CUNY Academic Commons

It was not our imagination. It actually happened.

Yes, a year ago at this time Hurricane Sandy hit the NY/NJ region and left in its wake damaged homes and buildings, displaced families and businesses, […]

From Thursday through till Sunday I worked to help get NYC prepared to shelter thousands of residents. More on that later, but for now all I can say is that I am stunned. For those who know the nature of my work […]

Watch this video, a compelling idea on why the social and management skills gained through World of Warcraft (a massively multi-player organized role play game or MMPORG) can be a better model for learning […]

Listen to my colleague Anders Grondstedt talk about 3D learning, gamification, and story telling for learning.

This year I managed to set aside time, travel inworld (in Second Life- all of a few inches fro my desk) and attend the first half of the Federal Consortium for Virtual World 2012 Conference held physically in at […]

The Hurricane Irene simulation continues…. ————————————————————————————————————————————————- Alert issued 10/6/11 at 8:00 AM. Mayor Bloomberg has ordered a MANDATORY EVACUATION of Zone A citywide and the Rockaway Peninsula. All or part of your zip code is under an evacuation order. Please refer to OEM’s Hurricane Evacuation Zone Finder at  http://gis.nyc.gov/oem/he/index.htm.  You may also contact 311 to find out […]

The Hurricane Irene simulation continues…. You watch the following Newscast. Hurricane Irene appears to be bearing down on NYC.  You and some of your staff assigned to the Coastal Storm Plan receive a second notification that you will be deployed in the next 48 hours to an Evacuation Center. How do you prepare yourself and your […]

The Hurricane Irene simulation continues…. This past Sunday you receive a call from your elderly mother (87 years old) who lives in Far Rockaway- see  http://t.co/jQRlm5ir -She normally has a home healthcare aid who checks in on her 3 times a week, but otherwise she is somewhat self sufficient. She is worried about the coming storm, but […]

Join this serious game, a.k.a., simulation, as we put you in the role of emergency responder. Anders Gronstedt and I will be conducting a live demonstration of NYC’s Hurricane Shelter Simulation course in-person at the North American Simulations and Gaming Association this Thursday, October 6 at 10:30AM. Simulation begins below….. ——————————————————————————————————————— Hurricane Irene is due to make landfall next […]

A documentary is coming out called Connected, about the degree to which we are connected through technology, its impact on our lives, and the degree it has changed human relationships. Check the trailer out  http://youtu.be/rUBjnk_9n8Y Can’t wait to see it. Now this conjures up an extremely relevant issue for training (corporate, mandatory, etc.) and education as a whole […]

For the past 4 years I have been Project Director for Coastal Storm Plan Training , based at the City University of New York School of Professional Studies . With both classroom and online courses, we trained over 25,000 City storm staff and volunteers for their responsibilities in the emergency sheltering system for New York City. I was deployed to […]

Among the natural disasters that might strike the NYC area, earthquakes rank very low on the list of probability. So it was startling yesterday when I felt that rocking motion. There was no construction going on, and the rocking was steady and all encompassing. As I work in emergency preparedness and response training in the […]

Within the circles of instructional design and learning fields that I travel in I often  hear talk about incorporating games as a great idea but one that needs to be approached carefully with decision makers. The decision makers feel that game is a dirty word, one upon which much scorn will be heaped dare they use it. […]