Give a Small Child a Hammer and Soon Everything Needs Hammering

Abstract

The essay reviews the use of simulations and games in communication education over the past 25 years. After a rapid embracement in the late 1960s and early 1970s, disenchantment set in for many not trained in the use of simulations and games. In reflection, the author writes about three important things that she and others like herself have learned in the design and use of simulations and games: the nature of participation in simulations and games, the importance of debriefing, and the implications of both of these for the relationships between students and teachers in the classrooms.