All the world's a stage: Using dramatised scenarios to foster discussion in online management courses

Keith Tyler-Smith
Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology

Role playing, scenario-based activities and video dramatisations have been used extensively in management training for the past thirty or so years. In the online environment there has been keen investigation in the use of computer generated simulations as well as online role playing games intended to engage learners and replicate, as near as possible, the sorts of problems, decisions and judgements that a manager might face in the so called real world.

This poster presentation is a case study of the development and implementation of a low cost, low-tech approach to developing effective, engaging and realistic dramatised scenarios that uses a combination of visuals, audio and text.

These scenarios tell the story of a work group in a public service ministry. They are designed to engage public sector workplace learners with the complexity and infinite variability of human relationships and the dynamics of social groups, whether in the workplace, on the sports field or at home.

The learner is required as part of a group-based activity to investigate the dynamics of a team under pressure within a typical public sector organisation environment. By engaging with and reflecting on this affective content in an online environment the learners are able to gain insight and understanding of group dynamics in way that provides the learner with a multi-sensory experience, not available in text only content.

Keywords: online discussion, scenario-based learning, modelling, role-playing, group-based learning