EDUC 8848 Module 1 Assignment 2

Identify an Emerged Technology-MS Flight Simulator X

http://www.microsoft.com/games/flightsimulatorx/downloads.html

Tags: aviation, simulation, gaming, education, instruction, flight training

Identify a current technology that has emerged in the last few years that shapes learning or productivity in your industry.

While there are many products and resources used in the aerospace and aviation flight training industry, the use of simulation has greatly reduced the cost, liability and time spent for student aviators to earn their pilot’s license. A current technology that has emerged in the last few years and facilitates the cost and completion of student flight training is Microsoft Flight Simulator Version X. A brief synopsis of this cutting edge technology allows novice pilots-in-training to take off in this simulated flight fantasy and gain a firsthand look into the role of a first-class pilot-in-command.. With plenty of aircraft to choose from, a student can fly18 different airplanes to stateside and exotic locations including the AirCreation 582SL Ultralight and the Maule M7-260C Orion without leaving the classroom. Novice student pilots have access to many skill level challenges and will experience the exhilaration of world travel along with the adrenaline-drenched challenges of high-stakes aviation. It is the first version in the flight simulator series to be released on DVD-ROM. It is also the first version in the series to feature a new type of electronic distribution prevention using license keys, removing the need for the user to insert the game disc into their computer in order to run the software.

New technological advancements, incredibly realistic graphics and convincing obstacles, including unpredictable weather and the changing seasons, ensure a totally immersive experience. Watch moving cars and detailed buildings scattered in cities, indigenous houses, farmland, livestock, and wildlife in its natural habitat from an aerial view. A student and instructor can select from 30 new missions to refine their aviation skills and respond to more stimulating experiences while in flight. Elevated multiplayer gameplay enables them to communicate with air traffic control or act as a controller for their fellow pilots, while increased online capabilities allows them to interact with other aviators from around the globe by chatting in real time via their headset and keyboard.

What problems or challenges have been associated with this technology?

Most problems associated with this technology are based upon novice user’s lack of fundamental flight skills, terminology and the patience to treat the technology as a learning resource versus a video game. Additionally, some of the general technology challenges are related to graphics issues, the lack of computer specifications to successfully operate the flight simulator and video cards that meet the minimum specifications. Examples of issues are: a portable computer displays in full-screen mode; the video cards on some portable computers may let you select a resolution that is larger than the LCD device can support. In these cases, the view may be truncated when you run Flight Simulator in full-screen mode. The initial visual experience on a computer that has an AMD processor may be less than expected. On computers that use an ATI video card, one may experience the following issues; use of the ATI Radeon X1800 CrossFire Edition video card may cause the screen to flicker or to appear black. The video card must have 32 MB of memory for Flight Simulator X to work correctly.

 What societal need does it meet, and what are its benefits?    

When MS Flight Simulator X is used as an actual flight training aid, it meets a tremendous opportunity for the transfer-of –training at an early age for students to consider a career in aviation. While all may not actually enroll in a certificated flight program that uses actual aircraft, many learners reap the benefit of an initial education and experience in aviation and flight operations. Because actual flight training is quite time consuming and expensive, students have the opportunity to experience simulated flight at little to no cost in a regulated learning environment with certificated flight instructors prior to making the commitment to pursue a career in the military or private industry.

What would make this technology even better, avoiding the pitfalls you identified?

Recommendations to improve this technology towards increased reliability and productivity include disabling other unnecessary functions on the computer running FSX because of the memory requirements. Anti-virus and firewall protection can be shut down since the internet is not required to run this application. Defragmentation of the hard drive is recommended to reduce the processing time. All drivers need to be updated as soon as a new driver is released. The most important driver for FSX is the VGA card driver. This technology can be improved by exploring options to refine the detail scenery towards more realistic landscapes, aircraft designs and a higher fidelity of flight instrumentation.