About the Authors

Sharon Boller

Sharon Boller is president of Bottom-Line Performance (BLP), a company she founded in 1995, which is currently in its second year on the Inc. Fastest 5000 Growing Companies list. She is the product owner of BLP’s award-winning Knowledge Guru platform, which enables users to author and distribute game-based learning solutions. This platform earned the coveted Brandon Hall Gold award for best innovation in gaming and technology in 2014. Solutions generated from it have earned corporate partners Gold and Silver awards. In addition, BLP has earned numerous other awards for custom game-based solutions, including Horizon Awards, LTEN Awards, and Brandon Hall Awards.

Sharon partners with Karl Kapp in presenting the popular workshop Play to Learn: Designing Effective Learning Games for ATD LearnNow and for the eLearning Guild. She is also the author of Teamwork Training, and she wrote one of the chapters in Karl’s The Gamification of Learning and Instruction Fieldbook. Additionally, she has written numerous articles, blog posts, and whitepapers on game-based learning, learning science, and instructional design.

Sharon frequently speaks on game-based learning and learning design topics at the local and international level for eLearning Guild, ATD, CLO, Training magazine, and other industry groups. She earned a master’s degree in instructional systems technology at Indiana University.

Karl Kapp

Karl Kapp, EdD, is a professor, analyst, speaker, learning expert, and designer of instructional games and gamification. He is a full-time professor of instructional technology at Bloomsburg University, where he teaches subjects related to games, gamification, and learning technologies. He is the director of Bloomsburg’s Institute for Interactive Technologies, which works with organizations to create interactive instruction, including games, gamification solutions, and simulations. Karl’s work explores the research, theoretical foundations, and application of effective game-based learning. He is a TEDx and international speaker on the subjects of games, gamification, and learning innovation. Karl has served as a co–principle investigator on two National Science Foundation grants related to games and simulations, and has conducted research on a National Institutes of Health grant related to gamification.

Karl is founder of the educational consulting and game development firm The Wisdom Learning Group, where he consults internationally with Fortune 500 companies, government entities, and not-for-profit organizations in a variety of areas. This work includes helping them devise strategies around technology-based learning, game-based learning, gamification, instructional design, and learning technology strategy development. He is also co-founder of the educational games company 2K Learning.

Karl is passionate about sharing his knowledge and teaching others. To that end, he has authored or co-authored half a dozen books, including The Gamification of Learning and Instruction and The Gamification of Learning and Instruction Fieldbook. He has also authored several Lynda.com courses, including “Gamification of Learning” and “How to Increase Learner Engagement.” Follow his widely read blog at http://karlkapp.com/kapp-notes or on Twitter @kkapp.

Sharon and Karl have traveled the country conducting private and public workshops based on the ideas and techniques within this book for many different organizations. Together they have helped many people create engaging and effective learning games.