Karl Kapp

Congratulations to friend and colleague Karl Kapp. He's had a good week!

Karl, a scholar, writer and expert on the convergence of learning, technology and business operations, holds a Doctorate of Education in Instructional Design at the University of Pittsburgh. He is a full professor of Instructional Technology at Bloomsburg University in Bloomsburg, PA and Assistant Director of the University’s acclaimed Institute for Interactive Technologies (IIT). Visit his Web site at www.karlkapp.com or his blog at http://karlkapp.blogspot.com.

Now on to the news!
First came the announcement that Karl has been selected as one of 2007's Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals by TrainingIndustry, Inc. It's a pretty diverse group in the Top 20 - it's great to see Karl get this recognition as one of our thought leaders in teaching and learning.

One of the areas Karl has been very active in is advocating for gaming in learning, which leads to a second reason for Karl to smile this week - the release of his new book.

The just released, Gadgets, Games and Gizmos for Learning: Tools for Transferring Know-How from the Boomers to the Gamers describes the learning methods necessary to transfer knowledge from the boomer generation to the upcoming gamers using tools such as gadgets, games and gizmos. The book’s web site is www.gadgetsgamesandgizmos.com.

The premise of the book is that there is a huge population of baby boomers in the workforce with a lifetime's worth of knowledge and expertise. These boomers are getting ready to retire and take with them their knowledge and expertise. Unfortunately, we are faced with an incoming workforce - the gamers - who learn in ways that are dramatically different from any generation before them and the tools we have transferring knowledge are woefully inadequate.

Having read the book, I can tell you hat Karl makes a compelling case that:

a new generation of employees who grew up on video games are demanding to be trained differently than the boomers and we need some new ways to transfer the vast amounts of boomer knowledge to these gamers

Additionally, the book provides a number of simple and effective strategies for incorporating these new tools (gadgets, games and gizmos) into the classroom. The material is presented within a framework of sound pedagogy and well-established instructional design practices.

I think Karl has really hit upon something here and that this book will become an essential resource for classroom instructors, as we move further into the 21st century.

Congratulations Karl!