Learning Science

Augmented Reality to Increase User Engagement

24 Oct 2016, Posted by Sarina Simon in Children's Media, Distance Learning, Edtech, electronic books, English as a Second Language, instructional design, kids' media, Learning Science, Mobile App Development, Uncategorized

For some time now my colleagues, most of whom are younger and hipper than me, have been extolling the virtues of Augmented Reality.  And they are not alone.  Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, recently stated that he felt AR would be bigger than VR. And most market analysts agree that AR is going to become a huge market opportunity, topping $120 B by 2020. The recent success of Pokemon Go with 100MM downloads worldwide, has made consumers more aware of AR but some would argue that Pokemon Go does not really use AR technology.  That’s an argument that I can’t…

Expectations May Not Be Everything, but They Count for A Lot

01 Aug 2016, Posted by Sarina Simon in Adult Literacy, Learning Science, Teachers Who Never Give Up, Tutoring

Unfortunately we often read about teachers who have given up on students. Sometimes their motives are benign, but nonetheless damaging.  Take for example the teacher who worries too much about student self-esteem and does not offer challenging curriculum. Then there are those whose motives are not just misguided but downright disdainful–“these kids can’t learn,” “these kids don’t want to learn,” and so forth. Happily this post is not about those that give up, but instead about those that never give up. Instead she was talking about a homework assignment completed by her 67 year old tutee who is no longer…

Virginia “Ginny” Rice: Pursuing Excellence and Having Fun Along the Way

05 Jan 2016, Posted by Sarina Simon in Advice for Aspiring Producers, Advice for Edtech Aspirants, Distance Learning, Edtech, Expert Interviews, instructional design, Learning Science, women in technology

Ginny Rice is an accidental entrepreneur, researcher, problem-solver and designer of programs for education, museums, business, and public information. Her clients have included the National Museum of American History, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the Newseum, NIH, Philips Consumer Electronics, and a hôtelier in Vietnam.     1. Your technology roots go back to the early eighties when you   co-founded Lunaria, an “interactive media” company. Can you tell us a bit about the company and how it got started? My partners and I were working at an R&D company designing medical simulations for a start-up. When the founder ran out…

Jessie Woolley-Wilson: A Leader Who Inspires Others to Dream More, Learn More and Be More

01 Sep 2015, Posted by Sarina Simon in Advice for Aspiring Producers, Advice for Edtech Aspirants, Children's Media, Distance Learning, Edtech, Expert Interviews, kids' media, Learning Science, Online Math Learning, women in technology

Jessie Woolley-Wilson is Chair, President, and CEO of DreamBox Learning, Inc., the company that pioneered Intelligent Adaptive Learning™. She has 20 years of experience in K–12 e-learning and has held several leadership roles in prominent education companies. Before joining DreamBox Learning, Jessie was President of Blackboard’s K– 12 Group where she led the company’s growth for the virtual and blended online learning market. Prior to Blackboard, she was President of LeapFrog SchoolHouse where she established SchoolHouse as a leader in ed-tech and one of the fastest growing educational software producers in the U.S. Jessie also held leadership positions at collegeboard.com, the…

Who Says Women Can’t Make Games?– Meet Ariella Lehrer, CEO Legacy Games

13 Dec 2014, Posted by Sarina Simon in Advice for Aspiring Producers, Children's Media, Expert Interviews, Game Design, Learning Science, Mobile App Development, Online Games, Videogames

Ariella Lehrer Ariella Lehrer is a 30-year veteran of the games business. As a female, she is a rarity and a much admired pioneer.  She has founded and managed three companies,  all of which were involved in the design, production, and marketing of interactive games. Currently she is the CEO of Legacy Games, which is based in Los Angeles, with development studios in Hungary and Poland. Legacy began 16 years ago making medical simulations like Emergency Room, graduated to adventure games such as Law & Order, which morphed into hidden object games like Murder, She Wrote. Currently, Legacy is focused on casual…

Bror Saxberg–Medicine’s Loss is Learning’s Gain

16 Sep 2014, Posted by Sarina Simon in Advice for Edtech Aspirants, Distance Learning, Edtech, Expert Interviews, instructional design, Learning Science

Bror Saxberg is the Chief Learning Officer for Kaplan, Inc., a worldwide learning provider of test preparation, higher education, workplace training, and English language learning. Bror has spent almost twenty years working at the intersection of technology, learning science, curriculum, and delivering new learning experiences at scale. Before his role at Kaplan, Inc., he helped found the virtual education company K12, Inc., and has held roles at Knowledge Universe, Dorling Kindersley, and McKinsey. 1. Your educational background is astounding.  You have a BS in Electrical Engineering, a BA in Mathematics, an MA in Mathematics, a PhD in Electrical Engineering and…