Bells & Whistles

[hamersma.maarten@columbus.co.za]

Obviously, technology must be used where most helpful.

I found that the bells & whistles are helpful when they perform the
routine tasks for the student, helping him to focus on the
"thinking" of interpretative part of the course. Otherwise they
may get stuck in doing lots of mundane calculations (for
instance in a management flight simulator, there are many
financial calcs to be done in quick succession).

In simpler courses (for instance the Dice Game of Eli Goldratt of
OPT fame, or the Hewlett-Packard JIT game), the time taken to
calculate the results actually give the students some time
to think and discuss.

I also found that with more abstract subjects, the courses some-
times do not contain enough "concretisation", and here bells &
whistles could possibly supply some visual magic - along the
lines of causal loop diagrams etc.

Tommorrow night the Springboks and France are playing the
second rugby test - if the boks win, it will be the first time
a touring side won a series in France since the early nineties.

Good weekend to everyone!





Maarten Hamersma Phone: +27 (0)13 247 2235
Systems Engineer Fax: +27 (0)13 246 1108
Columbus Stainless, South Africa hamersma.maarten@columbus.co.za