Why Simulations are the Perfect Companion Tool to Online Learning
Simulations are an innovative way to boost engagement while providing a hands-on way to explore classroom concepts in depth. Additionally, they’re a nice compliment to lecture as they offer a space to put theories into practice.
Now that learning has been moved predominantly online, educators have been forced to recreate their classrooms in a virtual environment. Luckily for educators and students alike, simulations remain a powerful and adaptable tool for any learning environment. Simulations are so suited for online in fact that Harvard Business Publishing Education wrote a guide about the benefits of using them as well as how to add them into the course curriculum. The guide, Teaching with Simulations Online: The Basics, stated that “Simulations are uniquely suited to virtual learning as students interact with them using an online interface, so moving from the simulation itself to an online debrief isn’t disruptive.”
So let’s dive into a few things to consider when deciding to use simulations in the classroom.
Does a Simulation add Value to the Course?
As we mentioned before, simulations are a tremendous tool to let students put classroom concepts to practice. However, if the chosen simulation doesn’t apply concepts central to the class then it may not be the best fit especially if there is a big learning curve with the technology.
If it is a good fit with the class curriculum, then the learning outcomes will be worth the time investment necessary to get to know the new technology.
Another article from the Harvard Business Publishing Education spoke about the effectiveness of online learning. In their article, Online Learning Report: COVID 19 Pulse Survey, they concluded that the most effective online teaching methods should incorporate group-based learning, group work, active learning, and many others. (See chart below for all of the categories). Another case for simulations is that they tick a lot of these boxes!
Consider the Timeline
Simulations normally operate in their own “simulated” world, on a more rapidly moving timeline. In short, simulation days look different than real-life days. This is something to consider when planning your curriculum. You want to provide an adamant amount of time for both game playing and learning. When deciding when within the semester is best to run the simulation, consider the following:
At the Start
The use of simulations early on lets educators gauge their students’ knowledge of the course material before concepts have been taught in-depth.
In the Middle
Using simulations during the heart of the semester can strengthen comprehension and act as a core skill builder.
At the End
This is a way to pull the course together and let students put those classroom concepts into practice. If the simulation offers multiple runs, you could run one at the start and then again at the end of the course to measure comprehension and growth.
Asynchronous vs Synchronous
If using an asynchronous approach, this allows a great deal of flexibility for students to collaborate across different time zones and self-manage meetups. For a synchronous use case, the simulation may only be used during class time through zoom or other video conferencing tools.
Simulation providers such as Processim Labs let educators set their own time parameters so that they can be easily embedded into both synchronous and synchronous learning structures.
Do your Students have the Tools they Need to Succeed?
This is especially important to consider now that students can’t just easily raise their hands or walk up to their professors’ desk with questions. Make sure your students have all the tools and resources they need to be able to use the technology as effortlessly as possible. So if there are accompanying documents such as associated case studies or manuals to go over them well before the simulation has been launched. It is also important that you as the educator also understand how to use the technology so that you can help answer and application-related questions. Tech providers will likely have customer support lines to reach out to, but receiving answers could take hours or days.
Measuring Success
On the instructor’s end, they will often have access to student analytics and will be able to measure their students’ performances. They can also see which students have been participating more or have been more actively engaged than others. Sharing performance analytics with students at the end of the simulation in a PowerPoint is a nice way for them to see how their game playing compared with that of their peers. Class debriefs provide space or students to talk about their experience overall and gain insights into how their decision making affected their outcomes.
Interested in using simulations in your classroom? Visit us to find the perfect teaching tool for your class.