Digital Simulations For Improving Education Learning Through Artificial Teaching Environments

Contains research and current trends used in digital simulations of teaching, surveying the uses of games and simulations in teacher education.

Developments in digital technologies--and in understandings of how best to use them--have altered teaching and learning environments, and stand to do so even more rapidly in the future. Virtual Decisions: Digital Simulations for Teaching Reasoning in the Social Sciences and Humanities focuses on the special issues related to the use of digital technologies in teaching the complex nature of social decisions, with particular attention to the use of digital role-play simulations as a means to accomplish this. With the advent of new technologies for delivering multimedia simulations to students, and advanced graphics capabilities to create life-like decision environments, digital role-play simulations are increasingly available for K-12 and higher education teachers to use in the classroom. This book helps both users and developers make intelligent choices about the value added by using simulations, technology, and media to teach reasoning in social sciences and humanities classrooms. The book relies on a four-part framework for developing a digital multimedia-based simulation approach, which represents: a cross-disciplinary method to describing simulations; the students who are using them; the educational setting in which they are used; and a rubric for assessing learning. The volume is divided into two parts. The first part presents a review of the theory and research detailing why didactic approaches do not or cannot address specific learning goals, as well as a description of the theoretical framework for using and developing simulations. The second part includes chapters on specific digital simulations and how they fit with the theoretical framework. Virtual Decisions fills a significant gap in the existing literature of instructional technology and is of interest to instructors, primarily in the social sciences and humanities, who are potential users of the simulations. It is also a resource for graduate students and pre-service teachers studying simulation design.

Technology-enabled simulations are increasingly used for students in K-12 education and have the potential to improve teaching and learning across domains. Across five chapters, this book explores the psychological foundation of simulation use in instruction, guiding readers through individual differences among learners and contexts while addressing theory, pedagogy, cognitive processes, and more. This concise volume is designed for any education course that includes simulations in the curriculum and will be indispensable for student researchers and both pre- and in-service teachers alike.

In an increasingly scientific and technological world the need for a knowledgeable citizenry, individuals who understand the fundamentals of technological ideas and think critically about these issues, has never been greater. There is growing appreciation across the broader education community that educational three dimensional virtual learning environments are part of the daily lives of citizens, not only regularly occurring in schools and in after-school programs, but also in informal settings like museums, science centers, zoos and aquariums, at home with family, in the workplace, during leisure time when children and adults participate in community-based activities. This blurring of the boundaries of where, when, why, how and with whom people learn, along with better understandings of learning as a personally constructed, life-long process of making meaning and shaping identity, has initiated a growing awareness in the field that the questions and frameworks guiding assessing these environments should be reconsidered in light of these new realities. The audience for this book will be researchers working in the Serious Games arena along with distance education instructors and administrators and students on the cutting edge of assessment in computer generated environments.

Games and simulations have emerged as new and effective tools for educational learning by providing interactivity and integration with online resources that are typically unavailable with traditional educational resources. Design, Utilization, and Analysis of Simulations and Game-Based Educational Worlds presents developments and evaluations of games and computer-mediated simulations in order to showcase a better understanding of the role of electronic games in multiple studies. This book is useful for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers to gain a deeper comprehension of the relationship between research and practice of electronic gaming and simulations in the educational environment.

Computer simulation, a powerful technological tool and research-proven pedagogical technique, holds great potential to enhance and transform teaching and learning in education and is therefore a viable tool to engage students in deep learning and higher-order thinking. With the advancement of simulation technology (e.g., virtual reality, artificial intelligence, machine learning) and the expanded disciplines where computer simulation is being used (e.g., data science, cyber security), computer simulation is playing an increasingly significant role in leading the digital transformation in K-12 schools and higher education institutions, as well as training and professional development in corporations, government, and the military. Teaching, Learning, and Leading With Computer Simulations is an important compilation of research that examines the recent advancement of simulation technology and explores innovative ways to utilize advanced simulation programs for the enhancement of teaching and learning outcomes. Highlighting a range of topics such as pedagogy, immersive learning, and social sciences, this book is essential for educators, higher education institutions, deans, curriculum designers, school administrators, principals, IT specialists, academicians, researchers, policymakers, and students.

The volume consists of twenty-five chapters selected from among peer-reviewed papers presented at the CELDA (Cognition and Exploratory Learning in the Digital Age) 2013 Conference held in Fort Worth, Texas, USA, in October 2013 and also from world class scholars in e-learning systems, environments and approaches. The following sub-topics are included: Exploratory Learning Technologies (Part I), e-Learning social web design (Part II), Learner communities through e-Learning implementations (Part III), Collaborative and student-centered e-Learning design (Part IV). E-Learning has been, since its initial stages, a synonym for flexibility. While this dynamic nature has mainly been associated with time and space it is safe to argue that currently it embraces other aspects such as the learners’ profile, the scope of subjects that can be taught electronically and the technology it employs. New technologies also widen the range of activities and skills developed in e-Learning. Electronic learning environments have evolved past the exclusive delivery of knowledge. Technology has endowed e-Learning with the possibility of remotely fomenting problem solving skills, critical thinking and team work, by investing in information exchange, collaboration, personalisation and community building.

Teaching through Multi-User Virtual Environments: Applying Dynamic Elements to the Modern Classroom highlights the work of educators daring enough to teach in these new frontiers of education. This timely publication is a must-read for all educators and practitioners, of any subject and at any level, who wish to incorporate a dynamic online element to their classroom. It is also meant for researchers of education, computer science, and instructional technologies. Teaching through Multi-User Virtual Environments: Applying Dynamic Elements to the Modern Classroom is a one-stop resource for practices, as well as research activities, within the domain on Multi-User Virtual Environments.