Learning Technologies SIG

Program Description:

Since the dawn of civilization comics and satirists always said humans possessed short attention spans. Imagine what they would say about today. Youtube, Twitter, Buzz Feed, Flipboard, Reddit, Instagram. More like instant-gratification. Still – those outlets seem pretty much here to stay. And face the truth – learning professionals were talking about things like chunking, sequencing, absorption rates, and more long before the advent of today’s social media. We know what we need to do to keep attention and increase retention. But come on – we just can’t do it captain!

Panelists:

• Ray Jimenez
• Alex Khurgin     
• Megan Bowe
• Aaron Silvers
        

Ray Jimenez

Ray is the Chief Learning Strategist for Vignettes Learning.  Ray is the author of 3-Minute e-Learning, Scenario-based eLearning, Micro-Learning Application and Impacts and Story Impacts – Using Stories and Systems to Impact Performance and Story Impacts.  He is a consultant to Phillips 66, Progressive Insurance, Pacific Gas and Electric, Ashford University, Pixar, US Air Force, NASA, Caltech and others.  Ray is a lecturer at the University of California, Irvine, Hong Kong Open University and University of Texas.  He is a designer and software architect of award-winning eLearning courses and learning systems.  Workshop participants describe Ray as “fun”, “engaging” and “provocative.”

Alex Khurgin

Alex Khurgin is the Director of Learning & Creative at Grovo, a learning solution for the 21st century workforce. A leader in the microlearning movement, Alex has played an integral role in developing Grovo's methodology, using science and psychology to engineer a learning experience for today's modern minds.

Prior to Grovo, Alex developed next generation educational content at leading edtech company Knewton. Alex is among the industry’s most passionate proponents of innovative enterprise learning and has presented his insights at conferences such as DevLearn, ATD, and CLO Innovators. Alex graduated with a BA in Philosophy from Amherst College and lives in New York City.

Megan Bowe

Megan Bowe knows product. She loves digging into the details of strategy, planning, development, and rollout. She’s worked with learning technology companies, major publishers, and large organizations to create plans that uniquely meet user needs and use data-driven feedback loops to iterate smarter and faster. Megan works on projects bringing learning, portability of data, and analytics together. Megan has worked with Knewton, designing API integration strategies. With Rustici Software, rolling out the Experience API (xAPI). She co-created Up to All of Us, a community with an annual gathering that focuses on advancing the intersections between learning, design and technology. Through Connections Forum, Megan also puts on xAPI camp events across North America.

Megan worked to help launch the Experience API (commonly known as Tin Can) at Rustici Software. On top of evangelism of the open source specification effort, Megan worked hand-in-hand with innovators and early adopters of the emerging technology at the implementation level. Megan conceived and produced wireframes and early prototypes and taught the first engineers and instructional technologists to experiment with the API how to make statements. In every way, Megan invented much of what the emerging community of practice advocates around this learning technology.

She continues to advocate for and support implementation of the specification as a Partner in MakingBetter, a consultancy focused on creating resilient organizations. MakingBetter connects bigger goals with the curiosity, empathy and self-reliance of the people who work within an organization. Megan’s focus on content strategy to support adaptive, targeted on-the-job performance improvement has her increasingly in-demand as a design strategist. Megan is also a community liaison for the Learning Locker, an open source, enterprise-ready learning record store making use of the Experience API and is designing their analytics capabilities — the first open source effort to make analytics accessible with the latest in learning technologies.

Aaron Silvers

Aaron Silvers is a former K-8 Librarian, turned Information Architect who designed, managed and led development with two major eLearning specifications and standards: SCORM® and the Experience API™.  He’s designed and produced learning experiences with a variety of technologies for organizations large and small, in both the private and public sectors (including K-8), for over 15 years with an M.S. in Curriculum & Instruction from the University of Wisconsin.

Aaron’s passion is the learning, performance and collaboration that comes from information and knowledge exchange with specific interests in community building, social media, tech standards and implementations and the Internet. He has a knack for tackling wicked problems and delivering on big, innovative ideas.

Aaron helms multiple communities-of-practice focused on design, technology and/or learning including one of the most successful Open Government efforts to-date. As a Partner in MakingBetter and the Chair of the IEEE xAPI Study Group, he leads the standardization effort for the Experience API as well as a community liaison for the Learning Locker, an open source, enterprise-ready learning record store making use of the Experience API, focusing on building partnerships with other open source efforts, standards and specification organizations.

Thank you to our Event Partner!

Brookwood provides solutions for learning and development initiatives and web technology needs. Established in 1995 as a learning solutions provider we are also recognized as a leading industry educator and learning technology solutions partner. We are committed to enabling our clients’ L&D teams to successfully adopt learning development tools and custom web-based solutions.  In addition to providing solutions, we offer In-class training and virtual classroom training, featuring the most popular design and content development programs.