"I have one book coming out in early July, and another in early August. The July book is a 700 page style guide to serious games and simulations, called "The Complete Guide to Simulations and Serious Games: How the Most Valuable Content Will Be Created in the Age Beyond Gutenberg to Google." Much as The Elements of Style might talk about using paragraphs, chapters, tone, and punctuation, this guide talks about levels, bosses and balance between fun and education for interactive content. I am very happy the subtitle stuck,as it ultimately defines how big this transformation will be.
The second book, for which I asked help from this community, is a more linear handbook for instructors using distance deployment for simulations,games, and virtual worlds, an area I am collectively calling "Highly Interactive Virtual Environments" (see my current blog posting for a deeper definition). It is a much smaller book, about 120 pages, but digs into the under-reported challenges of success in deploying "Learning to do" experiences, not just "learning to know" experiences, including moderating user frustration and creating meaningful impact. It will be called "Learning with Games, Simulations, and Virtual Worlds - Strategies for Online Instruction."
When I get busy, I forget about Clark's work and blog and then am reminded of how valuable it is. So, am adding him to the blogroll in hopes that I can stay more connected to what he is saying. Here are just a few items that are very relevant right now for our virtual world project at work.
This link is to his blog post on highly interactive virtual environments
This link on finding the skills for new projects is representative of several other posts on the blog that offers practical approaches for folks who are in the process of transitioning to more immersive learning. Clearly, a man who has a little dirt under his fingernails - - virtually speaking - - and two books to add to the collection.
Finally, here is a summary of Clark's book, Simulation and the Future of Learning. This is definitely worth the time to read.
