A life in training

Select Quotes: Good luck happens, don’t ignore it. Recognize it for what it is and, if it fits, take advantage of it–a road of travel I should have followed more carefully. Those of us working with research discovery or advancement need to be better prepared to answer the “so what” question about its monetary (does it save money?) and operational (does it increase missions success?) return on investment. This preparation is often neglected and/or ignored in research circles. The world may not be our oyster, but the need to understand and apply emerging instructional capabilities and technologies to, and across, education and training activities continues to escalate and never ends. In an applied world, even more than in the ethereal world of academic theory, anything that works or might work goes. . . . there is substantial value in communicating and collaborating with colleagues in related and/or relevant disciplines such as computer science, engineering in general, human factors, economics, statistics (of course), cultural anthropology, linguistics, and so forth. This value seems especially evident in practical applications where the issue of what works is paramount, and it may be better accepted outside of university departments where relevance and dedication to a particular discipline may be of more value for advancement than cooperation across discipline boundaries.