Clark Quinn

NOVEMBER 15, 2022

Many moons ago, I wrote about a personal quest. Recognizing that what I was doing is making people smarter ‘in the moment’, I looked for a stretch goal. That was making people wiser over time. The question, how is that working? Have I been putting wisdom into practice? First, let me state for the record that I’m not claiming to be a wise person.

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Clark Quinn

SEPTEMBER 28, 2022

I regularly rant about the quality of the learning designs we see. Knowledge dump and information test, I rail, is not going to lead to meaningful outcomes. Consequently, I work to promote more learning science in what we do. However, I have to acknowledge that frequently, the problem isn’t in the designer, but in the requester. Too often, there are RFPs (emblematic, they’re equivalent to the internal request for ‘a course on X’) that are asking for designers to take con

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Clark Quinn

AUGUST 9, 2022

I continue to be a fan of Jane Hart ‘s work, and her annual survey of Top 10 Learning Tools is only one of the reasons (another being her co-conspirator, along with Harold Jarche & Charles Jennings in the Internet Time Alliance ). As a consequence, it’s time for my annual list, this time the Top 10 Learning Tools for 2022. To be fair, my list could be reproduced from last year’s.

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Clark Quinn

JUNE 28, 2022

Learning Experience Design (LXD), I argue, is the elegant integration of learning science with engagement. All well and good, of course, but how do you introduce it? Specifically, how do we engage people already actively designing? There are a number of ways to cut it. You could talk about the cognitive underpinnings , the implications for the elements of learning, or via the changes in the design process.

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Clark Quinn

MAY 10, 2022

On my walk yesterday, I was reflecting on our You Oughta Know with Christy Tucker (a great session, as usual), who talked about scenarios. It got me pondering, in particular, about different interpretations of ‘ gamification ‘ As I dictated a note to myself as I walked (probably looking like one of those folks who holds phone calls on their perambulations), I found myself discussing the differences between two approaches.

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Gamification Alternatives Coaching Streaming 191

Clark Quinn

MARCH 15, 2022

In a recent post , I talked about how expertise is compiled away, and the impact on designing learning and documentation. Someone, of course, asked how do you then work with SMEs to get the necessary information. Connie Malamed, one of our recognized research translators, has recently written about getting tacit knowledge, but I also want to address the more usual process.

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Clark Quinn

DECEMBER 21, 2021

My dad used to regale me with this tale of his best friend, who told his new employer when he started: “If you see me with my feet up on my desk and it appears I’m sleeping, I’m not. I’m working. I’ll still do the work of 2 other engineers.” And he did! I love this story, because it brings out an element that we seem to be losing, the value of taking time for reflection.

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Write Blog Engineering Search Track 318

Clark Quinn

NOVEMBER 2, 2021

In what was my last Quinnsights column for Learning Solutions, I wrote about how the transformation wasn’t (or shouldn’t) be digital. In many ways we aren’t aligned with what’s best for our thinking. Thus, digitizing existing approaches doesn’t make sense. Instead, we should be fixing our organizational alignment first, then digitizing.

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Clark Quinn

SEPTEMBER 28, 2021

I’ve addressed ethics elsewhere , but I’m looking at it a different way now. I”m thinking from the perspective of situated cognition, and recognizing that there are certain things we can do. For better or worse. Further, these choices have ramifications beyond the initial impact. I think we need to be aware of the possibilities, and then consider the meta-ethics of learning design.

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Clark Quinn

AUGUST 10, 2021

As has become all too common, someone decided to point me to some posts for their organization. Apparently, interest was sparked by a previous post of mine where I’d complained about microlearning. While this one does a (slightly) better job talking about microlearning, it is riddled with other problems. So here’s yet another post about more marketing malarkey.

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Clark Quinn

FEBRUARY 17, 2021

Ok, I know I just talked about this, but something happened to sharpen my understanding. Recently, a colleague was advocating, for a product she’s responsible for managing, that she was aware that people were “not used to reflowable text” And, frankly, that surprised me, but also explains the problems I’ve railed about in the past. Because reflowable text thinking is a key to moving beyond hardwired formatting to separating content from description. .

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Clark Quinn

DECEMBER 1, 2020

So I saw a twitter thread pointing to an argument about how ROI is dead. And, well, that’s largely okay with me. However, the trigger for the post was from the results of Chief Learning Officer 2020 State of Learning report. And, when I saw them, I saw some problems. The question is whether we’re measuring impact, or not. I’d like to go through them and evaluate each.

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Clark Quinn

OCTOBER 27, 2020

I’ve talked before about the power of ritual, but while powerful, it also seemed piecemeal. That is, there were lots of hints, but not a coherent theory. That has now changed. I recently found a paper by Nicholas Hobson & colleagues (Schroeder, Risen, Xylagatas, & Inzlicht; warning, PDF) titled The Psychology of Rituals that creates an integrated framework.

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Clark Quinn

SEPTEMBER 15, 2020

I’ve been pondering more about curiosity and ‘making it meaningful’ and how we might work on motivation to make learning truly meaningful. I’v come up with a rough cut. So, here’s a proposal for a heuristic approach to motivation. As I mentioned, the desired true intrinsic motivation may be a goal too far. When possible, perhaps in a deeply specialized field, I’d go for it.

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Compliance Training Compliance Classes Track 211

Clark Quinn

JULY 28, 2020

If I’m going to rail against myths in learning, it makes sense to be clear about what learning design without myths looks like. Let me lay out a little of what mythless learning design is, or should be. Learning with myths manifests in many ways. Redundant development to accommodate learning styles, or generations. Shortened to be appropriate for millennials or the attention span of a goldfish.

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Clark Quinn

JUNE 24, 2020

The other day a tweet caught my eye that used a myth to get you to click a link. Worse, clicking the link led to another myth. These are folks I think are generally good, and it seems that their actual offering made sense, but the approach does not. It’s just more marketing myths, drawing upon common misconstruals , and that’s not a good thing.

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Clark Quinn

MAY 13, 2020

As part of coping in this time of upheaval, I’m trying different things. Which isn’t new, but there seem to be more innovations to tap into. In addition to teaching a course on mobile learning, I’m one of the speakers at a new online event. And, what’s nice, is that they’re experimenting with conference design, not just moving straight online.

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Clark Quinn

APRIL 7, 2020

So, I’ve written before about ‘learning engineering’ And, separately, it’s become an issue just what the term means. It appears there are two ‘learning engineerings’, and the issue is how to resolve them. So, let’s look at the contenders. First, there’s the notion of engineering as applied science. We refer to chemical engineering as applied chemistry, electrical engineering as applied physics, etc.

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Clark Quinn

MARCH 3, 2020

I was asked to comment on intrinsic motivation, and was pointed to an article claiming that it’s a myth(!). Given that I’m a staunch advocate of intrinsic motivation, I felt this was something that I should comprehend. Is intrinsic motivation a myth? My inclination is ‘no’, but let’s explore. As background, there’s usually a distinction made between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation.

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Clark Quinn

NOVEMBER 19, 2019

I’ve been blogging now for over a decade, and one thing has changed. The phenomena is that we’re seeing a cultural comment shift; comments are now coming from shared platforms, not directly on the site. And while I try not to care, I’m finding it interesting to reflect on the implications of that, in a small way. When I started, people would comment right on the blog.

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Clark Quinn

OCTOBER 24, 2019

Helen Papagiannis kicked off the second day of the DevLearn conference. She explored the possibilities of AR with exceptional examples. She went through a variety of concepts, helping us comprehend new opportunities. Exposing the invisible and annotating the world were familiar, but collaborative editing of spatial representations resurrected one of the most interesting (and untapped) potentials of virtual worlds.

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Clark Quinn

OCTOBER 23, 2019

Talithia Williams presented the afternoon keynote on the opening day of DevLearn. She gave an overview of the possibilities of data, and the basics of data science. She then made some inferences to learning. The post Talithia Williams #DevLearn Keynote Mindmap appeared first on Learnlets.

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Clark Quinn

OCTOBER 23, 2019

DevLearn opened with a keynote from Sophia the Robot. With an initially scripted presentation, and some scripted questions from host David Kelly, Sophia addresses the differences between AI and robots, with a bit of wit. The tech used to make the illusion was explored, but the technology was put to the test with some unscripted questions, and the responses were pretty good.

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Clark Quinn

SEPTEMBER 19, 2019

I went to hear a talk the other day. It was about competency-based education (CBE) for organizations. Ostensibly. And, while I’m now affiliated with IBSTPI , it’s not like I’m a competency expert. And maybe I expect too much, but I really hope for people to be clear about the concept. Alas, that’s not what I found. So, it started out reasonably well, talking about how competencies are valuable.

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Mash-up Mashups Cognitive Learning Styles 100

Clark Quinn

SEPTEMBER 11, 2019

I was talking with my better half, who’s now working at a nursery. Over time, she has related stories of folks coming to ask for assistance. And the variety is both interesting and instructive. There’s a vast difference of how people can be working with you. So, for one, she likes to tell stories of people who come in saying “you know, I want something ‘green'” Or, worse, “I want a big tree that doesn’t require any watering at all” (Er, doesn̵

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Clark Quinn

JULY 2, 2019

So, in my last post , I talked about exploring the links between cognitions on the one hand (situated, distributed, social), and contexts (aligning with how we think, work, & learn). I did it one way, but then I thought to do it another, to instead consider Contexts by Cognitions, to see if I came to the same elements. And they weren’t quite identical!

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Clark Quinn

JUNE 26, 2019

Graham Roberts kicked off the 2nd day of the Realities 360 conference talking about the Future of Immersive Storytelling. He told about their experiences and lessons building an ongoing suite of experiences. From the first efforts through to the most recent it was insightful. The examples were vibrant inspirations. The post Graham Roberts #Realities360 Keynote Mindmap appeared first on Learnlets.

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Clark Quinn

MAY 28, 2019

It’s that time again. Someone pointed me to a post that touted the benefits of social learning. And I’m a fan ! However, as I perused it, I saw that was a bit of social silliness. So, let me be clear about why. It starts off mostly on the right foot, saying “playing off of the theory that people learn better when they learn collectively” I’m a proponent of that theory.

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Clark Quinn

MAY 22, 2019

I’ve been looking into ‘realities’ (AR/VR/MR) for the upcoming Realities 360 conference (yes, I’ll be speaking). And I found an interesting model that’s new to me, and of course prompts some thoughts. For one, there’s a new reality that I hadn’t heard of! So, of course, I thought I’d share. The issue is how do AR (augmented reality) and VR (virtual reality) relate, and what is MR (mixed reality).

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Clark Quinn

APRIL 17, 2019

Some weeks back, I posted about surprise. That is, a new model that says that that our brains work to minimize surprise. We learn so as not to be wrong. And that made sense in one way, but left another gap. Another article explains (well, partly; the mathematics are more than I want to wade into) further, and that gives me a new handle on thinking about designing transformative experiences.

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Clark Quinn

MARCH 19, 2019

I’ve been complaining, as part of the myths tour, that everyone wants the magic bullet. But, as I was commenting to someone about opportunities, there are huge tech opportunities we’re missing. How can I have bit both ways? Well, I’m talking about two different techs (or, rather, many). The fact is, we’re chasing the wrong technologies.

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Clark Quinn

FEBRUARY 12, 2019

There’s a time when someone takes a result, doesn’t put it into context, and leads you to bad information. And we have to call it out. In this case, someone opined about a common misconception in regards to brainstorming. This person cited a scientific study to buttress an argument about how such a process should go. However, the approach cited in the study was narrower than what brainstorming could and should be.

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Clark Quinn

FEBRUARY 5, 2019

At the recent LearnTec conference, I was on a panel with my ITA colleagues, Jane Hart, Harold Jarche, and Charles Jennings. We were talking about how to lift the game of Modern Workplace Learning , and each had staked out a position, from human performance consulting to social/informal. Mine (of course :) was at the far end, innovation. Jane talked about how you had to walk the walk: working out loud, personal learning, coaching, etc.

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Toolkit Learning Lesson Communities of Practice 206

Clark Quinn

JANUARY 2, 2019

We interrupt your regularly scheduled blog series for this important public service announcement: A number of times now, I’ve discovered that there was email being sent to me that I was not getting. Fortunately, my ISP is also a colleague, mentor, and friend and a real expert in cybersecurity, so I asked him. And he explained it to me (and then again when I’d forgotten and it happened again; sorry Sky!).

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Clark Quinn

DECEMBER 27, 2018

My dad , in his last years, lost the use of his hands and most of his hearing. It seemed like he then gave up. I finally challenged him on it, and he said “when you’re in constant pain…” And I got it. So, turns out I’ve a misbehaving disk in my back, and it started pressing on the nerve over the summer. Pain scales are 1-10; this ultimately got to an 8 when I was trying to walk or even stand (from my lower back down my leg to my toes).

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Press Exercise Learning Alternatives 165

Clark Quinn

DECEMBER 26, 2018

Someone on Quora asked me about the instructor role: How would the role of a teacher change in this modern online learning world? While I posted an answer there, I thought I’d post it here too: I see two major roles in that of the ‘teacher’: the designer of learning experiences (pre), and the facilitator of same (during/post). I think the design changes by returning to natural learning approaches, an apprenticeship model (c.f.

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Clark Quinn

NOVEMBER 14, 2018

I read, again and again, about the importance of ‘content’ in learning. And I don’t disagree, but…I think there’s still a problem about it. And where I get concerned is about what is meant by the term. Just what do mean by ‘content’? And why should we care about the distinction? My worry is twofold. For one, I get concerned that talking about content foregrounds ‘information’ And that’s a problem.

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