Serious Games” and Learning Management Systems
As the economic disaster tightens the budgets of organizations and businesses worldwide, more are turning to online training and learning management systems to handle their training.
And parallel to the increase in organizations seeking online training solutions is the expansion of LMS technology. These days LMS courseware creators are designing online training software that seems game-like in nature, using more interactive and engaging tools.
E-learning modules that feel game-like and interactive are growing in popularity in many professional circles. A number of organizations and institutions plan to integrate such software into their LMS training programs.
Is it a good idea? Time will tell. Research firm eMarketer estimates that about a fourth of the 34.3 million internet users under 19 used a virtual world program in 2007, and that number is expected to double by 2011. When young people use virtual worlds for entertainment and grow familiar with virtual world different tools, their experience will be more easily translated into an academic or professional learning system when they are adults.
For many people, the concept of incorporating a virtual world in a training course seems impractical or unrealistic. But more institutions and organizations worldwide have begun to explore the pedagogical and training possibilities that virtual worlds offer.
Virtual worlds permit learners to perform tasks that may be impossible in the real world due to conditions or situations involving personal, geographical or other limitations.
A student using a virtual world can access media such as simulations, videos, and instructional demos provided by an instructor or trainer. In the form of an avatar, students can perform tasks to reveal understanding of learning material as well as interact with their peers.
“Serious Game” virtual worlds are a new genre of virtual world software that designed to teach topics ranging from frog dissection to how to fill a cavity.
When integrated correctly, software like LMSs and “serious game” virtual worlds can provide students with the means to engage in the material to a point at which traditional e-learning courses never could. With a feature-rich LMS, students have access to audio and visual information in the form of simulations, screen recordings, podcasts, and more.
The bad news is that the majority of “serious games” on the market are either too expensive for many company budgets, or have a long way to go in terms of sophistication. But despite the slow development of virtual worlds for professional use, e-learning software continues to expand in learning management systems and other online tools, as they become more interactive to compete in an increasingly exciting e-learning market.
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