e-Simulations

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1. Introduction: Challenges to education

Today’s educators are facing new challenges not experienced by teachers in the past. They are dealing with students who are part of a “Net Generation” Oblinger, 2003, brought up in a 3-D world of virtual communication, visual complexity and online identities. They want and expect more engaging, empowering and interactive learning experiences in their student life than universities are able to give them. They are daily in touch with technology and innovation in their lives through digital media, PDA phones and their online networks. Prensky (2003) estimates that by the time someone reaches the age of 21 they will have spent 5,000 hours reading and 10,000 hours playing video games! Hagel and Armstrong (1997) believe that students are community-focused (especially here in Asia), belong to virtual communities to discuss shared interests (communities of interest), to develop social relations (community of relationships), and to explore new identities (communities of fantasy). According to Zemsky and Massey, 2004, students want to use technology in order to be entertained through music, games and movies, to be connected to one another and to present themselves and their work. A ‘Teaching with Games’ study in the UK revealed that 59% of teachers want to use computer games for educational purposes and 53% say they would do so because they are an interactive way of motivating and engaging students Games and Education. So how do teachers ‘connect’ to the ‘millenials’ in our institutions? One way is through the development or use of serious games or simulations.

2. Games in Education

A report released in September 2006 on a one-year research project Teaching with Games conducted in the UK by education innovator Futurelab and supported by Electronic ArtsCommercial indicates that computer games have the potential to support learning in schools and teachers do not need to be games experts to use them effectively for teaching.

The study showed that using games in lessons is motivating and engaging, and teachers believe that they improve students’ computer skills, strategic thinking and problem solving. Teaching with Games suggests that there are specific features of game play that could encourage student engagement, such as the opportunity to have autonomous control over a responsive environment, and the ability to use games in which they can demonstrate expertise. Findings from an Ipsos MORI survey into teachers’ attitudes to using mainstream computer games in the classroom, published in January 2006 as part of the Teaching with Games study, revealed that 59% of teachers want to use computer games for educational purposes and 53% say they would do so because they are an interactive way of motivating and engaging students.

2.1 Learning with Ludology

‘Ludology’ is becoming accepted as the term to descibe ‘the discipline that studies games,’ with scholars who study games described as ‘Ludologists’ (Matheas and Stern 2005). Games in education have been seen as peripheral activity, slighly frivolous, and not really seriously worth spending time considering. However, the serious game movement, serious games conferences and peer reviewed journals such as Game Studies, the Digital Games Research Association and other scholarly activity are helping educational gaming become worthy of exploration. Used strategically in conjunction with curriculum, games can ‘enhance, enliven and embolden teaching’ according to Hitch and Duncan (2005). In 2003, a study at 27 US institutions by the Pew Foundation found that all students surveyed had played video/computer or online games and the majority said games were part of their leisure activity. Prensky (2003) estimates that by the time someone reaches the age of 21 they will have spent 5,000 hours reading and 10,000 hours playing video games! As educators, we need to seriously consider the value and potential use of computer games whether created specifically for our courses or by using existing commercial games for educational pur poses. There are a number of excellent examples of teachers creatively using games such as Civilization and Second Life to help students learn social and other skills. Harvard University has created River City a virtual world in which students learn how to deal with outbreaks of disease, and simulations like Virtual U (where students have to manage and run a university) has been used by 800 institutions in 90 countries since its launch in 1999.

3. Educational simulations

Simulations can be described as learning by doing, as though the user is actually in a situation, and really doing something (Schank, 1997) and simulations are being increasingly used not only by industry and the military but in education. Simulations have been described as ‘the e-killer application’ (Lundy, Logan & Harris, 2002) and include role play, animation, virtual reality and games. Yet this is probably too broad a definition, as not all simulations are games, and role plays are fairly primitive simulations Prensky 2002. Simulations are more of a system (computer-based or otherwise) that enables the user or student to interact with situations similar to those in the real world and at the same time teaching about that situation. It is even possible to run a whole class or course within a virtual world Another Second Life.

According to Aldrich (2004), “simulations are the first fundamental change to education since the textbook.” His thesis is that people learn best by doing, and simulations enable educationalists to provide authentic and exciting learning experiences for students. However, time, cost, expertise and other factors make it hard to begin and finish a good simulation. Tools are being developed that make it easier to do the creative parts, but the key is in imaginative instructional design and development. Aldridge (2004) suggested there are three types of simulations – linear, cyclical and open-ended (fig 1). Each have their strengths and weaknesses, and each have a main purpose or outcome. Linear simulations are like movies and books – they have a beginning and ending – and although there may be different ways through the content, the end result is the same. Most e-Learning today is linear, usually includes standard tests and assessment, and is primarily owned and managed by the creator. Cyclical content is the sort of simulation used in arcade games where the outcomes depend on the skill and speed of the user. This type of content may be useful in the educational context if you need to teach a skill or precise activity, but it is less valuable as a learning tool. Open-ended content is the most challenging – for the user as well as the creator – and is very good at developing strategies and transferable skills such as entrepreneurship.

Figure 1: ''Three types of simulation (according to Aldrich)

Another classification of simulation games comes from Amory, Naicker, Vincent and. Adams (1999). They tested what they called an educational simulation game, a strategy game, a narrative-driven adventure game, and a ‘first-person shooter’ and found that students preferred the adventure game and the strategy game to the other two. The authors broke the games down into elements and concluded that the most important are logic, memory, visualization, and problem-solving. Musselwhite (2003) classified simulations into four levels, both for students and for facilitators (Table 1). Participant interaction was graded according to degree of interaction, predictability of outcomes, and potential for conflict and emotion. Facilitator issues related to administrative concerns and skill level; including time to prepare for the simulation, complexity of running the simulation, number of facilitators required, level of feedback expected, and overall observation and debrief skills required.

Table 1: Simulation Level Classification Criteria (Musselwhite 2003)


Simulations are often suggested as a replacement of real-life situations which are too dangerous, too expensive, or impractical to allow students to experience for real. Yet providing practical experience is a key complement of the learning process, helping students learn the application beyond the theoretical context. Simulations can provide an environment where students can explore, experiment, question and reflect on real life situations which would otherwise be inaccessible. In addition simulations can help students visualise dynamic behaviour, overcome practical difficulties and introduce new concepts. However many educational simulation games are poorly constructed and simply not fun. In addition, most games, even some intended to be educational, do not involve useful learning. Learning goals have to be essential for winning or the material is likely to be ignored (Lepper and Cordova, 1992). It is extremely challenging for any educational institution to develop a well produced simulation as they cannot compete on budget with industry, nor can they also cannot compete on talented game designers, as the best will be paid a fortune to join the industry. So it is likely that educational simulation games will be of a lower visual and entertainment value than those in the marketplace, and less stimulating. So how can educationalists produce simulations that are worth investing time and money in, and will provide a worthwhile, enjoyable, stimulating and challenging learning experience? The following is an attempt by one university to do this with the constraints of time, budget and personnel.

4. Challenges in Preparing Students for the Hospitality and Tourism Industry

The School of Hotel & Tourism Management (SHTM) has a strong industrial placement or internship programme where every undergraduate student will work in the hospitality industry for between 20-48 weeks during their course. For many students, to be thrust into a service industry which sets high standards of operation and personal service is quite daunting. Many university hotel and tourism courses teach hotel operations and customer service, and yet students have little experience of many hospitality scenarios discussed in their classes. To help students better prepare for industry placements and eventual work, there is a need to provide them with valid and realistic training in hotel service operations to help them deal with the technical challenges of front office operations, food service or dealing with high-end customers in a 5-star hotel. In response to this, we are developing a workplace simulator (a virtual hotel) in which students can practice 'real world' tasks – including problem-solving, customer relations, interpersonal skills and operational procedures. We are currently piloting it in tutorials where the teacher can introduce and demonstrate various skills, and the students can then enter and use it to practice and experience various hospitality scenarios they would experience in the actual hospitality environment, through a series of tasks, quests, assessments and rewards.

5 Developing aVirtual Hotel

A virtual hotel (Virtel), is being developed by SHTM and the School of Design (SD) to provide an opportunity for students to practice customer service and operational skills in an online, multi-user 3D simulation. Virtel aims to help teachers provide a realistic hospitality setting, and provide challenges and scenarios that allow students to apply their theoretical learning to situations, develop their thinking skills and develop their workplace skills. Virtel is an active learning tool that can be used by different classes and lecturers to enhance learning and skills application, and help students to face realistic workplace situations, and learn how to respond in a non-threatening way. We believe Virtel can impact on student learning by equipping teachers to deliver high quality learning experiences and use e-learning effectively to help students communicate/collaborate more extensively.

Virtel is allied with four hospitality courses catering for classes ranging from between 30 to 200 students: Front Office Operations; Housekeeping Operations; Food and Beverage Operations; and Principles of Food Service. Two to three themes will be created under each of the above areas and the users can experience realistic scenarios in four respective departments of the Virtel.

The interface for front desk is comprised of four main components: 1). Workplace (virtual environment presented by 3-D animations); 2). Performance indicators (measurement for accuracy of responses/actions), 3. Action panel (panel for selection and submission of dialogic response or action), 4. Information switches (individual pages storing essential information and clues for user to comprehend the learning activities).


Figure: Interface for Front Desk

Dialogic response from the hotel guest is presented by dialogue box, facial expression and synthesized sound. The computer on the work-desk, on the other hand, provides instant feedback to the user in regard to the accuracy of choice of actions with respect to the given operation practices.

Housekeeping Quest 1 (Housekeeping tools and equipment) is the first prerequisite quest before users can proceed to guestroom cleaning. This is a timed matching exercise for assessing user’s knowledge of the names and applications of the housekeeping tools and equipment, essential knowledge for this operation.


Figure: Housekeeping Quest 1 (Housekeeping tools and equipment)

In Housekeeping Quest 2 (Prioritize room assignment), by referring to the hotel policy and room status, users are required to rank the sequence of the room cleaning assignment. Housekeeping Quest 3 (Selecting and loading the tool cart) is the last prerequisite quest before usesr can proceed to guestroom cleaning (quest 4). Based on the hotel policy and room type showing on the room assignment sheet in quest 2, users are required to load appropriate quantity of guestroom supplies (i.e. linens) onto the housekeeping tool cart.

The interface for Housekeeping Quest 4 (Room-Cleaning, Fig. 18) is comprised of eight components: 1). Workplace (virtual environment presented by 3-D animations); 2). Selectable items and actions (iconic display of items with which user can interact in respect of his/her present location); 3). Items in hands (display of tools and items that user is holding in hands) and room map (a minimized bird-eye view of the room); 4). Performance indicator (measurement of room-cleaning progress); 5). Hints (display of clues to the room-cleaning process. Users are allowed to disable/enable the hints throughout the quest); 6). Tool cart (a switch to the tool cart interface for loading/ejecting items in hands); 7). Perspective (providing three perspectives of view); 8). Information switches (individual pages storing essential information and clues for use to comprehend the learning activities).

6 Conclusions

There are many scenario-based learning materials available in the marketplace, however the unique strength of Virtel is that it provides the chance for students to visualise and interact with the environment at their preferred pace and role. One of the pedagogical considerations of Virtel is that it is aligned with learning objectives and performance assessment. It is acknowledged that students may find the linear approach less enjoyable than a cyclical or open-ended approach, but the linear method is actually suitable for the kind of scenarios the students will experience, where they need to follow through in a systematic way, using agreed procedures to satisfy customer and manager expectations. There is a degree of ambiguity in the scenarios in that interpersonal skills need to be exercised in order to deal with people problems and unexpected situations. Here the student is given a range of options or asked to find a solution based upon information provided in various forms or based on previous scenarios. The simulation overall should enable the student to gain confidence in dealing with unfamiliar situations, as well as be able to follow operational procedures accurately and confidently.

Teachers response to the Virtel has been generally very positive, but with some concerns and reservations. Firstly, most academics were glad to have an alternative, interactive tool to help teach some of the scenarios. We chose the scenarios based upon teaching methods used in the classroom such as role play or classroom simulation exercises. These were the obvious areas to address in designing an online simulation tool. Teachers recognized that skills needed for work placements were hard to learn in the traditional classroom and therefore were keen to help develop the tools needed. There was some concern about the workload required to generate the contents for the simulations, and two teachers pulled out of the project once they realized the research and work needed. Others joined the project because they could see the benefits to their subject and their students in learning through simulations. One teacher questioned the ‘basic’ skills being taught, and whether we should focus on high-level thinking and learning instead. This was countered by others who identified the core skills were actually needed by students going into their placements. There was also interest from local hotels in using some of the scenarios in their own training for new front line staff in hotels.

7 Limitations of the simulation

We recognize that Virtel has many shortcomings, as it was produced with a limited budget and a short time frame. We had planned to produce more scenarios across a range of other courses but did not have time to do so. The creation of artifacts, avitars and 3-D models took much more time than expected. The recruitment, development and training of the team, the mastery of the key software (Virtools) and the difficulty of acquiring the technical information from academic staff in a form suitable for programming was another challenge. The instructional design was also time-consuming and painstaking, as every situation and variant had to be considered and catered for. Some of the scenarios were chosen because they were challenging to teach or conceptually difficult to design, such as some of the food production and planning scenarios. These tool more time and effort to design and complete than originally planned. We acknowledge that the Virtel simulation is just one of a number of different learning strategies that can be used to prepare students for their work placement and provide them with new skills. It was envisaged that a visually stimulating, interactive learning experience would help students to gain an understanding and insight into a hotel environment and give them more confidence when they faced the same scenarios in real life. They would also be able to practice the simulations in their own time at their own pace.

8 Further development

Future development of this model could extend to other areas of the hospitality industry, for example supervisory skills, specialist roles and design and planning of facilities. We may use Virtel in its present form as entry level experience, and develop roles within the environment for supervisors, restaurant managers and others to interact with inexperienced students (acting as front line staff) to provide more of a ‘connected’ learning experience. One concern has been that Virtel has been used as a ‘visual aid’ by teachers, a sort of interactive powerpoint. For the next phase of development, we would like to create a separate immersive virtual hotel environment where students can access and interact in a more random way. The initial concept is to create this as a game where students can actually build their own hotel, using knowledge, skills, artifacts and other resources. They could do the hotel planning, arrange finances, hire staff, plan facilities, do marketing, and run the operations. They could do this over a period of time, perhaps a whole semester or academic year in parallel to their classroom courses, but to complement the theoretical courses. Another approach might be to have various levels of hotel career progression, from trainee, to supervisor, manager, and eventually owner. They would need to accomplish various professional activities, accumulate points for performance, gain promotion and therefore progress to the next level. This could also be an extended simulation with a number of random activities, perhaps even competing against fellow students.

Note:
This project was supported by the Educational Development Centre of Hong Kong PolyU, which is considering an extension to Virtel bases on the pilot evaluation which is taking place over the next few weeks.

9. Related knowledgeGarden pages

Games and Education
Games for fun, learning and political activism!
Clinical Skills Simulation in the Training of Health Care Professionals
Second Life
Another Second Life

10. Related web sites

References

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