What are Simulations in Learning?

Why Is Role Modeling Useful in Learning?

Organizations are under tremendous pressure to stay ahead in today’s competitive environment. Companies must train their employees; otherwise, they can leave the company, and finding new resources is not so easy. Companies can implement new technologies, but they may not be able to train employees to use them. This is a big problem as it leads to wastage of company’s time and resources. A serious problem occurs when employees are unable to use information. Simulation is an important learning tool for companies that help employees learn the practical use of software or equipment.

The Need for Simulation Based Learning

Business training aims to ensure that employees do not lose their knowledge. The result of conventional learning is that it fails to provide employees with a context for learning. They cannot use the same knowledge at work. Therefore, traditional learning may fail to train employees.

The advantage of simulation-based learning is that it can train employees to a greater extent, while conventional learning may fail. Simulation can teach thousands of workers in six months. Simulation provides formal training, which is not possible with traditional learning. 2D simulations are used by organizations to teach employees leadership and decision making.

Benefits of Using Simulation

These are the advantages of using simulation instead of traditional learning:

1. Simple Change

Imitation can be easily modified, compared to traditional learning. In terms of 2D simulation, your content is created after considering the role of someone, let’s say that of a manager; these simulations will involve administrative tasks. If these functions change in the future, the simulation can be changed.

Simulation ensures that employees are interested in them. Therefore, the company’s investment is not wasted, and it gets a higher ROI when the employees perform well in their jobs because of their new skills, and that’s why the company benefits.

2. Using Practical Information

Simulations show real problems to employees, and when they solve them, they can learn a lot about company problems, such as how to communicate with others. Also, sales professionals learn a lot from simulation, such as how to attend calls when there is a problem. They can also help customers in resolving disputes and give them satisfactory feedback.

Simulation provides the practical experience that is much needed by employees in the application of soft skills. Teaching these skills in theory is not enough. They must be taught practically, and this is where simulation helps. When, through role-playing, employees imagine themselves in a difficult situation and use soft skills to get out of it, they learn the skills better. In such 2D simulations, they know the consequences of misusing skills and making the wrong decision. They learn the importance of fostering interpersonal relationships through emotional intelligence and empathy.

3. No Risk Involved in Simulation

Simulation ensures that people can see the consequences of their decisions. When people realize that their decisions are not going well, they develop soft skills. This is an advantage to the company because students can learn about handling situations without making bad decisions in real life that lead to bad consequences.

4. Fast response

Simulation also provides immediate feedback to employees, meaning they learn quickly what the consequences of their behavior will be. They learn about their behavior, tone, and body language and how it will affect them in certain situations. AI can help an employee assess a manager’s tone in certain employee-related situations. Simulation is used in all kinds of situations now, be it in a business setting or the healthcare sector. In the corporate sector, they can be used to teach leadership skills, and in the healthcare sector, they can be used for empathy training.

Cons Of Using Simulation

1. More Time in Their Development

Simulation requires a lot of help from SMEs. They ensure that the simulation is relevant to the conditions that may occur in the field. However, there is a drawback: if the SME aid is written later, all simulations will have to be changed, which will cause many delays.

2. Not a Full Reflection of Reality

In fact, employees should base their decisions on their understanding of the situation. It’s not so easy when they watch a simplified simulation and see it as reality. Simulations often do not fully reflect the real situation. Therefore, if students think that all real situations are based on simulations, they can be confused. Students may focus on getting the simulation right rather than making the right decision in the situation.

Furthermore, simulation cannot be completely relied upon to develop soft skills. After all, they are facts, not the absolute truth. Therefore, employees should be encouraged to discuss with others to develop skills. Employees need to gain real experience to develop such skills. Certain skills, such as how to interpret body language and tone of voice, can only be developed through real conversations.

In other simulations, the focus is on winning, while the focus is on cooperation. Therefore, students may not learn anything useful from acting, such as communication skills and empathy.

3. Difficult to Use

Some students may have difficulty accessing or using the technology required for simulation, especially if they have limited access to the necessary hardware or an Internet connection. Imitation often does not have the desired effect. Also, they need some hardware for 3D simulation. Such simulations are expensive to develop. These simulations have a lot of development time and cost. They need many skills.

Organizations may not have the funds for these simulations or may not be able to acquire the necessary hardware, ie, VR headsets and computers with specific video RAM for all employees in the organization. Due to the lack of video RAM, there may be technical problems while watching such simulations, which causes frustration for the reader.