Certification programs, trade technical institutions and colleges offer skills-based training with the same equipment used in industry. Not really, according to Schank. He believes there are lots of ways to apply the idea of simulation. Role-playing, for example, doesn't cost a dime. Role-play behavior begins early in the life of a youngster.
Preschoolers play house, bake make-believe cookies and drink invisible tea.
But an environment where students can take real life and hold it in their hands makes for a practical education. Computer-based simulations are a valuable contribution to this. Most people are familiar with the idea of a flight simulator, where pilots train and crash without the liability of death. Simulations in a safe environment provide a means of gradient skillbuilding with room for failure, a kind of learning that probably sounds more real to a student than a literal crash course. He has directed ILS since its founding in 1989 with support from Andersen Consulting.