KNOXVILLE — A business simulation program authored by a University of Tennessee, Knoxville, professor has received the Brandon Hall Silver Award for Excellence in Learning Technology in the category of Best Advance in 3-D or Immersive Learning Technology.
Marketplace Live Business Simulation is a program that allows students to understand the ramifications of decisions made in the business environment. Ernie Cadotte, the author of the program and professor of marketing in the College of Business Administration, built realistic characters in various business situations within a simulated 3-D world so that students experience specific consequences of their actions.
For example, if a firm struggles with poor customer satisfaction, students will experience the reaction of an unhappy customer “face-to-face.” If an executive decision causes havoc in a Chinese factory, students will “get a phone call” from an irritated plant manager.
The Excellence in Learning Technology Award was given by Brandon Hall Research, one of the leading research firms in training and development.
“Marketplace Live helps students visualize business concepts, principles and ways of thinking,” Cadotte said. “Students can touch and feel the products they manufacture, envision the ads they design, see inside the sales outlets they build, and visualize the factories they manage. I wanted to create a new way to engage students that blended textbook learning, lectures, games, social networking, and movies and facilitated team building and collaboration. It is a ground-breaking approach to learning that involves students in familiar ways.”
Marketplace Live is classified as a “serious game,” or one that has been designed primarily for educational versus amusement purposes. According to Cadotte, “serious games” recently have attracted substantial interest in defense, business, education, health care, city planning, politics, science and advertising.
“These outstanding tools and systems propel the learning profession forward,” said Hall, chairman of the awards program. “These innovative products let customers make learning faster, better and easier.”
“We are honored to have won the Silver Excellence award,” Cadotte said. “It is great to be recognized for our innovative thinking by Brandon Hall, an independent, world-renowned e-learning and research organization.”
The Learning Technology Awards showcase product innovations in the marketplace for creating and managing learning, talent and performance. The Best Advance in 3-D or Immersive Learning Technology category looks for functionality that provides 3-D environments and experiences for learning, meeting, collaboration, and simulation.
For a complete list of all winners, visit http://www.brandon-hall.com/awards/award_winners/lta2009_winners.shtml.
For more information about the UT Knoxville College of Business Administration, visit http://bus.utk.edu.
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C O N T A C T :
Cindy Raines (865-974-4359, craines1@utk.edu)