Rating: 
Summary: Great Step of Educational Simulations
Review: I am witnessing that Simulations and the Future of Learning is becoming a "must read" book for the researchers of instructional systems design field. Though games and simulations for education is a cutting-edge theme which many researchers are getting attracted, very few materials are available at this moment and researchers are struggling to find out a way to move forward their research. Clark Aldrich could generously share with us the detailed development process of SimuLearn's Virtual Leader, innovative leadership training simulation which was awarded Best Online Training Product of the Year. This book will be considered as a great step of educational simulation research.This book contains great implications for designers and researchers of the field. We could follow the process of how the leadership theory and model of his product was developed as well as the simulation model and interface was designed. It told us that his weapon to tackle with this tough mission was not existing fancy theories or design methods, but logical thinking and tireless effort of him and his project members. Aldrich proved that describing the story behind the innovative product provides learners with another nutritious learning opportunity, and great book that is fun to read.
Rating:
Summary: Great Step of Educational Simulations
Review: I am witnessing that Simulations and the Future of Learning is becoming a "must read" book for the researchers of instructional systems design field. Though games and simulations for education is a cutting-edge theme which many researchers are getting attracted, very few materials are available at this moment and researchers are struggling to find out a way to move forward their research. Clark Aldrich could generously share with us the detailed development process of SimuLearn's Virtual Leader, innovative leadership training simulation which was awarded Best Online Training Product of the Year. This book will be considered as a great step of educational simulation research. This book contains great implications for designers and researchers of the field. We could follow the process of how the leadership theory and model of his product was developed as well as the simulation model and interface was designed. It told us that his weapon to tackle with this tough mission was not existing fancy theories or design methods, but logical thinking and tireless effort of him and his project members. Aldrich proved that describing the story behind the innovative product provides learners with another nutritious learning opportunity, and great book that is fun to read.
Rating: 
Summary: An intelligent debunking book written with passion and verve
Review: I enjoyed this book for a variety of reasons, but primarily because it is iconoclastic. The author entertainingly recounts his disappointments with elearning. More importantly he exposes just how ignorant and herd-oriented is corporate thinking when chasing new wonder technologies. There are a number sketchy cases studies which reveal how mindful people are of others' opinions of their modernising outlook. Form replacing fuction, rather than following it. It is an easy to read book with lots of good snippets on the foibles of human nature. The discussion of simulation was geared towards the management model and a number of key issues about testing and interaction are covered. A slight issue I would have is whetehr the motivational model implicit in the environmnet would translate easily to other domains. A question worth pondering. The downside of the book, for me, was that I couldn't get a good enough handle on how the sytem was implemented. In other words the technical nuts and bolts that hold it together were not clearly grasped by me anyway. For example, the agent architecture of the system could be explained more thoroughly. If the environment has all the features described in the book, it is an absolutely staggering innovation since it appears to answer many of the most profound problems aggravating the Artifical Intelligence community for forty years, viz. knowledge representation and reasoning. Overall I liked this book. However, I know enough about leadership to realise it isn't found in books. I would recommend this book, but for computer people like myself, a second edition expanding on the technology would be most welcome.
Rating:
Summary: An intelligent debunking book written with passion and verve
Review: I enjoyed this book for a variety of reasons, but primarily because it is iconoclastic. The author entertainingly recounts his disappointments with elearning. More importantly he exposes just how ignorant and herd-oriented is corporate thinking when chasing new wonder technologies. There are a number sketchy cases studies which reveal how mindful people are of others' opinions of their modernising outlook. Form replacing fuction, rather than following it. It is an easy to read book with lots of good snippets on the foibles of human nature. The discussion of simulation was geared towards the management model and a number of key issues about testing and interaction are covered. A slight issue I would have is whetehr the motivational model implicit in the environmnet would translate easily to other domains. A question worth pondering. The downside of the book, for me, was that I couldn't get a good enough handle on how the sytem was implemented. In other words the technical nuts and bolts that hold it together were not clearly grasped by me anyway. For example, the agent architecture of the system could be explained more thoroughly. If the environment has all the features described in the book, it is an absolutely staggering innovation since it appears to answer many of the most profound problems aggravating the Artifical Intelligence community for forty years, viz. knowledge representation and reasoning. Overall I liked this book. However, I know enough about leadership to realise it isn't found in books. I would recommend this book, but for computer people like myself, a second edition expanding on the technology would be most welcome.
Rating:
Summary: Sharing learning
Review: I had someone teach me to program over twenty-five years ago so that I could create a simulation with which to teach history. I've built many such simulations since then and seen many more come and go. This book is really the first time I've been allowed to look over the shoulder of someone else tackling all the serious issues associated with such an effort and commenting on them as he went. More importantly, Aldrich achieves something else that is rare in my experience -- he clearly articulates the lessons he learned the hard way so that I can avoid them myslef. So there are at least reasons to read this book. To understand the potential of well crafted simulations for learning, to appreciate the complexity of the craft required to build them, and to learn an enormous amount about that craft. The original Encyclopedie created by Diderot and D'Alembert and their fellow philosophes starting in 1751 set out not only to describe things but to show people those things and explain how they came about. Aldrich has risen to that same pedagogical imperative with an enthusiasm that is infectious. It will have the same value in this century that the thinkers in the 18th wished for their tomes -- it will help generations make things better.
Rating:
Summary: THE Book on Leadership in Learning
Review: I have designed educational material for five years now, and SATFOL reminded me why I got into the field in the first place. It has also made me realize that I have been beaten down by clients over the years, and now am just spitting out whatever they say, and yet at the same time am losing business. Mr. Aldrich has reminded me to lead. He has also given me the specifics to lead effectively. I am enjoying talking to perspectives for the first time in years. I care about what my shop is producing again. That is why I gave the book five stars. I should probably mention that my brother who teaches computer game design is also contemplating using this as the primary textbook in his class.
Rating:
Summary: Surprisingly, a page turner
Review: I have followed Aldrich's work from his Gartner days. So I expected SATFOL to be visionary and highly specific, and it was. I hoped it would unify the perspectives of academics, business people, computer gamers, even military simulation designers, which it did as well. But what surprised me was first, that I ended up reading the whole book in a single (albeit long) night, and woke up my baby daughter on quite a few occations when I laughed out loud, and second, the implications of what he is writing about could change our entire concept of formal education. For those that are looking for a way forward in both academic and corporate learning, this book is a must-read.
Rating:
Summary: Simulations and the Future of Learning
Review: It is frequently being suggesed now, by John Seely Brown and others that computer and video games,etc., are developing a young generation that is learning differently, that is very impatient with the lecture and traditional classroom This excellent book describes in detail the development of and a specific illustration of learning tools for this new generation. About leadership training for business, it neverless has important implications for all education.
Rating:
Summary: A thought-provoking supplement for teachers
Review: Knowledgeably written by Clark Aldrich (the international team leader that created SimuLearn's Virtual Leader "concept car" of e-learning), Simulations And The Future Of Learning: An Innovative (And Perhaps Revolutionary) Approach To e-Learning is an enriching resource for classrooms and businesses wanting to prepare for and operate within our modern technological age. Individual chapters accessibly address using systems to effectively and logically model reality; the philosophical and technical realties; the crucial essence of leadership itself, and more. A thought-provoking supplement for teachers, trainers, and students determined to embrace all the tools the twenty-first century has to offer the art and science of education.
Rating:
Summary: A Systematic View of Leadership
Review: My exposure and subsequent interest in Mr. Aldrich's book began during the last semester of my graduate work in instructional technology. I was working with a team, which was created arbitrarily by the professor, to respond to a hypothetical Request for Proposal (RFP) to create a leadership curriculum for a large bank. We had to form a hypothetical e-Learning company, write a solution to the problem, and compete in a "showdown" against the other groups from the class in front of approximately 40 e-Learning business professionals to win the business. My experience with this group was horrendous. We argued bitterly, produced low quality work, and interacted as a team as well as a bunch of five-year-old children playing their first game of AYSO soccer. Fortunately, after seeing a presentation on Virtual Leader during one of the classes, I was able to obtain a draft copy of Mr. Aldrich's book from my professor. After reading the chapters on "What Would a Leadership Situation Look Like?", "Uncovering the Essence of Leadership", and "The Lure of Linear Content", our group not only began working better together, but we were also producing top-rate work. Our meetings were shorter and more productive, and even though interpersonal differences still existed, we were able to work around them toward our common goal - a sound response to the RFP and a cohesive, outstanding presentation of which we were all very proud. Why the change? Very simply - Mr. Aldrich synthesized the voluminous materials on leadership into a "Systems Framework for Leadership." In his framework, Aldrich defines leadership as "getting a group of people to complete the right work." Unlike most leadership models which are very specific and try to teach certain skills, this model focuses on the work, not the individual. In addition, Aldrich identifies three forces, which, when used in the correct combination, lead to producing the right work. These three forces include gaining power, generating ideas, and moderating tension. All of these forces are necessary. One cannot compensate for a lack in one by placing more emphasis on one or both of the others. In addition, each force is also a skill, which contains a subset of additional skills. For example, power skills include negotiating, writing, and communicating. Therefore, to be an effective leader, one must exercise each of these three forces and its corresponding subset of skills in the right amount, in the right combination, and in the right way to produce the right work. Too much of any one force diminishes rather that enhances leadership ability and the output of work. In closing, this insight was helpful to me as I worked with the team to accomplish our goals. In addition, I have not only benefited from Mr. Aldrich's book during this time, but I have also grown tremendously by applying this framework of leadership in both my personal and professional experiences.
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