Microsoft Copilot

I was working with Michael Allen's team in the 90s when they were still calling SAM "rapid prototyping" and we were developing courses in Macromedia Authorware. Back then, clients wanted to be able to dump classroom content straight to CD-ROM. Nevermind the interactive element, specifically the teacher INTERACTING with the learners, didn't translate. Michael focused on what the learner needed to be able to do, not know, to be successful.

Regurgitating facts and figures, answering True/False, Multiple-Guess and Fill-In-The-Blank assessments, or sitting through scores of slides packed with 10-point text, horrible clip art, and a droning narration track surprisingly didn't count. Demonstrating proficiency at a task meant performing (aka doing) the actual task or a reasonable facsimile.

Cathy Moore and Kinection put together an outstanding example of performance-based learning for the U.S. Army titled Connect with Haji Kamal. The goal was to help soldiers deploying to foreign countries develop the critical cultural skills that they need to better achieve their missions. Did Cathy Moore and Kinection rely on full-motion video, 24-bit graphics, CD-quality sound, VR, or Hollywood-level special effects? "No" to all of those. They used a flat, graphic-novel format of sepia-toned grayscale images, no animation, and simple narration. The power lay in how the learner interacted with the characters, and the repercussions of his/her actions.