Tuesday, September 27

A Brief Introduction – Communities of Practice Manager

As Ryann mentioned in a previous post, I’m the Community of Practice Manager for Learning Technologies at ASTD. In this role, I engage with the community and help build ASTD’s portfolio of content—from T+D articles to books to educational programs to conferences and beyond. I also help foster discussion and debate within the community.

I’ve been with ASTD for nearly five years, working primarily on books and Infoline with ASTD Press. While I’m already familiar with many of the concerns and needs of our members and audience focused on learning technologies, I look forward to connecting with many of you, virtually or in person, to discuss this evolving field. My goal is to provide content and support that helps you get your job done, better and faster.

Indeed, no area in world of learning is more exciting than Learning Technologies. My current areas of focus are Social Learning, Mobile Learning, and Simulations and Serious Games. These topics should come as no surprise as they’ve been the buzz for some time. But Mobile and Social Learning are both ready to take that next step in maturity; we’re ready to move beyond the surface of such tools and benefits to explore how these elements take a strategic place in your learning strategy—and we’re ready to take a hard look at results and calculate value. If you’re skeptical about the power of games, consider the recent breakthrough with Fold.it and its role in deciphering an AIDS causing protein. It’s definitely an exciting time to be in the learning field.

With your help, we can advance the learning profession and create a world that works better. Feel free to contact me directly at Justin (at) ASTD (dot) org.

2 comments:

Kevin Shadix said...

Thanks for a great post. I'm looking forward to further posts from you and many others. Just a quick thought on your point about games. I'm definitely no cynic about them as a solution, but am a bit more so from a resource perspective. In a cash, time, and people strapped work environment, how can we develop our own games? And have them be fresh and relevant, despite these hindrances?

Justin Brusino said...

Kevin, thanks. That's really one of the million-dollar questions, and one I don't have the answer to. For most organizations, it's not feasible to create a 3D game like Fold.it. Instead, it's more important to focus on elements like story, competition, reward, and relevancy.

Did you read "The Four Pillars of Gamification" article we ran a couple months back? Here is the link: http://www.astd.org/LC/0411_betts.htm

The author, Ben Betts, is our guest blogger for October. I passed your questions on to him. He may have some more concrete answers for you.