Authenticity Is More Than Skin Deep

Rivers of ink, both actual and digital, decry the lack of “diversity”in the gaming industry. Learning Solutions columnist Matt Sparkssuggests that this reveals an opportunity: VR and eLearning can do better atincreasing diversity in learning games than commercial game developers havedone.

That may well be true. But whether eLearning succeeds inimproving on the diversity record of commercial games has as much—or more—to dowith how “diversity” is defined as it has to do with the demographics of thecharacters in learning games. That is, authenticity and diversity are aboutmuch more than whether a virtual environment has strong African-Americancharacters, or whether the female characters are “real” or sexualizedstereotypes whose role is limited and largely decorative—although much of the discussionof diversity in video games emphasizes these essential but woefullyinsufficient measures.

Whether targeted to K–12 students or adult learners,eLearning games, simulations, and immersive experiences are effective only iflearners engage with them. And learners are more likely to engage with eLearningthat reflects their experience or has characters with whom they can identify.

True diversity reflects a variety of races and genders,sure; it also reflects different life experiences, educational and culturalbackgrounds, and more. Decades of study have led researchers to the conclusionthat authentically diverse teams are more creative, productive, and successful.

In a 1999 article from the Stanford Graduate School ofBusiness, the authors state, “People tend to think of diversity as simplydemographic, a matter of color, gender, or age. However, groups can bedisparate in many ways. Diversity is also based on informational differences,reflecting a person’s education and experience, as well as on values or goalsthat can influence what one perceives to be the mission of something as smallas a single meeting or as large as a whole company” (see References at the endof this article).

To engage learners—and, even more important, to accomplishkey learning goals—eLearning games and simulations have to reflect reality: aplethora of backgrounds, experiences, and cultures. And the best way to buildthat diversity into eLearning is to have a diverse group of developers intentionallyseeking diverse individuals and experiences to serve as the foundation of theirsimulations and immersive stories.

Simulations intended to prepare employees to face actualcustomers have to reflect the customer base—at an emergency call dispatchcenter, for example, or first responders, hospital workers, sales personnel, orfast-food prep line workers. Hospital patients and fast-food customers come inall shapes, sizes, ages, and colors. The families that EMTs-in-training willpull out of future car wrecks won’t be smiling and perfectly coiffed like themodels in stock image collections. It stands to reason that the characterspopulating eLearning should reflect these realities, but characters’ andavatars’ appearance is only a starting point.

Authentic eLearning has to not only look realistic, but alsopose actual problems in realistic contexts or provide learners with projectsfor real clients, according to researcher Jan Herrington. What matters is “cognitiverealism,” Herrington says, which is essential, whether the task is a simulationor a work product for a genuine customer.

Characteristics of authentic tasks that Herrington distilledfrom research on authentic learning environments include:

• They require learners to define the steps neededto complete the task, rather than provide step-by-step instructions
• Learners are encouraged or required tocollaborate
• Learners are able to explore a variety ofperspectives and approaches to solving the problem, rather than being instructedto follow a single method
• Different groups of learners might come up withdifferent—equally viable—solutions; there is not one correct answer or endproduct

Note that these descriptions of authentic learning don’teven mention the demographics of characters; these “authentic tasks” might notinclude simulations. Herrington’s focus in seeking authenticity emphasizeslearning that provides “contexts that reflect the way the knowledge will beused in real life.”

In fact, she argues that aiming for completely realisticsimulations and virtual environments is not always necessary, writing, “Our ownresearch proposes that the physical reality of the learning situation is ofless importance than the characteristics of the task design, and the engagementof students in the learning environment.”

But the goals of diversity and authenticity arecomplementary. Engaging eLearning that includes authentic, collaborative tasksthat teach and reinforce skills used on the job is ideal for some types oftraining. Simulations, games, and immersive environments that allow learners topractice interactions or complex skills are the ideal framework for many typesof training. In all instances, the characters, scenarios, and language used intraining exercises should reflect the makeup of the company and the community.Authentic eLearning demands a diversity of characters, pseudo-customers, andlearner avatars.

References

Herrington, Jan. “Authentic e-learning in higher education: Design principles for authentic learning environments and tasks.” WorldConference on E-Learning in Corporate, Government, Healthcare, and HigherEducation, 2006.

Herrington, Jan. “Authentic Learning.”

Herrington, Jan, T.C. Reeves, and R. Oliver. “Immersive learning technologies: Realism and online authentic learning.” Journalof Computing in Higher Education, Vol.19, No. 1. 2007.