Introduction
Simschools is a web based game which is designed for improvement of teaching. The teaching experiences in simschool are meant to enhance students understanding of a certain concept taught in class. Different groups of educators, programmers, researchers work together for improvement of the simschools. (www.simschool.org) The aim of having simschool program is to improve learning through various strategies that are used in teaching and learning. Teachers can also use simschool in teaching their students. There are several simulation methods that can be used in simschools to enhance learning. The method of simulation differs from one level of study to another. The method of simulation also depends on other factors which should be considered before forming a simulation.
The method of simulation should favors the age of the learner, the resources available foe teaching and learning, level of education, subject or the topic to be taught as well as time available for the simulation and also the objectives to be achieved by the end of simulation.
Simschool instructional programs
In a simulation involving undergraduates and post graduate student level, in learning philosophy, the CAI format type of simulation can be used. This type of simulation will in this case demonstrate the understanding of the various educational philosophies and the way they influence education. The CAI simulation involves the user, that is, the student to be able to experiment with the different perspectives in philosophy that involve objectivism and constructivism. The simulation also observes the impact of several micro educational dimensions such as motivation, learning experiences, the learning outcomes and control.
This puts into consideration the philosophical perspectives impact on the macro educational dimensions, such as high school rate of graduation, crime rate in the society among other macro education dimensions. This simulation is very important in teaching and learning of philosophy as they clarify the existing relationship between instructional strategies and philosophical orientation. The objectives of this simulation are achieved if the student can be able to summarize the idea of constructivism and incorporate it to the learning and teaching process, can be able to criticize various interpretations of truth and finally compare the learnt theories to educational perspective.
The other instructional design that can be used in simschool is the game and simulation. Games and simulation is a method where the learners acquire skills through playing a multiplayer game with other students, especially video games. The playing of video games with colleagues helps the learner to gauge their reasoning level and skills with other students. This type of simulation is useful for both lower level learners (low graders, high graders) and higher level learning students (High school, undergraduate).
The design of the game however has to be different. The higher level learners will require a high level game that involves a lot of mental calculations. For the lower level learners games that are skills oriented help them to improve on their learning, in skills as they face challenges from their friends. (Robert and Sharmila, 2007, pp. 45-132)
The game and simulation is very effective especially in online games where students play games with other students from other parts of the world. Games are effective in learning. The aim of playing a game especially among peers is aimed at winning and nothing less. Therefore when a student loses in a game he or she becomes motivated to play hard next time so as to win over his or her friends. Teachers or instructors especially at lower learning levels can use this method in games and simulation to test for the skills and intelligence of the young learners.
The video game and simulation in simschool is conversant with the Component display theory. The learning in this case is based on analytical instructional design. The learner in playing the game is expected to read and understand the instructions for playing the game. There is no short cut to playing a game and the player should have a clear understanding of the rules of the game and the playing techniques as well as control.
The games are has an underlying design of TICCIT which is a computer assisted system of learning. The simulation in simschool allows the learner to apply the knowledge learnt in computer to play the games either on a computer itself or in Play station machine. The strategies that the player uses in the game in seeking victory involve mental efforts and hence the learner can assimilate the acquired strategies in classroom learning.
Simschool learning is improving with the changes in technological innovations. The computers and other sophisticated devices such as mobile phones have access to several different games and other challenging experiences that gives the learner a new learning experience wherever they come across them. Simschool is one of the learning strategies that can open up the mind of a student through the educational dimensions. Video game allows students to interact with others and exchange ideas learnt through such an experience. The simschool program has its roots in Elearn and the video games are important tools in simschool learning programs.
The movies are also a part of simschool program. Watching a movie is not just a form of entertainment to students. Students are often encouraged to watch movies regardless of their nature as long as they have a concept and a theme. Most of movies require concentration and they are very important in the development of listening skills to lower level learners. Movies in simschool program can be useful in teaching of foreign language. The listening skills acquired can be used by English learners especially the ESL (English as a Second Language) students to improve their understanding in English.
The teacher can also design interactive learning for the students with others in the same class or across the world by communicating through exchange of emails. This simulation can be of great use to students in getting the main concepts that have been learnt in the classroom. Science and technology have played a great role in the improvement of simschool program and through simschool a very effective learning culture could be established. The simschool should aim at developing learning strategies through instructional design. Effective learning could be achieved; the simschool program should identify diversified concepts in learning and then suggest a more effective learning experience and ensuring that there is control of the learners. (Robert and Sharmila, 2007 pp.54-132)
The teacher should design a rubric for the learner to know what is expected of him or her in order to control the learner’s learning experience. Learners are sometimes overwhelmed by the teacher’s expectation and therefore the simschool program needs to address such issues. In most occasions however the pre instructional method in simschool may not meet the intended purpose. The instructional method may be far lower to the main objectives depending on the learner’s perspective on the tools used in teaching a given concept.
Online games may not match the level of the player, sometimes it is possible for a student to play with people of higher level or who have a good mastery of the game which discourage them from playing. The players also may be from different social settings and may affect the results and the learning outcome of the game hence failing the entire program. (Remenyi, 2007 pp. 78-131)
Spatial differences affect the component display theory; for example, children from third world countries may not have exposure to computers and other machines at younger age. This affects the way they perceive things in both time and space. A child from such an environment might not be able to see things in a three dimensional perspective. His colleagues who are exposed however may be able to see better and analyze situations in a more comprehensive manner. This difference may not allow the students to gauge themselves through online games. There is a great difference in the learning strategy of these two groups of students. Therefore learning may not be effective through this type of pre instructional method.
The multiple intelligences theory on the other hand has a role of breaking the limited traditional notion of intelligence that is based only on Intelligence Quotient (IQ). This notion on intelligence gave more attention on the linguistic and logical mathematical focused intelligence. However with the simschool program the intelligence takes several dimensions. It hence encourages intelligence in a multiple dimension.
The use of simschool program through Elearning helps the teacher to access the students’ level of understanding in various fields of study. The video games played online gives the learners a chance to gauge themselves against others in the different types of intelligence as explained in the multiple intelligence theory by DR. Gardner. (David and Clark, 2006 pp. 193-214) The types of intelligence that the teacher can test his or her students against include;
Linguistic intelligence
This is intelligence of the learner in relation to lingual understanding and mastery. In online gaming in the simschool program, this is acquired through following instructions and interaction through responses to the other players. This intelligence is not the basis of all the intelligences as it may be mistaken. There is a possibility of a student scoring very low in this intelligence level and doing very well in other types of intelligences. It should however be noted that it is an important form of intelligence such that without it, it becomes hard to acquire the other types of intelligences. Therefore, there is need for a learner to have basic linguistic intelligence.
Logical mathematical intelligence
This type of intelligent can be well achieved in simschool program because of the nature of the games in the internet. Most of video games are based on systematic calculations through the steps involved in achieving a victory or participation in the game. The mathematical skills acquired are the key to the understanding of the game.
Spatial intelligence
This is type of intelligence that the teacher can access the students through exposure of the three dimensional pictures and other objects featured in the game. The students through their constant encounters with these objects develop the spatial intelligence which assists them to see things in three dimensions. This type of intelligence may differ from one person to the other depending on the level of exposure.
Bodily Kinesthetic intelligence
As the name suggests, this type of intelligence is based on the body. The fitness of the body is developed through playing of these games. As much as the games involve mental energy, they help the body in utilizing excess energy that may be hazardous to the body.
Musical intelligence
Continuous playing of video games and internet games in simschool is an essentials tool to acquisition and improvement of musical intelligence. According to Dr. Gardener, people who have been playing the video games and other online games have a good capability to musical skills.
Interpersonal intelligence
The ability to interact with other or socialization is acquired by playing of online games. Though the students may not actually know who exactly they are playing with, the students develop some sort of important interpersonal intelligence and they may not find difficulties in making friends and meeting strangers. Simschool is therefore a forward way that helps students.
Intrapersonal intelligence
This is the intelligence that helps a person to be smart in personality. Simschool program can help a teacher to instill this intrapersonal intelligence through the learning of different concepts in the game or online movies that the student may watch. The role models that the students find in movies and in the games can make them to develop a positive attitude towards life through the winning urge they always have while playing the game. It teaches one to be optimistic in life.
Naturalistic intelligence
Simschool may teach students to be nature friendly. The teacher may use various games online to teach the students some important aspects of nature. This can be really helpful in developing the student’s environmental consciousness.
Critique of simschool, game and simulation
Simschool program has a unique characteristic that help the teacher to break monotony in classroom teaching.
The use of interactive games gives the students a break from tiresome boring class sessions. It should be noted however that, simschool instructional methods are not that much reliable. As much as they have positive effect on learning, they also have their negative effects. Video games easily lead to addiction of the player. In fact many students mostly children get addiction to the games. The simschool program may encourage students visit other unnecessary websites when they are free.
It is not guaranteed that the students will stick to the games that are designed for learning; Students may end up playing games that have some spoil their social, personal intelligence. In some online games, in fact most of the games, the winning strategy is evil minded in nature. The strategies in winning may include killing, raping among other bad things that are not acceptable in the society. (David and Clark, 2006 pp. 186-298)
Simschool program do not put the teacher in control of his or her students. The students may take advantage of this situation for other businesses. Visiting of pornographic websites, watching of movies that have not been designed for a certain age may be prominent in simschool program.
The simschool instructional methods may finally fail to deliver their intended purpose and can spoil the intelligence of the students. The aim of education to the people is for the future of their society, the games in simschool programs may dangerously expose the young people including children to vices in the society including commercialization, violence and sex.
Simschool programs need to be more focused and look at effective ways of improving the instructional methods through the internet rather than movies and video games. The teaching pre instructional process should provide a classroom based learning experience. However the simschool program do not concentrate on classroom experiences rather they are focused on online classroom practices which goes outside the theoretical information delivered to students. Teachers and parents needs to be more conscious about the pre instructional methods used in the simschool program rest the learning process will produce negative results. (David and Clark, 2006 pp. 212-298)
Conclusion
The simschool program can be improved by improving the control of student learning to prevent negative learning outcomes. Simschool programs are also discriminative in nature and need to put into consideration all levels of students considering their background. If these changes cannot be implemented in the simschool, pre instructional strategies may not be effective at all. Parents should participate fully in this program because they are the ones who have their children most of the time and can control them.
In the developed countries, there is increase in the populations of PCs users where most of them are children below the age of eight which tells us that children are at risk of accessing illicit information through the internet. (Remenyi, 2007 pp. 78-131) This information can destroy their tender mind and put the society at a risk. Simschool program may introduce the small children to a type of learning that may be very vulnerable to them especially with the growth of media. The only way that simschool program can be improved and save the children is through maximum control and advice.
Reference
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David G. and Clark, A. (2006). Games and Simulation in Online Learning: Research and development framework, New York: Prentice Hall, pp. 156-304.
Katie, S. (2007). The ecology of games: connecting games and learning, London: Sage publisher, pp. 56-98.
Peter, V.and Jennings, B. (2006). Playing video games, motives and consequences, New York: Penguin Publishers, pp. 41-231.
Remenyi, D. (2007). Proceeding of the European conference on games based learning, London: University of Chicago, pp. 67-173.
Robert, Z. and Sharmila, P. (2007). Understanding online instructional modeling,: theories and practices, New York: McGraw Hill, pp. 116-294.