Are you a school administrator interested in teaching children about the hazards of cyber bullying? An airline employee looking to educate your passengers in terms of safer air travel? An Army colonel hoping to ease the re-integration process for soldiers returning from war? These are just a few of many possibilities Sharon Sloane, WILL Interactive’s President and CEO, envisions for this contest.

“We want to cast a really wide net and find out what the public or organizations that we haven’t worked with are thinking about with regard to ways that WILL’s simulations could improve society,” Sloane said.

Read the full story here.

Basically, they are asking for people to submit ideas for a full-blown educational simulation that, if deployed, would have a positive social impact. WILL will then pick one of the submissions and create and distribute it.

Frankly, if almost any other sim company offered this, I would be less excited.

Read the full post here.

This is a very impressive, very well done presentation. Tax money extremely well spent. Having attempted the development of other types of interactive training, I found these modules to be excellent, and hope to use “The Lab” for research integrity training. It’s tough to hold interest in compliance training, and this certainly would accomplish that objective!

I am a 3rd year doctoral student and thought this was amazing. It is nice to see that the experienced researchers felt this was realistic. I have only gone through the role of the RIO and I really liked learning from the interactive video. I made the mistake of taking a non-specific allegation seriously and found “myself” in my bosses’ office admitting I screwed up for wasting university resources unnecessarily. The video is much better than reading about it. I won’t forget it but didn’t have to “live it.” This is very cool technology and look forward to doing the rest during the break between semesters.

I must admit that I’m rather shocked that a regulatory government office put out such an incredibly entertaining and useful educational product. Most educational videos are so poorly produced that value is overshadowed by bad acting. This is not the case for The Lab. The acting, the script, production, and editing are absolutely superb, and I was exceptionally happy to see researchers not wearing white lab coats!!!

I am a graduate student and as part of my program I am doing training in the responsible conduct of research. I viewed this film as part of this training. I only intended to do one character but ended up doing them all. I found the format easy to use and very effective. Although I already know many of the issues, I learned a lot about these kinds of situations and better ways to handle them. I also learned about the decisions and responsibilities facing the different roles. I especially appreciated the balancing issues which the post-doc character had. I think all science graduate students would benefit from this film.

Read the rest of the reviews here.  Check out the official HHS ORI page for The Lab and play through the full simulation here.

WILL Campus – Best Education Website, Silver

Partnering to Heal – Best Training/Instructional Video, Gold

From their website:

The Horizon Interactive Award recognizes some of the top work from around the globe. Whether you are a freelancer, creative or advertising agency, you can gain valuable exposure on a world stage as one of the top developers in your industry.

In its 9th year, the Horizon Interactive Awards was created to recognize excellence in interactive media production worldwide. Since 2001, the competition has received many thousands of entries from countries around the world and nearly all 50 US States.

You can see the full list of winners and learn more about the Horizon Interactive Awards here.

Video games with elaborate simulations of alternate realities that deal with detailed subject matter are generally reserved for battling aliens or car thieves on video games like “Grand Theft Auto” and “Dead Space.” Now, they’re also for learning with WILL Campus providing several simulations for teaching about social stresses, growing up and responsibility.

With titles that treat topics like prescription drug abuse, hate crimes and school violence, the WILL programs help to bring hard-to-discuss subjects out in the open for a full class discussion.

He goes on :

Along the way, students are confronted with how to deal with peer pressure, anger management, leadership and how to prevent a violent flare up at school. I think that the story is compelling and a good way to educate students about these social pressures. In fact, every teacher and principal should play the game as well.

Read the full article here.

“We are honored to have two of our programs recognized by the International Academy of the Visual Arts,” WILL Interactive CEO and Co-Founder Sharon Sloane said. “We are very gratified to be recognized for this work and look forward to developing more programs to help men, women, and children of all ages in their quest to make better decisions.”

WILL Interactive uses a patented form of digital game-based learning technology called Virtual Experience Immersive Learning Simulations (VEILS®). This proprietary system of learning combines education and entertainment through a unique and captivating blend of technology, art, science, psychology, learning theory and game theory. WILL Interactive’s programs are often called a cross between a feature film and a video game because they allow users to play as the lead characters in live action, full-screen, full-motion, research-based movies that reflect real-life decisions and consequences in the safety of cyberspace.

The High Ground follows two playable characters in an Air Defense Artillery Battery deploying into a nontraditional mission environment. The VEILS® immerses the players in a world that they can recognize, engages them with a story and characters with which they can readily identify, and develops moral reasoning by giving them the opportunity to exercise ethical decision-making skills in a no-risk environment. The High Ground was produced by WILL Interactive using its patented Virtual Experience Immersive learning Simulation (VEILS®) technology. Development of The High Ground was funded by the Army Center of Excellence for the Professional Military Ethic (ACPME).

“WILL Interactive’s VEILS® technology combined with their outstanding creative, production, and technical teams has been a key factor in shaping improved moral development and values inculcation curricula for the US Army,” said Colonel Sean T. Hannah, Director of ACPME, US Army, Infantry. “More than any other method or technology available today, VEILS® supports the “practice-feedback-reflection-practice” process loop that is so critical to achieving authentic moral growth. We congratulate WILL Interactive on this achievement and eagerly look forward to our next opportunity to work with this outstanding company.”

WILL Interactive’s It’s Your Call is an interactive game that allows users to play out difficult situations in the safety of cyberspace before they live them out in real life. The game offers teens guidance about responsible cell phone behavior and teaches them how to use technology to enhance their personal safety. In the game, students become a live action character in an interactive movie and are presented with a series of difficult decision in a slice-of-life context. It’s Your Call was produced in cooperation with Web Wise Kids and partially funded by grants from Verizon and the ESA Foundation.

“These awards underscore the hard work that Web Wise Kids, WILL Interactive, Verizon, and the ESA Foundation have done in creating this invaluable simulation,” said Judi Westberg Warren, president of Web Wise Kids. “Our goal is to help create a safe, friendly cell phone and online experience for millions of young people. This award will help us in our mission to provide important answers to the questions that young people have about the new frontiers in modern communications.”

The Communicator Awards is the leading international awards program honoring creative excellence for communications professionals. Founded over a decade ago, The Communicator Awards received over 9,000 entries from companies and agencies of all sizes, making it one of the largest awards of its kind in the world.

Teachers worried about how they would integrate the game into the curriculum and whether it could motivate students who often fell asleep in class. The IT staff wondered whether DimensionM would overwhelm the district’s computer network. Administrators were concerned the benefits would fall short of the costs.

But the students were eager to play, and Garland educators spotted an opportunity: Put the kids’ competitiveness to work by staging a year-end tournament for the top gamers.

Teachers worried about how they would integrate the game into the curriculum and whether it could motivate students who often fell asleep in class. The IT staff wondered whether DimensionM would overwhelm the district’s computer network. Administrators were concerned the benefits would fall short of the costs.
But the students were eager to play, and Garland educators spotted an opportunity: Put the kids’ competitiveness to work by staging a year-end tournament for the top gamers.

It also features a a few quotes from WILL President & CEO Sharon Sloane:

“Kids can smell hokey from a mile away,” says Sharon Sloane, president and CEO of Will Interactive, which makes video simulations for teens that address social issues such as violence in schools and drug abuse.

Detective Frank Dannahey, an investigator in the youth division of the Rocky Hill, CT, police department, helped provide real-life content for the company’s It’s Your Call, a game designed to teach cell phone safety. Dannahey tried out a beta version with half a dozen middle schoolers. He says districts should take the time to get students’ feedback. “If they like a game, they will get their friends to play it. We shouldn’t leave them out of the process.”

Read the full article here.

“The authors describe the steps in the ethical decision-making process and show how employers and educators are addressing ethical gray areas using innovative simulations in order to better prepare employees and other personnel to face ethical challenges head-on. The model outlined in this article can be used as a teaching and training tool to enhance training in the workplace.”

You can download an Adobe PDF of the article here (8mb) (reprinted with permission of Educational Technology Publications).

Imagine being in a hostile foreign country commanding a unit of fresh-faced soldiers. You want to be prepared, you want to make good decisions and you want to be a leader.

But how can you truly prepare someone for this role? One possible answer is simulations, such as Outside the Wire, a WILL Interactive Virtual Experience Immersive Learning Simulation (VEILS®), a cross between a feature film and a computer game that immerses individuals into potentially real situations and circumstances.

“Just the opening scene of Outside the Wire, where you have people who are being shot and killed [is] enough to awaken lieutenants, who [will] now understand the impact of their decisions — that they’re responsible for lives under their leadership,” said Gayle Olszyk, deputy to the commander for training at the U.S. Army Ordnance Center and Schools.
“What choices you make are going to impact a lot of other people. That’s a reality that is very difficult to present to an officer in a written scenario. This is the reality of what you’re going to be facing when you get to Iraq.”

Read the full article here.

“We are excited to work with CareFirst Blue Cross Blue Shield to take a decisive step in addressing the important issue of school violence,” said Sharon Sloane, CEO WILL Interactive, Inc. “WILL Interactive’s serious game learning tools, Hate Comes Home and Interactive Nights Out 2, instruct in a unique, highly engaging medium attractive to the video game generation. The software will be instrumental in the success of this program in teaching students how to think rather than what to think.”

“We are proud to support the Student Support Center in their efforts to address school violence,” said Gregory A. Devou, CareFirst Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer. “It’s so important to be involved in educating our youth about the significance of preventing violence in their lives.”

“The Student Support Center for the public charter schools is thrilled that with the grant from Care First we can purchase these exceptional interactive games to enhance our programs in character education and substance abuse prevention. The games are part of a comprehensive effort to develop healthy student and positive school environments where all children can succeed,” said Eve Brooks, Executive Director of the Student Support Center. She continued, “The students in the D.C. charter schools, like those in the D.C. Public Schools often come from communities fraught with drugs and violence. The Games will help them to develop decision making and resistance skills to avoid the temptations of both. They augment a continuum of evidence-based mental health and character education programs already in place.”

WILL Interactive’s Hate Comes Home begins with the Homecoming dance that no school should ever experience: two students are killed in a hate crime committed by other students. Four students hold the keys to a peaceful outcome and the player of this game must navigate through a series of decisions to reach that peaceful outcome. Interactive Nights Out 2 helps 11-17 year-olds make educated choices about alcohol and other drugs. As the lead characters, the player attends parties, takes road trips, confronts the law, addresses family and peer relationships, and tackles decisions regarding alcohol and other drugs.

A Youth Policy Institute-developed survey on violence among youths was administered to students in five D.C.-based charter high schools and 12 charter middle schools during the spring of 2006, showing a high level of violence. The survey found that:

In charter high schools that participated in the survey:

• 26.3% of respondents have hit, slapped, or shoved a teacher or another grown-up at school at least once;
• 59.3% of respondents have hit or kicked someone;
• 40.7% of respondents have been in a physical fight in the past 12 months.

In charter middle schools that participated in the survey:

• 59.9% of respondents have been hit, pushed, or kicked by another student;
• 81.6% of respondents have witnessed other students being hit, pushed or kicked by another student;
• 47.7% of respondents have witnessed another student beaten up badly at least once since the beginning of the school year.

WILL Interactive’s Hate Comes Home and Interactive Nights Out 2 learning games are now available to schools and organizations across the country via the Internet and on CD-ROM. These learning tools are designed to improve critical thinking, judgment and decision-making and use WILL Interactive’s patented VEILS® (Virtual Experience Immersive Learning Simulation) technology, which has been proven effective in changing behavior and enhancing positive decision-making.

A cross between a video game and a feature film, VEILS® enables users to role-play the lead characters in live-action, research-based interactive movies that depict real-life decisions and consequences in the safety of cyberspace. The goal is to enhance the user’s decision-making skills by creating realistic, stressful situations where the user must make decisions in a slice of life context.

Other WILL Interactive programs for students include Generation Rx™, The Challenge, and Just Two Days. Generation Rx™ was created with students and in collaboration with the Kentucky River Community Care, Inc. to reinforce a prescription drug abuse prevention program in Eastern Kentucky aimed at 12 – 17 year olds. The Challenge teaches teen leadership skills for the same age group, and Just 2 Days addresses anger management and school violence.

About the Public Charter Schools Student Support Center (SSC)
The Public Charter Schools Student Support Center (SSC) is a non-profit, 501 (C)(3) organization founded by charter schools in 1999. Its mission is to assist the District of Columbia’s (DC) charter schools in meeting the social, developmental and educational needs of their students. Charter schools serve an overwhelming percentage (96%) of minority and low-income students, representing 25% of all DC public school students. Seventy-six percent of these students qualify for free and reduced price meals. SSC helps charter schools to build safe environments that prevent and reduce the risk of violence, substance abuse, and other negative health outcomes. The organization brings a public health approach to its work. SSC integrates best practices in education, child and youth development, and mental health services to help youth develop into mentally healthy and productive citizens. To learn more, visit www.studentsupportcenter.org