"Virtual Learning: A Revolutionary Approach to Building a Highly Skilled Workforce"

By Roger Schank

(McGraw-Hill, New York, (800) 722-4726, 185 pages, $24.95)



Roger Schank hardly waits for the opening bell to start swinging. In the sixth sentence of the introduction to Virtual Learning, he goes for the knockout: "If I've learned anything in my 15 years working with all types of companies, both U.S. and international, it's that companies? learning systems are bankrupt."



The problem, says the author, is that most training strategies rely on "teaching by telling?"lectures, books, manuals, etc. People learn

best by doing, not from being told. So, experiential training, such as

apprenticeships, on-the-job training, role-plays and computer simulations are the most effective forms of instruction.



Two of these, role-plays and computer simulations, are Schank's preferred training tools. They also happen to be the main products created by his Chicago-based company, Learning Sciences Corp.



Although the book does not offer any depth of information about the construction of simulations (Schank cites complexity and the proprietary nature of his company's expertise), it does offer a few basic guidelines. Simulations need to be fun; they need to incorporate real experiences; they need to be goal-based; and they need to create opportunities to fail.



The need for people to fail in order to learn is an intriguing requirement. Ours is not a society that embraces failure, yet Schank makes good sense when he says, 'real thinking never starts until the learner fails." The key to using failure as a learning accelerator in training is to remove its negative effects.



Perhaps the most valuable content lies in the book's five middle chapters, where Schank presents case studies drawn from among his real-world clients. The computer simulations and role-playing exercises used at two consulting firms, a cable systems company, a retailer, and a restaurant chain give readers their first tangible vision of exactly what the author thinks effective experiential training should look like. A few screen photos illustrate the cases.



For all its passion, Virtual Learning has some organizational flaws. The text tends to meander with no clear structure, there is a good deal of repetition, and the author is prone to digression. A good editor could have cut this book in half without losing anything essential.



And one critical issue that Schank never directly addresses is cost. The implication, repeated throughout the text, is that the kind of multimedia simulations he's describing are very expensive. Production times of more than a year evidently are normal, and numerous in-house experts must sit still for videotaped interviews. The return on investment is nebulous.



Evidence that these products work better than less expensive forms of training is mainly subjective.



Finally, it doesn't make much sense to advocate computer-based experiential training as fervently as the author does and not include a disk containing at least some examples. He admits this early on, but cites cost and the average reader's computer capability as deterrents. That leaves a question: If Schank and McGraw-Hill won't invest in the technology, why should the reader?



Full text COPYRIGHT Bill Communications Inc. 1998