This Learning Design involves five main activity phases:

• Briefing.
• Role Adoption.
• Interaction (via email).
• Interaction (via an asynchronous discussion tool).
• Debriefing.

The Learning Design Sequence is illustrated below.

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WHAT THE STUDENTS DO
Students are required to involve themselves in the following key stages of the e-Sim:

• Briefing
  This stage involves participants becoming familiar with the e-Sim website, communication technology and assessment requirements. Students are formed into groups of four, given a persona identity.
  This stage typically occupies several hours.
• Role Adoption
  In this stage, students begin researching their persona and how they fit within the geopolitical setting for the e-Sim. They then post a statement about their persona for all other persona to read.
  This stage occupies a week.
• Email Interaction
  The Email Interaction stage comprises communication using email messaging between different personae. Students respond (as a persona) to any scenario news events released by the facilitators or actions initiated by other persona. Students also develop an issue paper that is a group assignment upon a topic specific to their persona and given by the teaching staff. Some personae occupying media roles produce their issue papers in the form of newspaper articles that all personae can read. The topics for these newspaper articles are similar to those of the issues papers and these media persona are expected to research their articles by contacting relevant personae in the eSim. The purpose of the news articles are to create further interdependence between personae. Through the email interaction and the group task the students are prepared for the forum stage.
  This stage runs for approximately 17 days and a player of each persona usually responds to email at least every 2 days. This stage causes students to formulate and then operationalise their understanding of their persona.
• Forum Interaction
  The Forum Interaction stage involves four online public forums with specific terms of reference where personae could post submissions and responses.
  This takes place over a 48 hour period. This stage requires students to publicly share their perspective and then debate the merit of their position. It allows persona to understand the perspectives other personae.
• Debriefing
  In the Debriefing stage participants identify what they have learned as a consequence of participating in the e-Sim. It is a structured process using guided recall, reflection and analysis of the experience and comprises submitting Critical Learning Incident reports (online) and debriefing essays.
  The face-to-face debriefing activity typically occupies several hours while the time allocated for the written debriefing paper is several weeks.

SIGNIFICANCE OF ORDER
The order of activities and sequence is important as it provides the progressive development of creating an authentic experience, and then reflecting upon that experience to obtain the intended learning outcomes.

CRITICAL ACTIVITIES
Activities we consider essential are briefing, production of email, forum discussion, debriefing activity and the production of the debriefing paper.

Activities which we use to improve learning (online quizzes), gain specific technical knowledge (issues papers) and promote online debriefing (critical learning incident) could be considered optional.

Role allocation is a critical task. The optimal size of groups for each persona is a tradeoff between individuals/small groups and the risk of poor persona performance due to an over-dependence on individuals and the lack of individual engagement in a larger group. It is also necessary to consider where the collaboration is expected to occur (i.e. within a group, between groups).

ACCESSIBLE RESOURCES
The e-Sim web site is where participants have access to the Course Management system (e.g. Blackboard) for collaboration tools and links to background material. Offline and online publications support students researching their role and the issues. Typically these may be information on the biophysical characteristics of the region or policy documents from various persona. In some subjects, students may be given classroom lectures on various topics relevant to the region.

A primary Internet resource is the Australian Mekong Resource Centre http://www.mekong.es.usyd.edu.au/

RESOURCES IN CONTEXT
In the early stages of the activity, factual information is important for the students to adequately adopt their persona and understand the region in which the role-play is set. It therefore adds functional reality to the role-play. They provide the context and richness of the simulated environment. However, much of the ongoing interaction revolves around developing strategies to implement those understandings.

VARYING THE RESOURCE SET
Basic resources on the region and the personae is needed for students to be able to act authentically.

Scenario news events created by eSim designers are essential to create the conditions of conflict and co-operation necessary for interdependence between the personae.

SUPPORTS SUPPLIED
The e-Sim scenario design involves identifying relevant personae and then designing scenario news events that create collaborative opportunities for students. Students form collaborative teams with defined roles (group personae) and can utilise case studies, analyses of newspaper reports from a region and public inquiries into issues.

The e-Sim manager provides primary learner support centrally to all students via discussion forums and information resources. They control the release of scenario news events, the quizzes, central student feedback, monitor the performance of various persona through Course Management System, access statistics and email generation. Information of potential group dysfunction due to inadequate persona performance is then passed to e-Sim teaching staff at the relevant institution where the students are located.

The e-Sim teaching staff at each of the institutions provide support in face-to-face mode (e.g. running briefing and debriefing sessions, addressing group interaction issues and providing supplemental resource material). The e-Sim teaching staff contextualise the e-Sim learning activity to the particular course/subject that the students from that institution are undertaking.

SIGNIFICANT SUPPORT STRATEGIES
The primary Learner support is provided through the Course Management System. It is through this system that communication and the potential for collaborative learning between the students occurs.
The delegation of learner support from a single e-Sim manager to teaching staff at each of the implementing institutions needs to be negotiated between participating staff.

SUPPORT STRATEGY ADAPTATION
Learning support through participation in the online quiz may be considered optional. Face-to-face sessions are used to support the development of critical reflective practice and for specific group-interaction activities. These are considered critical.