Meet the Answer Geeks

Answer geeks (and we use that term with great respect): Where would we be without them? They help guide us through the challenges of online learning, the Internet, courseware development, and those other intersections of learning and technology. Have a question about e-learning? Maybe we can help. Email us at answergeek@astd.org! We'll publish some of the best Q&A.

Beth Archibald is a senior usability specialist at UserWorks focusing on accessibility and user-centered design. She recently published a chapter, “Universal Site Accessibility: Barrier Free for All,” in Managing Web Usage in the Workplace (Idea Publishing Group, 2002). Archibald collects beach-related items and displays them in her office. That includes shells, beach glass, and SpongeBob on a surfboard. Why e-learning? “Making the experience free flowing and user-friendly captures my interest,” she says. Contact barchibald@userworks.com.
	Loretta Donovan is a learning strategist and consultant as well as an adjunct assistant professor at Teachers College of Columbia University, where she teaches online courses in training and Web-based learning. Donovan’s consulting practice uses new media learning and digital collaboration to improve performance, and doctoral research she is conducting in adult learning and leadership involves the adoption of emerging innovations by learning communities. Contact lldonovan@earthlink.net.
Bill Ellet is owner and editor of Training Media Review, which offers objective reviews of training content and technologies, advice on media-related training issues, research reports, and consulting. Ellet’s first career was book publishing, and for over a decade he has trained MBA students and managers in writing. He also developed a Website on case-based writing for Harvard Business School. Ellet is on the editorial board of T+D magazine. Contact wellet@tmreview.com.
Darin Hartley has been working in the training industry for the past 15 years. Currently the director of solutions development at Intrepid Learning Solutions, he was previously director of the e-learning courseware certification (ECC) program for ASTD and spent five years at Dell Computer Corporation's Dell Learning division, where he managed various teams. Hartley has presented on a variety of topics at the ISPI International, ASTD International, ASTD Technical Skills Training, and other conferences and has authored articles for T+D, Technical & Skills Training, and WorkForce magazines. Hartley is on the editorial board of T+D magazine and his books include Job Analysis at the Speed of Reality (HRD Press, 1999), On-Demand Learning: Training in the New Millennium (HRD Press, 2000), and Selling E-Learning (ASTD, 2001). Contact dhartley@intrepidls.com. .
	Aina Irbe is an instructional design analyst and adjunct faculty in the George Washington University Educational Technology Leadership M.Ed. program. Most recently, she was the manager of training and online learning for EYT (formerly Ernst and Young Technologies), managing and developing asynchronous and real-time e-learning solutions. Irbe says of e-learning, “Usually I teach in an asynchronous format. When I have actually met students or classmates face to face, they say, ‘Oh! I thought you would have your hair up in a bun and be wearing a gray pin-striped suit!” Contact agilat@concentric.net.
Dave Murphy is founder and membership director of the International Association of Information Technology Trainers (ITrain). He is also a professor, teaching both graduate and undergraduate IT and e-business courses at community colleges. In his office he keeps a solid brass compass from a World War II bomber that, he says, “reminds me every day to keep my efforts pointed in the right direction.” Murphy says he wishes someone had told him earlier in life how rewarding teaching can be. Contact member@itrain.org.
	Godfrey Parkin is president of MindRise, a custom-developer of e-learning courses for corporate campuses and training organizations. He is also an active contributor to emerging thinking and strategy in the e-learning field. Why e-learning? Parkin says that his first attempts at CBT made life easier for him, but not his learners. Then the Internet made two-way communication possible (even at 9.8 bps), and he never looked back. “For learners and instructors,” Parkin says, “e-learning transcends the mundane, amplifies human interaction, and makes geography and time less relevant.” Contact gparkin@mindrise.com.
Darwin Piatt, Jr. is senior business systems liaison for First National Merchant Solutions and adjunct instructor in computer and office technology for Metropolitan Community College. One of Piatt’s hobbies is his ham radio (call sign W9HZC); he once talked to an astronaut on the space shuttle with it. Why e-learning? “Why not?” Piatt retorts. “Well, duh!” Contact dpiatt@foomp.com.
	Edward Prentice III is president of Centrax Corporation, where he and his staff are dedicated to producing effective e-learning programs. He identifies himself as a workaholic in denial who wishes someone had told him to take more time to relax and recharge. Prentice believes e-learning will be effective if it’s developed to be user-centric. Engaging media elements such as 3D visualization and character animation, he says, can generate the same user interest as video games. Contact edward@centrax.com.
Elaine Voci is an e-learning futurist and consultant who previously served as director of corporate e-learning strategies for SkillSoft Corporation. Voci’s consulting practice includes researching; writing articles; and designing and leading international seminars on e-learning strategies, implementation, and corporate cultural transformation. Her name means “voice” in Italian--appropriate for her work as a speaker and writer. Why e-learning? “I love being on the cutting edge of the newest technologies that help people balance work and life demands,” Voci says. Contact evoci@insightbb.com.
Elaine Winters is a writer, instructional designer, and cross-cultural communicator who considers herself “under continuous construction.” She’s a principal of Program Facilitating and Consulting, which recently published her book Cultural Issues in Business Communication. She is also a guest author for a Duquesne University online course, Globalization of Educational Technology and Human Interaction. Contact ewinters@ix.netcom.com.
	Ann Yakimovicz is training manager of operations for First American Flood Data Services, a company in the First American Corporation. She spends her time winnowing strategic ideas from a variety of disciplines in order to enhance training and performance improvement efforts. Her hobbies include landscaping her rocky yard with native prairie plants and learning about wine. Contact annyak@ix.netcom.com.