 Accenture
50 W. San Fernando Street, Suite 1200
San Jose, CA 95113
USA
Research Interests I have a background in computer science (especially artificial intelligence), cognitive science and the learning sciences, and over 15 years of experience working on R&D activities at the intersection of computer science, human learning and human performance. A main emphasis during much of that time has been on the design of interactive software that supports learning by doing, and enhances people’s ability to perform their jobs.
Recent Projects Business Radar: The objective is to help a company’s managers spot threats and opportunities as early as possible by providing highly customized, up-to-date, actionable business intelligence that is automatically gathered from external sources, filtered, aggregated and analyzed in relation to a model of the company’s business issues and relationships, and then displayed in various easy-to-use formats. The project’s core research focus is on exploring what it takes to create models that the system can effectively employ to guide the filtering, aggregation and analysis processes. We are, specifically, working to develop a standard framework for representing (1) the business relationships that a company participates in (e.g., the product types, brands and models it produces; the products and services it buys and the suppliers it buys from; the companies it competes with and which of its brands and models compete with which of theirs; the customers that it targets, and so forth), and (2) the types of business events that represent potential warning signs associated with classes of threats and opportunities for a given business and industry. Then, by integrating a variety of analysis engines (including some that have been developed by other researchers in the Labs) around these models, the project seeks to translate the overwhelming deluge of public information into organized, actionable forms to support business decision-making. We're simultaneously working on several challenging aspects of the project: the representation of the models, scoping out associated tools for authoring those models, designing the integration architecture, development of a text-processing engine, the integration architecture and designing the output displays, so we have our hands quite full! Remote Avatar: I've also been starting to work with some colleagues to explore some simple, practical applications of robotics, especially to support the informal interaction between remote colleagues through the use of a robotic avatar.
Selected Publications Research Papers Supporting Operational Agility Through A New Generation of Learning Technologies
Alex Kass, Ryan M. LaSalle and Katharina A. Probst
[Abstract] [Paper (PDF, 198K)]
PDF Help Book Chapters / Journal Articles Computer Environments Designed to Promote Cognitive Change through the Development of Well–Reasoned Recommendations
With J. Herman. In Humane Interfaces: Questions of Method and Practice in Cognitive Technology. J. Marsh, B. Gorayska, and J. Mey, eds
1999
Elsevier/North-Holland, New York Review Articles and Brief Notes Review of Case Studies in the Design of Learning Environments
Contemporary Psychology. 43(9)
1998 Public Presentations and Conference Papers Designing an Online, Distributed, Project-Based Course in Mobile Autonomous Robotics
Appeared in Proceedings of 2004 AAAI Spring Symposium in Accessible AI and Robotics Education
2004
Palo Alto, CA Technology and the Future of Learning
Shirley Ryan Lifelong Learning Course
1999
Northwestern University, Evanston, IL Balancing Structure and Flexibility in a Class of Computer-Based Educational Simulations
With J. Herman. Proceedings of the 1998 International Conference of the Learning Sciences.
American Association for Computers in Education (AACE)
1998
Charlottesville, VA Authoring Tools for Intelligent Tutoring Systems
Panel discussion at The 1998 Conference on Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS-98)
1998
San Antonio, Texas Strategies for Integrating Experts' Stories into Learning-by-Doing Systems
Presentation as part of panel discussion on The Use of “War Stories” in Intelligent Learning Environments. Panel discussion at The 1998 Conference on Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS-98)
1998
San Antonio, Texas The Medium is the Wrong Message: A Picture May or May Not be Worth a Thousand Words, but a Meaningful Experience Can be Worth Millions
Keynote address, People on the Edge conference, Chicago Chapter, International Society for Performance Improvement
1998
Motorola University
Education - Bachelor's in computer science, Brown University, 1983
- Ph.D., computer science, Yale University, 1990
Personal Interests These days the personal lives of my wife and I revolve largely around our four-year-old son. We spend a lot of time with children's books, games, shows, music and websites. We also spend a lot of time enjoying seeing the beautiful vistas of Northern California through a child's eyes.  To Top
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