InFluential_Magazine_May_June_2017

influential-magazine.com
SANDRA CIMBRICZ,
PH.D.
Director of Research and Learning Design,
Second Avenue Learning | Rochester, New York
Who She Is: Sandra has built her reputation as a learning
design expert with a specialty in digital learning.
She is known for her efforts to reform educational policy
and practice in K-12 and higher education, as well
as her ability to translate cutting-edge theory and research
into practice.
Passion For Education: Efforts to infuse game-based
learning into instructional design reflect her longheld
commitment to helping learners gain the skills
they need to enhance their lives and our world. Educational
gaming and well-designed interactives feature
learning more in line with what today’s learners
value and greatly need – imaginative engagement,
persistence, sustained interest, timely feedback and
frequent collaboration.
Why Now is The Time To Innovate Education:
When it comes to learning, video games and their
powerful interactivity have been ‘game changers.’
Current research suggests that learners are ‘hardwired’
to learn through play, experimentation and
interactivity. Today’s technology provides learners
with a medium that enables interactive learning
and provides reliable data to measure the impact of
the tools they are using. What’s clear: Strategic use
of game-based learning is likely to more effectively
engage, excite and motivate learners.
Desired Legacy: Sandra wants her love of fun and
games, but especially learning, to be remembered.
Her legacy will be evident by the solutions she develops
to engender highly-engaged learners and make
greatness attainable by all, especially those who struggle.
For Sandra, her goal is to transform, not merely
change, education.
MAY / JUNE 2017
FLUENTIAL 127