ABSTRACT
Games and simulations are ushering in a new era of experiential and visceral learning that promises to upend training and human performance as we know it. The new-generation mobile learning games and virtual reality (VR) simulations combine the engagement of gaming with the best of human-centered learning design as learners level up and practice increasingly complex skills, gain realistic experience, and build muscle memory and neural connections in a 3D immersive environment. This chapter demonstrates how associates of retail giant Walmart are learning leadership and management skills by playing the Spark City learning game on their phones and iPads, and how lab technicians at pharma leader Novartis rehearse life-saving skills via VR “flight simulators.” The chapter reviews mobile games and VR simulations from Africa on skills ranging from first-grade math and reading to professional healthcare. The implications of this transformation of video games and virtual reality as a force for good are significant for emerging countries and their capacity for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. They have a unique opportunity to leapfrog industrial-aged classroom education straight to high-fidelity learning simulations modeled on the way we really learn: experientially.
