “The necessity of
interactivity is why educational simulations and serious games have evolved
quickly over the last couple of decades,” he says. “The research tells us that
interactive experiences work, and they can scale the development of competency
and conviction better than other approaches. However, traditional interactivity is expensive to build”, states
Clark and proceeds:
“It is time consuming. Interactive content
typically is platform dependent. Many
organizations have been tempted by computer game-like experiences, but have
held off because of cost, or have built just one because of time frames
involved. Sims that follow the
development path of today's computer games, even mobile apps, are not likely to
currently grow beyond a niche during the current planning horizon.”
“The inherent open endlessness of games also
makes them too challenging to work into assessment situations. This has
prevented interactive content from becoming integral to all educational media
including personalized learning and more comprehensive testing.”
“As a result, the most valuable part of sim
design – re-imagining content with a “learning by doing” focus – has not been
done in the scale needed.”
What Are Short Sims?
Short Sims are a
new type of educational media – five to twelve minutes long - with few words
and many decisions. They tend to focus around a single subject area, and they
can be embedded in traditional course material. They are intuitive to engage by
design, typically with a multiple-choice interface.
The author’s expectation is that the new Short Sim
methodology, presented is his new book, can finally spark a new broad
generation of authors and consumers. Clark states that Short
Sims are a revolutionary new form of educational content, and the results
have already been transformative:
“They fill in the single most important gap in
educational media, learning by doing, in a way that is compatible with current
academic and corporate environments, infrastructures, and skill sets. Short
Sims can be created in the same time frame as linear content, such as a
traditional case study, with the same work effort. They can also be edited,
updated, and calibrated quickly. This means, for example, that a client can
commission an online course, and the developer can add in Short
Sims without significantly altering the delivery schedule or the budget.”
About the Book
The soon-to-be-released book introduces a new form of interactive
content, which could greatly help any organization that produces or uses
educational media. Short Sims combine
the time frames and flexibility of traditional linear content with the
engagement and "learning by doing" nature of educational simulations.
This book is written for publishers; training organizations;
professors; students and government. It combines the theory behind Short
Sims with a process for development using - but agnostic of - some current
development tools - with numerous illustrations including access to live
examples.
Early access to three chapters of the book, as well its table of
contents, is available at https://www.shortsims.com/back
About the Author
Clark Aldrich is an
education technology thought leader - the author of five books and developer of
patent and award-winning projects. He currently builds custom Short Sims for organizations using a
revolutionary methodology he has pioneered, or helps them build their own,
through www.shortsims.com. He is also the host of an audio series called
Education X Media (www.edbymedia.com) about evolving pedagogy in
academics, corporations, and the military.
He has been called a 'guru' by Fortune Magazine and a 'maverick' by
CNN. Aldrich and his work have been featured in hundreds of other
sources, including CBS, ABC, The New York Times, USA Today, AP, Wall Street
Journal, NPR, CNET, Business 2.0, BusinessWeek, and U.S. News and World
Report. He has written monthly columns for Training Magazine and
Online Learning Magazine. Previously, Aldrich was the founder and former
director of research for Gartner’s e-learning coverage.
Earlier in his career he worked on special projects for Xerox'
executive team. He also served for many years as the Governor's
representative on the education task force Joint Committee on Educational
Technology and volunteered on several non-profit organizations aimed at child
advocacy and has served on numerous boards.
He earned from Brown University a degree in Cognitive Science.
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