Where do you think your students will be 10 years from now?

Some will be creating businesses. Others will work for small, or large companies. Others may be discovering themselves. But they will all have one thing in common: they will be making decisions. 

We are all familiar with the idea that management is the art of making decisions. But while studying management, are your students allowed to make management decisions in class, using concepts they are learning? Are they able to resolve a problem and watch the impact and consequences of their decisions in class? Are they fully engaged, realizing that your class is giving them the tools they will be using in the future as managers?

And, what does this have to do with simulations? Everything.

Simulations, or serious games, are powerful learning tools that boost the class content, generating a decision making context in a risk-free environment and easing the process of learning complex concepts.

We have at least 8 different angles to explore the previous statement:

1. The real-world effect

As a lecturer, you know that theory is one thing, but reality is a completely different ballpark. Simulations can shorten this gap, without having to take a field trip to show students a factory or a warehouse that might take hours of your precious course time.

2. Generational approach

Millennials and Generation Z have a very important common interest: video games. So, they will find a simulation intuitive and immerse themselves in game play easily. And since we know this, we develop simulations that look like video games, but that are playable case studies that challenge students. Our simulations are the definition of a serious game, developed and designed specially for these generations.

3. Cheaters

Universities have made enormous efforts to identify them, but there are still a lot of students that will go great lengths to copy the answers instead of figuring them out. And this is a huge issue with case studies. Give it s second, and just try googling the answers for the case study you sent your class

Simulations skip this issue, since you can customize and create your own scenarios, and with plenty of variables to adjust, answers are not just a handown from student to student. 

4. Powerful Debrief

Students make the right or wrong decisions. These decisions are a way to prove what they have learned, and what they still don’t get. All their decisions are to be found in the downloadable data of the simulator, which is a powerful debriefing tool to tackle those concepts they are failing to grasp. 

5. Keep track of everyone

As a lecturer, probably you know those students from the first 2 rows. They take notes, they participate, they are hungry to learn. They are not a problem. But how to engage those in the last row. Those that do not raise their eyes from their mobiles? 

Make them “play”, and watch as all of them (yes, ALL of them), engage in the simulation. You will be amazed by how those that seemed the least interested become active and participative. And after the session, you can show them and compare their results

6. Kick-starter for your next class

“Who read the chapter of the book that I asked you to read last week? No one?” Been there done that. It’s better to ask them to prepare the class with the homework version of the simulator, they will be more attracted to do it, they will be more interested in the theoretical concepts, and also, you will easily identify those that did prepare.

7. Active students that take decisions

Students wake up from the zombie world, put down their phones and get hands-on the simulation. Everyone likes to win, and the trick here is that you can only win if you make the right decisions, and to do that, you have to understand the content and participate . 

8. Student motivation and Engagement

It’s been broadly studied that there is no learning without intrinsic motivation, that is the motivation that comes from within. If you tell your students that they will spend the rest of the class “playing”, trust us, they will be motivated. And if you set up the competition mode, they will be on fire. 

Not enough?

Well, here are some extra advantaged you will appreciate about our sims:

• Custom length (30 min to 120 min) 
• Custom variables and difficulty 
• Really easy onboarding for students 
• Support during your simulation session

So, are you ready? Contact us at contact@gamelabeducation.com