Clark Aldrich is an American author and practitioner, in the field of educationalsimulations 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 advocated for interactive learning experiences inspired by computer game genres, suggesting that they could offer alternative models for content presentation. He 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 numerous articles, speeches, and five books.[1]
Clark first 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 his 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 went on to found the company 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 titled Virtual Leader, and 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] His simulations have earned numerous industry awards, including "Best Product of the Year" in 2004 by the American Society of Training And Development/Training Media Review.[8] He is also the lead designer for several educational simulations.
Clark's work contributes to ongoing discussions about the impact of simulations and serious games on modern education.[9][10][11]
Books
Aldrich, Clark (2004). Simulations and the Future of Learning. San Diego: Pfeiffer. ISBN978-0-7879-6962-2.[12]
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. ISBN978-0-7879-7735-1.[13][14]
Gibson, David V.; Aldrich, Clark; Prensky, Marc (2006). Games And Simulations in Online Learning: Research and Development Frameworks. IGI Global. ISBN978-1-59904-304-3.
Aldrich, Clark (2009). Learning Online with Games, Simulations, and Virtual Worlds: Strategies for Online Instruction. San Diego: Pfeiffer. ISBN978-0-470-43834-3.[18]
Aldrich, Clark (2011). Unschooling Rules: 55 Ways to Unlearn What We Know About Schools and Rediscover Education. Austin: Greenleaf. ISBN978-1-60832-116-2.[19]