Open Source Platform for Immersive and Authentic Learning Environment Raina Kim, Program Officer & Ronald Cole, Senior Program Officer, United States Institute

Open Source Platform Open Source Platform for Immersive and Authentic Learning for Immersive and Authentic Learning

EnvironmentEnvironment

Raina Kim, Program Officer & Raina Kim, Program Officer & Ronald Cole, Senior Program Officer, Ronald Cole, Senior Program Officer,

United States Institute of PeaceUnited States Institute of Peace

All rights reserved. Please do not reproduce without appropriately citing the United States Institute of Peace

Note for the Web VersionThis power point presentation contains two combined presentations. The first one was conducted by Raina Kim and the second one by Ronald “Skip” Cole.

Developing Engaging Role-play Simulations

Raina KimProgram OfficerAcademy for International Conflict Management and [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

The Academy

• equips U.S. and international civilian, military, and nongovernmental practitioners with the skills for effective peacebuilding

• provides decision-makers with the understanding and tools for crafting sound policies for conflict management and peacebuilding

• gives government officials and civil society leaders in zones of conflict the skills, tools, and practice to build peace

• strengthens the capacity of educational institutions and civil society organizations to prepare future conflict managers and peacebuilders

Instruction with simulation

• learner led

• multiple perspectives

• knowledge, skills, attitudes, behavior

• instructor guidance and intervention

Components

• scenario (public)

• public roles (public)

• private roles (private)

• background (public)

• injects (public or private)

• debrief

Development: best practices

• follow instructional design process

• know audience and learning environment

• make the universe realistic but contain the universe

• set clear learning objectives and outcomes

• use roles to influence learner engagement and what they learn

• allow and account for participants’ creativity

Roles: multiple perspectives and goals

Face to face vs. Tech driven

moderator influence strong and immediatemay be ignored if no

immediate consequences

injects/changing environment

slow fast

facilitator observation of learner reaction

immediate, ample, one small group

immediate, some reactions hidden, possible to review large group(s)

facilitator assessment of learner participation

limited, based on notes and memory

detailed and recorded

Raina Kim: [email protected]@usip.org

Inquiring minds want to know...




United States Institute of PeaceUnited States Institute of Peace

Open Simulation Platform Open Simulation Platform


The views expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect those of the United States Institute of Peace, which does not advocate specific policy positions.

Discussion PointsDiscussion Points

1. Technology Spectrum• BOGGSATT• TERP• Game

2. TERP (Technology Enhanced Role Play)3. OSP (Open Simulation Platform)4. Open Source5. OSP Perspectives6. The Future7. The Present8. Conclusion






Technology Spectrum


BOGGSATTBunch of Guys and Gals Sitting Around a Table Talking

“You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.” -- Plato circa 380BC


TERP Technology Enhanced Role-Play

As technology has come to be a vital part of our lives, it just makes sense to include it in our role-play.


BOGGSATT and TERP

American Univ. Sim Club The Bishop’s School


GAME and TERP Visually appealing Lots of cool action A clear winning strategy Generally very little back story Can be multi-player

Visual appeal not required Lots of sitting and thinking Often no easy answers Often pages for players to read Must be multi-player (for now)


Technology Spectrum

From BOGGSATT to Matrix

The OSP currently creates simulations at the level of ‘Technology Enhanced Role Play’ (TERP).

I also like to think of this as the ‘Strategic Communications’ level.





Why TERPs? (Part I)1. Allows people playing in your simulation to act more as

they would in the real world: communicating via email, chat, memos, etc.

2. Allows people to be physically located in different places.

3. Allows the linking-in of real time data available on the internet (such as current articles and videos) to your simulation.

4. Reduces the work on instructors running the simulation, thus increasing the chances that it will get played.

Why TERPs? (Part II)5. Allows the automated tracking of data, such as how students respond

to game world events. This makes possible the accumulation of ‘accessible experience.’

6. By tracking events we can compare different groups of students to look for trends and improve our assessments.

7. Opens the door to further automation (such as the addition of hard constraints, underlying models, or intelligent agents) by keeping the data in a standard format (XML).

8. Provides places to store and organize information (such as objectives, audience, standard plan for playing it, etc.)

9. Opens the door to improved sharing and collaboration by keeping the design considerations together with the simulation.






What We Have Created (OSP)What We Have Created (OSP)

An open source, ‘one stop shop’

to allow

to easily create, conduct, refine and share

TERPs.

Anyone






What is Open Source?What is Open Source?

1. Moodle2. Wikipedia (Open Source-ish)3. FireFox4. Apache5. Linux

It’s the opposite of ‘proprietary.’ Essentially anyone can see and modify the underlying source code. In successful Open Source Projects, people come together to make something great which attracts more people. Some examples include …

“Linux makes Windows better.”Ted Kaelher of ManTech


The Key to This is Creating a ‘Good Enough’ Crystal.

Linus Torvald did not contribute all 8,000 person-years. He created something ‘good enough’ for others to contribute to. He created the crystal.

According to the web site of David Wheeler, if one were to develop Linux 7.1 from 2001,

“It would cost over $1 billion …”“It includes over 30 million physical source lines of code (SLOC).” “It would have required about 8,000 person-years of development time, as determined using the widely-used basic COCOMO model.”






A ‘One Stop Shop’ A ‘One Stop Shop’ ImpliesImplies

Many PerspectivesMany Perspectives


A Student’s PerspectiveA Student’s Perspective

An Instructor’s PerspectiveAn Instructor’s Perspective


An Instructor’s PerspectiveAn Instructor’s Perspective


Author’s PerspectiveAuthor’s Perspective


A Simulation is a Set of A Simulation is a Set of Interactions over Time Interactions over Time


Allowing for Plug-ins we Allowing for Plug-ins we could not even imagine. could not even imagine.






The Future

In the future, we will prepare people for what might come at them by putting them into simulated experiences.

In the future, creating simulations will be an everyday experience.

In the future, simulation technology will be ‘invisible.’

In the future, many people will create simulations without any programmer involvement.


Gedanken ExperimentsGedanken Experiments

1. If Wikipedia didn’t exist, would someone have to create it?

2. If YouTube didn’t exist, would someone have to create it?

3. Doesn’t someone need to create the ability for all of us to easily construct, conduct, and share simulations?


The Printing Press

Enabling terrible authors since 1439





The Bishop’s School

OSP Con 2010

Students at GW University


30 George Washington University students authored and Played in 5 simulations last semester.

Students at GW University


Student (After Playing in our Afghanistan Reintegration Simulation)This simulation made me realize that theory is so much different from practice. Even if we have a clear plan and good intentions, problems always happens… I have never been sensitive about how to write something as I was today.

Instructor (Facilitating Simulation)Today was great - the kids were using the [OSP] during class while they did research, and they were getting a lot done. It was actually really interesting watching them. They also seem really into it - they're excited about trying out something new like this. "Thanks" doesn't seem like enough, but really, thank you!


Student (After Partaking in Creating Simulations)The creation of online simulations through the OSP was surprisingly easy. Drafting the storyboard and materials are the hardest part of the process, but once those documents are completed they can be easily plugged into the online simulation platform. Programming a simulation is pretty straight-forward and does not require any in-depth training; and the online tutorial provides the basic information necessary to start the process. As a result the OSP is program suitable for novices to experts in the field, as it can produce simulations as simple or as complicated as the creator desires.




The Road Ahead is Long


The Chasm

Image from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossing_the_Chasm


Why This is Not Going Away

It is an idea whose time has come. It is in use. It can’t be killed – It’s Open Source nature keep it alive. As long as I have life and breath …


Send an email to [email protected] to get pointed to and access to our

tutorials.

Thank You!

[email protected]

Documents

Open Source Platform for Immersive and Authentic Learning Environment Raina Kim, Program Officer & Ronald Cole, Senior Program Officer, United States Institute