Clark Aldrich

Clark Aldrich is an American author and practitioner in the field of educational simulations and serious games for education and professional skills.

In 1999, Clark Aldrich began publishing research that criticized traditional education methods for failing to teach leadership, innovation, and strategic skills effectively. He suggested that interactive learning experiences inspired by computer game genres could offer alternative models for content presentation and proposed that new genres of computer games might be developed to serve both educational and entertainment purposes. His independent research and simulation designs resulted in five books as well as other articles and speeches. ^[1]

Background

Childhood and education

Clark grew up in Concord, Massachusetts, and graduated from Fern School and Lawrence Academy. He spent two years at the Chewonki Foundation. He received his Bachelor's degree in Cognitive Science from Brown University in 1989. ^{[2] [3] [4] [5]}

Career

Clark worked at Xerox as the speechwriter for Executive Vice President Wayland Hicks. Clark became the Governor’s appointee to the Joint Committee on Educational Technology and served in this role from 1996 to 2000 while at Xerox. He then moved to Gartner, where he launched their e-learning coverage and began formal writing and analysis of education. Later, he left Gartner to begin hands-on work in designing and building simulations himself, where he also increased his external writing about the industry through books, columns, and articles. ^[6]

Clark later founded SimuLearn, which produces training simulations that help corporations teach leadership, responsibility, and other skills within a corporate setting. The first product that was released by the company was Virtual Leader. It required the user to conduct a series of business meetings while still juggling the interpersonal relationships of the employees and customers during business hours. ^[7]

Books

• Aldrich, Clark (2004). Simulations and the Future of Learning. San Diego: Pfeiffer. ISBN   978-0-7879-6962-2. ^[8]
• Aldrich, Clark (2005). Learning by Doing: A Comprehensive Guide to Simulations, Computer Games and Pedagogy in E-learning and Other Educational Experiences. San Diego: Pfeiffer. ISBN   978-0-7879-7735-1. ^{[9] [10]}
• Gibson, David V.; Aldrich, Clark; Prensky, Marc (2006). Games And Simulations in Online Learning: Research and Development Frameworks. IGI Global. ISBN   978-1-59904-304-3.
• Aldrich, Clark (2009). The Complete Guide to Simulations and Serious Games. San Diego: Pfeiffer. ISBN   978-0-470-46273-7. ^{[11] [12] [13]}
• Aldrich, Clark (2009). Learning Online with Games, Simulations, and Virtual Worlds: Strategies for Online Instruction. San Diego: Pfeiffer. ISBN   978-0-470-43834-3. ^[14]
• Aldrich, Clark (2011). Unschooling Rules: 55 Ways to Unlearn What We Know About Schools and Rediscover Education. Austin: Greenleaf. ISBN   978-1-60832-116-2. ^[15]

References

1. "Serious Play Conference Aims Program at Corporate, Military, Education, Healthcare Decision-Makers, Developers for Serious Games; DigiPen to Host". Computer Weekly . UK: TechTarget. April 14, 2011. Archived from the original on June 11, 2014. Retrieved March 23, 2014.
2. Conlin, Michelle (2006-02-19). "Meet My Teachers: Mom And Dad". Businessweek . Archived from the original on August 9, 2012. Retrieved 2014-09-16.
3. Lesczinski, Mike (2013-04-13). "Excelsior College to Host "Games and the Curriculum: Towards a New Educational Model" Gaming Symposium on May 17". Excelsior College. Archived from the original on 2014-09-30. Retrieved 2014-09-16.
4. Leigh, Pam (2001-05-01). "Training's New Guard 2001: Clark Aldrich". T+D . HighBeam Research. Archived from the original on 2014-06-11. Retrieved 2014-09-16.(subscription required)
5. "Computer Games and Formal Learning Programs" (PDF). Conduit. 15. Brown University: 6.
6. Galagan, Patricia A. (September 1, 2001). "Swimming with the big fish". T+D . Archived from the original on June 11, 2014. Retrieved March 23, 2014.
7. Becker, David (July 10, 2002). "Think you can run Enron? Play the game". CNET . San Francisco, California: CBS Interactive . Retrieved March 23, 2014.
8. Gery, Gloria (September 1, 2003). "Simulations and the Future of Learning: An Innovative (and Perhaps Revolutionary) Approach to E-Learning". T+D . Archived from the original on June 11, 2014. Retrieved March 23, 2014.
9. Fillicaro, Barbara (July 1, 2005). "Not Just for Kids". T+D . Archived from the original on June 11, 2014. Retrieved March 23, 2014.
10. Kapp, Karl (September 2005). "Review of "Learning by Doing: A Comprehensive Guide to Simulations, Computer Games and Pedagogy in E-learning and Other Educational Experiences by Clark Aldrich"". eLearn Magazine. New York City: Association for Computing Machinery . Retrieved March 23, 2014.
11. Bozarth, Jane. "Book Review: The Complete Guide to Simulations & Serious Games by Clark Aldrich". Learning Solutions Magazine. The eLearning Guild. Retrieved March 22, 2014.
12. Aleckson, Jon (January 1, 2009). "The Complete Guide to Simulations & Serious Games". Training Media Review. Archived from the original on June 11, 2014. Retrieved March 23, 2014.
13. Shea, Peter (November 2009). "Review of 'The Complete Guide to Simulations & Serious Games' by Clark Aldrich". eLearn Magazine. New York City: Association for Computing Machinery . Retrieved March 23, 2014.
14. Brandon, Bill. "Book Review: Learning Online with Games, Simulations, and Virtual Worlds: Strategies for Online Instruction by Clark Aldrich". Learning Solutions Magazine. The eLearning Guild. Retrieved March 22, 2014.
15. Neibert, Jennifer. "Book Review: Unschooling Rules, by Clark Aldrich". Learning Solutions Magazine. The eLearning Guild. Retrieved March 22, 2014.

Further reading

• Leigh, Pam (May 1, 2001). "Training's New Guard 2001: Clark Aldrich". Training Development . 54 (5). American Society for Training & Development: 34. Archived from the original on June 11, 2014.
• Shields, Brian (May 10, 2012). "Clark Aldrich, Clark Aldrich Designs LLC - Video Games and Education". WAMC . Albany, New York . Retrieved March 23, 2014.
• Laningham, Scott (February 6, 2009). "Clark Aldrich and Phaedra Boinodiris on serious games". developerWorks. IBM . Retrieved March 23, 2014.
• Morrison, James L. (September–October 2003). "Simulations and the Learning Revolution: An Interview with Clark Aldrich". The Technology Source. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: University of North Carolina . Retrieved March 23, 2014.

External links

• Aldrich Repository of Simulations and Serious Games
• Aldrich Unschooling Rules Blog