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MicroSim Family Tree

Run the MicroSim Family Tree Fullscreen

About This MicroSim

This diagram shows four kinds of learning object as a family, from the most general to the most specific. Each arrow points from a kind of object to the one that specializes it, and the arrow's label names the one property the more specific kind adds:

  • Learning Object to Interactive Simulation adds a model and immediate interaction.
  • Interactive Simulation to MicroSim adds small, embeddable, described, AI-generated.
  • MicroSim to Instrumented MicroSim adds reports evidence through xAPI.

Every instrumented MicroSim is also a MicroSim, every MicroSim is an interactive simulation, and every interactive simulation is a learning object. Clicking a box shows its definition, one example that fits, and one near miss that fails the definition. The near misses are the important part: each one lacks exactly the property that its arrow adds.

Learning objective: The learner will classify an example as a learning object, an interactive simulation, a MicroSim, or an instrumented MicroSim, by identifying the property that distinguishes each level.

Bloom's taxonomy level: Understand (verb: classify)

How to Use

  1. Click any box to read its definition, an example and a near miss in the panel.
  2. Hover an arrow to see the property it adds as a tooltip.
  3. Press Quiz me. The box labels are replaced by question marks and the panel shows an example. Click the box where the example belongs.
  4. A wrong answer tells you which property the example is missing (or which extra property it has). Try again, then press Next example. The score counts correct answers out of attempts.
  5. Press Explore to bring the labels back.

When the page is narrower than 600 pixels, the panel moves below the diagram and the arrow labels move into the hover tooltips.

Iframe Embed Code

You can add this MicroSim to any web page by adding this to your HTML:

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<iframe src="https://dmccreary.github.io/microsims/sims/microsim-family-tree/main.html"
        height="522px"
        width="100%"
        scrolling="no"></iframe>

Lesson Plan

Audience

Teachers, instructional designers, learning-technology developers and learning-analytics practitioners (college undergraduate and professional development).

Duration

10-15 minutes

Prerequisites

  • The definitions of learning object and interactive simulation from Chapter 1
  • A general idea of what an iframe and a metadata file are

Activities

  1. Explore (4 min): Click each box and read its near miss. For each near miss, name the arrow property that it lacks.
  2. Quiz (4 min): Press Quiz me and place all four examples. Repeat with a new set.
  3. Sort your own (5 min): List three learning resources you have used this month. Place each one on the family tree and write the property that stops it from reaching the next level.
  4. Discuss (2 min): Which property would be cheapest to add to one of your resources to move it one level down the tree?

Assessment

  • The learner places four new examples on the correct level on the first try.
  • For a near miss, the learner names the single missing property (for example, "not embeddable" or "does not report xAPI statements").
  • The learner explains why every instrumented MicroSim is also a learning object.

References

  1. Learning object - Wikipedia. The general idea of reusable, described units of instruction.
  2. Experience API - Wikipedia. The xAPI standard that instrumented MicroSims use to report learner interactions.
  3. xAPI specification - Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) on GitHub. The statement format behind "reports evidence through xAPI".
  4. vis-network documentation - vis.js. The library used to draw the diagram.