Engaging Cognitive Design
"...consistently demonstrated an imaginative (but also down-to-earth) ability to help the rest of us successfully to achieve the integration of advanced technology with the real world of learning." - James Burke, host of Connections, author of The Day the Universe Changed, and vision behind the KWeb Project
About Working with Quinnovation
What is it like to Quinnovate? Below are the kinds of results our clients have reported, what we believe, our approach, and our differentiators. In short, Quinnovation delivers eLearning strategies that leverage technology to maximize performance impact and ultimate value to the organization.
Expected Results
Strategic plans that map out how to integrate elearning and performance tactics to create the 'performance ecosystem'. Quinnovation's work with clients has demonstrated an ability to place their individual situation in a larger context that provides both short term recommendations and longer term guidance.
Improved design templates for elearning that combine solid learning with motivation. Clients working with Quinnovation often are constrained by instructional design approaches that haven’t updated to the online era. They end up with a usable approach to elearning that’s leaner, more effective, and more engaging.
Learning simulation/scenario/game design that maximizes meaningful practice in a fun and yet effective way. Quinnovation excels at helping teams understand how to systematically design engaging learning experiences, providing the benefit of 25 years of experience in creating specific game solutions.
Curriculum paths that are maximally effective and yet minimally redundant. Clients often have a ‘silo’ approach to content that isn’t integrated and consequently is bloated and repetitive. Quinnovation develops a curriculum architecture that minimizes overlap and builds systematically.
Content development processes that streamline development and maximize use. Quinnovation works with clients to develop ‘content models’, single-source templates for content development that can populate more than just training, but can reach from marketing to help systems to write less, do more.
Information technology architectures that maximize reach of learning. Most organizations have ongoing information technology initiatives that are not being used to support learning. Content-management systems, knowledge management initiatives, and dissemination of mobile devices are just a few of the opportunities that Quinnovation works with clients to drive or take advantage of.
Quinnovation Principles
Trustworthy – Quinnovation will not represent others’ work as our own; we stay abreast of what’s happening and distill it down for you to your advantage but give credit where credit is due.
Knowledgeable – we remain active in practice and in academic research to bring you the best of what’s available. We’re recognized thought leaders, but we only Quinnovate when there aren’t pre-existing models to draw on.
Pragmatic – we believe our solutions have to work in the real world, delivering real results. There’s a place for experiments (and not only have we done them, we love them), but there’s a time and a place, and we work to make solutions that return value for money.
Valuable – we are dedicated to delivering returns, and our broad knowledge and experience means we can add value in most situations.. If we’re not adding value, we’ve got other places to be and things to do.
Flexibility – We have experience in many arenas – business, Higher Ed, K12, government, and not for profit – across many generations of technology, at many levels, in many roles, and have consistently demonstrated the ability to understand, adapt, and add value.
Creativity – our understanding of the processes of design and how we think means we’ve developed ways to be really creative, thinking outside the box and reframing the problem to find the best solution, not just the best-known solution.
How Quinnovation Happens
Working with Quinnovation is like having your own resident elearning mentor. We’re personal, getting to know you and designing solutions for your situation, not an off-the-shelf solution. We share the underlying thinking, so you learn while you gain.
We’re concerned. We want solutions that work, so we bring the best thoughts in organizational efficiency, technology directions, and cognitive science to bear to create a solution that works for your organization, the people you’re responsible to and for, and the way people really work.
We’re quick. Quinnovation comes in light and fast, finding solutions and then getting out, not trying to hang on and milk the relationship. We like to partner, but not to drain.
We’re friendly. We don’t take ourselves too seriously, and we want to make working with us fun. Of course, sometimes friends have to be honest, and we take that responsibility too.
Why Quinnovation
We’ve been Quinnovating in eLearning for over 25 years! It’s hard to believe, but Clark was doing elearning back in 1979! Back then we were exploring email to support classroom discussion using ARPAnet, the predecessor to the Internet, and we’ve just kept going: designing & programming early learning games on the Apple ][ with DesignWare, putting a learning game up on the Web back in 1995, running a teleconference in 1996, and so on. His whole career has been about learning and doing through technology. We’re not some Johnny-come-lately, or a repurposed approach from another field, this is our life.
Quinnovation is about the deepest learning. We’re passionate about learning, and have investigated it from every perspective you can imagine: cognitive, behavioral, social, constructivist, we’ve even looked at machine learning to make sure we’ve covered every approach to ensure we’re doing this right.
Quinnovation is about the most powerful uses of technology. It’s not about the technology, it’s about what the technology can do. We’ve stayed current because we find technology fascinating, but more importantly we care about the power it can bring. We continue to be amazed, and to find new ways to leverage these capabilities for learners. That said, we acknowledge that sometimes the best technology is people and paper.
Quinnovation is about results. We’ve spent years developing and delivering solutions time and again. We up with the latest theory and practice, but we’re about applying it to solve problems. We stay broadly on top of related areas including organizational change, social changes, and more, to ensure that our solutions work in the real world.
About Clark Quinn
Clark's a passionate advocate of cognitive design, applying what we know about how people think to the design of systems. His primary focus is on the design of technology-mediated learning solutions. He combines a deep background in cognitive science, a rich understanding of computer and network capabilities reinforced through practical application, considerable management experience, and a track record of strategic vision and successful innovations. As a recognized learning technology thought leader, he regularly speaks and writes about human performance technology directions.
His interest in computers and learning started at UC San Diego where he designed his own major in Computer-Based Education, and was part of a research project using email for classroom discussion (in 1979!). Clark worked at DesignWare as an educational computer game designer and programmer before returning to UCSD to acquire a Ph.D in cognitive psychology. He subsequently conducted research at the Center for Research in Mathematics and Science Education at San Diego State University, and at the Learning Research and Development Center at the University of Pittsburgh.
He spent seven years in Australia at the University of New South Wales, where he taught interaction design and researched and published on the design of engaging, effective, interactive learning environments. During his time in Australia he branched out and held the position of Multimedia Manager for Open Net and then served as Director of Education Technology for Access CMC, both initiatives of the Australian Government. He returned to California to take the position of Director of Cognitive Systems for Knowledge Universe Interactive Studio, where he built and led a team that developed an intelligently adaptive learning system.
Clark has been involved in the design, development, and/or evaluation of a wide variety of educational technology. Projects in which he has led design include educational games, mobile learning applications, performance support tools, online conferences, web-based learning, effectiveness evaluation methodologies, and intelligent systems. The projects have been recognized in a variety of ways, including being chosen for presentation and awards. He keynotes both nationally and internationally, and is the author of numerous articles, chapters and the book Engaging Learning: Designing e-Learning Simulation Games.
Clark's Resume