| Advisory Board - Scientific |
Dr. Larry Birnbaum
Dr. Larry Birnbaum is an expert on artificial intelligence and cognitive science. He received his PhD in computer science from Yale University in 1986, and joined the faculty of Northwestern University in 1989. Dr. Birnbaum has authored or coauthored more than eighty articles. He was the program cochair of the 1991 International Machine Learning Workshop and acts as a consultant for many companies. His research in artificial intelligence and computer science sparked an interest in learning by machine. “The field of artificial intelligence has not met its initial promise,” Dr. Birnbaum says. “But there is a tremendous amount we can apply to how people use computers to learn.” Learning, he says, needs to be delivered in small nuggets so as not to be overwhelming, take place in real-life context, and be constantly reinforced. “It has to make sense to the individual. People need to apply what they learn to their everyday lives.” Online learning gives people the ability to individualize their learning and guide their own pace, he says. “Asset Learning’s e-Coach program also allows for one-on-one coaching—the best way to learn.” Dr. Birnbaum, who calls himself a “homebody,” says he is still in the process of becoming who he was meant to be. “I’m amazed at how long it is taking,” he jokes. He stresses the importance of the journey toward self-actualization to his students at Northwestern. “I tell them to follow their feet. Figure out their talents and passions. And never stop learning.”
Marcia Conner
Ms. Conner, CEO of Learnativity and an outspoken leader in the world of corporate education, has joined Asset Learning's Advisory Board. Conner has built and directed two worldwide education organizations for Microsoft and PeopleSoft and sits on the board of several eBusinesses. She is also Editor-in-Chief of Learning in the New Economy Magazine (www.linezine.com).
Dr. Lynn Hillger
Dr. Lynn Hillger works to make sure visitors to the Expedia.com travel agency website can easily find their way to the information they need. Dr. Hillger, who has a PhD from Harvard in cognitive psychology, is a usability engineer, formerly with Microsoft before it spun off Expedia. She studies how people interact with the computer and helps to design easier-to-use software. “My goal is to ensure the visual display of information is effective and easy to comprehend,” Dr. Hillger says. “The Internet is unlike print—people look at a screen differently than they do the printed page.” According to Dr. Hillger, people find online learning, such as Asset Learning's eCoach, more engaging—because it is interactive—and therefore, are more likely to retain what they learn. “Online learning allows people to go at their own pace and control their activities—you don’t get that in a classroom environment,” she says. An avid tennis player and amateur pilot, Dr. Hillger helps Asset Learning answer the question, “What problem are you trying to solve?” from her home in Sammamish, Wash. She works with our designers to make sure Asset Learning’s products provide solutions for clients, are easy to comprehend for users, and effectively promote learning retention to drive change.
Dr. Colleen Siefert
Dr. Colleen Seifert, chairperson of the cognitive psychology department at the University of Michigan, understands what promotes behavior change: returning time and again to newly learned information, applying it to daily life and having a built-in system of support to help that change become a habit. “Most training focuses on the initial presentation, whether it’s attractive or engaging, but neglect the most important thing: what comes afterward,” says Dr. Seifert, who earned her PhD in psychology from Yale University, followed by postdoctoral study at the University of California at San Diego. “It’s what happens after the training that drives behavior change. It takes a lot of effort to go from knowing something to doing something successfully.” Asset Learning’s e-coaching systems drive behavior change and learning retention by allowing learners to revisit the information time and again, as well as providing strategies to apply that information to their daily lives, she says. “The one-on-one coaching feature provides needed support for learners as they turn new knowledge into habit,” she says. “The Asset Learning system promotes learning through action, which is the only successful way to change behavior.”
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