Scenario-based simulations can be fantastic ways to build user engagement through meaningful, memorable interactions. Moving from the initial idea to designing actual simulations, however, can be daunting your first time. What kind of information can you actually cover in a simulation? Do you need to make it 3D for the users to care? How can you prevent painfully obvious decisions for the learners?

Participants in this session will get an inside view of the design process for the scenario-based conversation simulation that won the individual developer category in the 2011 E-Learning Global Giveback Competition. You’ll get a feel for the entire design and development process, from selecting the initial focus to planning the simulation flow to building the development architecture. You can take the design patterns and development ideas back to your own projects, and even if you don’t have the resources in-house to develop in Adobe Flash, you’ll see how you can craft the content yourself and outsource just the Flash development to create a flexible, editable simulation architecture.

In this session, you will learn:

  • How to decide on key objectives to target in a scenario-based simulation
  • How to craft a motivating simulation framework through compelling context, meaningful interactions, and realistic feedback
  • Why you should use branching and variables together to create a more compelling learner experience than using branching alone
  • How you can use XML together with Adobe Flash to develop a powerful yet easily editable and expandable simulation model

Handout(s)

Recording