Education for a Digital World Advice, Guidelines and Effective Practice from Around Globe, 2008a

22 – Computer-Based Resources for Learning
Note that students may not necessarily believe the
results of a simulation. As an example, in a simulation,
students may end up in a car accident if they chose to
drink and drive. However, there is no guarantee that
students believe that could happen to them in real life.
Simulations can be very efficient for relatively quick
learning. The efficiency increases if:
• the model or simulation closely represents reality.
• learners receive useful feedback with respect to the
learner outcomes.
• the model or simulation is aimed at the appropriate
learning level.
– Novices may learn best when only some of the
variables can be manipulated, and experts when
presented with the entire model.
• the level of detail is appropriate.
– If too much detail or too many parts of the system
are shown, learning may be hindered since the
learner may not be able to mentally process all of
the information.
• supplementary material is provided.
– Text summaries and checklists can be very beneficial.
Effective, efficient simulations are usually expensive
and time-consuming to create. Cost-justification is particularly
important before creating a simulation.
Educational games
Educational games are usually decision-making activities
that include rules, a goal, conditions or constraints,
competition, challenge, strategies, and feedback. Games
can be as simple as answering questions to win Tic-Tac-
Toe or filling in crossword answers to more complex
games that require interactions with other learners.
Educational games:
• should encourage the development of specific skills
– The skills can be in specific subject areas such as
science and math or general skills like literacy,
problem solving, critical thinking, and decisionmaking.
– Success should be based on whether the specific
learning outcomes have been met, rather than on
good hand-eye coordination.
• can be used to teach many different skills
– The example shown in figure 22.4 illustrates how a
game can be used to teach keyboarding skills.
– One difficulty is that games tend to require more
explanations of the goals, learning outcomes, and
directions than tutorials or drill and practice
methods. Without guidance, learning is less effective.
• can be an effective, motivational, and fun way to learn
– To be effective, the game must be challenging, students
must be actively involved, and students must
be given feedback and guidance with respect to the
learning outcomes.
– Research has shown that many learners like to
learn through educational games.
– Some educational games are a part of simulations
that involve competition and/or cooperation.
– Both males and females can enjoy and learn from
games suited to their interests.
• are sometimes a waste of time
– Some products are fancy but do not teach well.
– Evaluate a game before purchasing it to ensure
that the game teaches an important skill effectively.
Some games may lead to violent and aggressive
behaviours.
– Some people erroneously believe that games cannot
be effective teaching tools.
Intelligent tutoring systems
Intelligent tutoring systems attempt to mimic the “perfect
instructor”. The basic requirements of an intelligent
tutoring system include the ability to:
• model the learner
• track misunderstandings
• generate appropriate responses.
None of these basic requirements have been perfectly
resolved.
Although it is possible to incorporate a model or two
of student learning into a computer-based training application,
a fixed model does not represent intelligence.
How can a “typical” student be modelled when students
and their learning preferences are so diverse? It is not
sufficient to simply categorize students into one of two
types and then create two ways for students to learn the
material. This has been the premise in some “intelligent”
tutoring systems. A compounding factor is that learner
preferences vary depending on the situation and material
being taught. It is impractical to create a different teaching
strategy for every individual. See Chapter 20, Learning
Strategies, for more information on learning styles.
Although intelligent tutoring systems should be
adaptable, based on the learner’s previous successes and
failures, it is a challenging goal. It is simple to record
where students make mistakes, but a challenge to know
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