| Training simulators aren't just for astronauts
and pilots anymore. With computing power ever more affordable, simulation
software is popping up everywhere, from kids' games (the popular
Sims line from Electronic Arts) to corporate training programs.
Simulations per se aren't new to the corporate training environment;
for years, companies have pulled employees together and asked
them to work through simulated business problems as a group. Andromeda
Training Inc., in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, has been developing
and marketing business simulations since 1993. Its facilitator-led
"Income/Outcome" program allows users to see how the
decisions they make can affect a company's profitability while
teaching them basic business and finance concepts. "I've
sat through it, and it's absolutely astounding," says Harvey
Singh, founder and CEO of Instancy Inc., a Cary, North Carolina–based
company that helps businesses share knowledge among their employees.
"What I would learn from reading three or four books I could
learn a lot more quickly and readily in a simulation environment."
Increasingly, simulations are moving online, as new software
generates sophisticated problems and multivariable situations
to which learners must respond — and face the consequences.
Companies on a budget can dip their toes into the simulation waters
using desktop programs such as Adobe Systems Inc.'s Macromedia
Captivate, which simplifies the creation of E-learning content
by giving more control to nontechnical staff, resulting in a highly
functional tutorial, demo, or simulation that can be offered online,
on a disk, or embedded in other applications.
Frank Hanfland, manager of training technology and interactive
media at Safety-Kleen Systems Inc., says he can now create for
hundreds of dollars what previously required tens of thousands
of dollars — and in less time to boot. "Before, I would
sit down with a subject expert, discuss the subject matter, try
to learn what they were doing, and then go to a graphics designer
and finally to a programmer, and then run back and forth three
or four times to the subject expert," he says. "Now
I give Captivate to the subject expert and say, 'Go crazy.' Captivate
captures his contribution, and then he passes it to me for a quick
edit," and voilà!, a module is born.
"I think this is where the future is," says Singh,
referring to the widespread popularity of computer games. "Kids
are growing up with these tools." — R.M.
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