Clark Quinn, Ph.D., guides organizations in developing processes and architectures to be able to reliably deliver effective and engaging learning experiences and meet performance needs. He has designed and developed innovative solutions including games, mobile, adaptive systems, and more for the corporate, government, education, and not-for-profit sectors. He is the author of numerous articles, chapters, and two books - Engaging Learning: Designing e-Learning Simulation Games and Designing mLearning: Tapping Into the Mobile Revolution for Organizational Performance - and is a recognized speaker with numerous invited presentations and keynotes at national and international conferences. Clark works for clients through Quinnovation and is a founding principal in the Internet Time Alliance.
Also a recognized scholar, Clark has an extensive publication record and numerous invited presentations and keynotes at national and international conferences. He has held academic positions at the University of New South Wales, the University of Pittsburgh's Learning Research and Development Center, and San Diego State University's Center for Research in Mathematics and Science Education. Clark received his doctorate in applied cognitive science from the University of California, San Diego, after working for Design-Ware, an early educational game software company.
Articles by Clark N. Quinn
Research for Practitioners: Student Annotation of Examples Improves Learning Outcomes
(3/20/13)A constant challenge for instructional designers is finding or developing well-designed examples, including explanations. Could learners provide and document the examples? Research to the rescue! You may be surprised (and pleased) by what this study discovered.
Research for Practitioners: Can Text Messages (SMS) Support Learning?
(11/28/12)Support for learners, especially “at risk” learners, is valuable, but providing learners support beforehand tends not to have long-lasting effects and ongoing methods of support can be cumbersome. Could a lighter weight intervention help? Here is a report on a study that looked at using text messaging to provide ongoing support without being a headache to learners or to staff.
The Next Step for Learning: Practical Contextualization
(10/22/12)Computing devices—especially mobile ones—continue to add sensors, to store and process more and more personal information (contacts, schedules, tasks, goals), and to connect more widely to other devices and to the Web. This context awareness opens huge learning opportunities. Are you ready? Here are some things to think about.
Content Systems: Next Generation Opportunities
(7/30/12)If you’re ready to think about mobile, you really ought to think about content systems. The effort invested in developing such systems pays off hugely in being able to flexibly deliver content based on the consumer and the context. This is one of the Next Big Things, and this article explains the basics you need in order to be ready for it.
Book Review: Design for How People Learn, by Julie Dirksen
(1/25/12)Julie Dirksen has just published an excellent guide to better learning design. Here are the details. Her book is recommended for beginning designers, and for subject matter experts who have found themselves drafted into creating eLearning.
Rethinking e-Learning
(4/28/10)Advances in technology have provided new capabilities for learning, while spaced practice, social learning, meta-learning, and distributed cognition have given us alternative ways to support learning. The combination allows us to envision and deliver a richer learning experience that leads to persistent change in abilities – and persistent change in ability to do is our actual goal.
Social Networking: Bridging Formal and Informal Learning
(2/23/09)The growth of social networking applications attracts attention from e-Learning designers and developers. The application of social networking to informal learning is obvious, but its role in formal learning is not clear. Reframe the question: What needs for social support are not being met in formal learning applications?
480 x 320 is the New 1024 x 768
(6/30/08)One of the biggest challenges for those who want to play in the m-Learning arena is simply knowing how to deliver interactivity. We have a plethora of competing devices, operating systems, and screen sizes, and no clear winners. The answer may be simpler than you think, as this column illustrates.
Making It Matter to the Learner: e-Motional e-Learning
(4/3/06)Why is it so difficult to engage learners in the learning experience? Maybe our designs are missing key ingredients that could make learners care about the experience. This article reviews what we know about the non-cognitive elements of learning, and suggests how you can hook the learner, relieve anxieties as you set expectations about content, and design emotionally engaging experiences.
