Karl Kapp, EdD, is an award-winning professor of instructional technology at Bloomsburg University in Bloomsburg, PA, where he teaches instructional game design, gamification classes, and online learning design. He is the director of Bloomsburg’s Institute for Interactive Technologies and is recognized internationally as an expert in the application of games, game-thinking, and gamification to learning. Karl earned his doctoral degree from the University of Pittsburgh.

He is currently a senior researcher on a grant sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which involves the application of microlearning and gamification to help childcare workers identify child abuse. Karl is the co-founder of Enterprise Game Stack, a company that has created a digital card game tool for instructional designers. He is also the creator of the popular web video series, The Unauthorized, Unofficial History of Learning Games.

Karl has authored or co-authored eight books including The Gamification of Learning and Instruction, and its accompanying field book, the widely popular, Play to Learn. His latest co-authored book with Robyn Defelice is Microlearning: Short and Sweet. Karl is author of ten LinkedIn Learning courses including “Learning How to Increase Learner Engagement” and has been a TEDx speaker. In 2019, he received the ATD Distinguished Contribution to Talent Development Award. The award is presented in recognition of an exceptional contribution that has had a sustained impact on field of the talent development.

In addition, Karl has created the L&D Mentor Academy. The academy is a community of like-minded organizations and individuals who desire to learn about advanced topics in the learning field who need to focus their L&D departments on innovation, performance consulting, and the latest technologies. The academy consists of live and self-paced courses designed to provide evidence-based practical tips, techniques, and approaches.

Karl’s academic and practitioner work explores the research, theoretical foundations, and practical application of gamification, game-thinking, and activity-based learning to organizational performance issues. His goal is to help organizations create engaging learning experiences through intelligent, research-based application of instructional strategies and techniques. He shares his expertise and knowledge through consulting, workshops, and one-on-one mentoring with start-up firms, Fortune 100 companies, and various governmental agencies. Follow him on Twitter @kkapp, or check out his website at karlkapp.com.