Clark Aldrich

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Clark Bennett Aldrich (January 3, 1967 - ) is an author and practitioner working on building and popularizing educational simulations for professional skills.

He was the lead designer for several ground-breaking educational simulations, including SimuLearn's Virtual Leader[1], which won best online training product of the year in 2004 by Training Media Review and the American Society of Training and Development's T+D Magazine.

He argues that computer games represent new, "post-linear" models for capturing and representing content, but that new computer game genres will have to be created, optimized for learning, as well as entertainment.

In addition to his two books and several articles, Clark has contributed significantly to the field of simulation gaming through his numerous conference presentations. Clark also shares many of his innovative thoughts and conceptual blogs through his blog (clarkaldrich.blogspot.com)

[edit] Books

• Simulations and the Future of Learning: An Innovative (and Perhaps Revolutionary) Approach to e-Learning (2004)
• Learning by Doing: A Comprehensive Guide to Simulations, Computer Games, and Pedagogy in e-Learning and Other Educational Experiences (2005)

[edit] Quotes

• "If I had six hours to learn anything, I would spend four of it practicing."
• “I made a perfect simulation about growing a company. The only problem is that it takes twenty-five years to play.”
• “I would rather be specific and wrong than vague and right.”
• "An inexperienced learner is thrown by frustration, but a good learner uses it."
• "What is taught is restricted by what can be taught."
• "Breaking down the artificial barriers between what we learn and what we do, between business and academics, and between understanding history and controlling our future, simulation development will be a defining 21st century industry."
• "Rather than using game genres, like first person shooter or real time strategy, there needs to be fifteen or twenty new simulation genres created, presumably open source, each of which focuses on one subject area, such as leadership, innovation, and project management."
• "The simulation interface is part of the content, not just a conduit to the content."
• "We are at a time in the history of education when everything can change. Our minds can be as well developed and nurtured as our bodies… the work of a few people will echo through the ages, changing the very wealth of nations."

[edit] References

• Allison Rossett (2002). The ASTD E-Learning Handbook. McGraw-Hill Professional. ISBN 007138796X. 
• C-Net "Think you can run Enron? Play the game" July 10, 2002
• Audio recorded presentation from Accelerating Change 2004 where Clark Aldrich nicely describes his experiences developing and implementing Virtual Leader and also describes larger trends in corporate learning