About Jay Cross

Jay Cross (internettime.com) has challenged conventional wisdom about how adults learn since designing the first business degree program offered by the University of Phoenix thirty years ago. “I am dedicated to making people more effective in their work and happy in their lives,” says Jay. “My calling is to change the world by helping people learn to learn.”

Jay coined the term eLearning. He co-authored Implementing eLearning, founded Internet Time Group, served as CEO of eLearning Forum for its first five years, and writes a column on effectiveness for CLO magazine.

He is the author of Informal Learning: Rediscovering the Natural Pathways that Inspire Innovation and Performance (Pfeiffer, October 2006). You may read his latest articles here.

Jay is a popular speaker, having keynoted the Online Banking Association, Online Educa Berlin, Training, I-KNOW, eLearn International, eMerging eLearning, and eLearning conferences. He has spoken at ASTD, TDF, Bank Marketing Association, eLearning Producer, eLearning Guild Colloquiam, & many in-house groups.

An internationally acclaimed strategist, speaker, and designer of corporate learning and performance systems, Jay is a graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Business School.

Jay and his wife Uta live with two miniature longhaired dachshunds in the hills of Berkeley, California.

Contact Jay by email or call 1.510.528.3105 (office & cell) or Skype: jaycross

A recent engagement and other sample engagements

Publicity photos

What others say

“Jay is an evangelist of the intelligent application of new learning methods and tools, and he helps organizations improve the performance of their people by speeding up their learning. Jay is also an absolutely great presenter, a good writer, and a sharp mind to work with.” Robin Good

“Internet Time dominates the North American eLearning information landscape. I just can’t believe any other site comes close. At Learning Designs Online, it is now our principal point of reference. You should charge for this–it is truely awesome.” Al Bailey

“Take a mega-high IQ, some Berkeley attitude, a dose of e-learning curiosity and you get Jay Cross. For opinion and analysis, nothing is as interesting or fun as Jay’s blog.” Kevin Kruse, eLearning Guru

“When I started in this field, your site was one of those that quickly got me up to date and current on the subject. Plus, I find that what you put up is very much ‘ahead of the curve.’” Rod Savoie

elearnspace interview with Jay

Greenwood Gazette column on Jay

“There are several blogs in the e-learning space, but the longest running and most robust blog comes from Jay Cross at Internet Time Group.” Marc Rosenberg, Beyond eLearning

“You give us Europeans an opportunity to follow the hottest e-learning topics being discussed in the USA.” Kari Mikkel

“I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again…you’ve got the best e-learning reference source on the web.” Ned Davis

“I’ve just spent the better part of the day wandering around your Internet Time/ eLearning site in search of a good keynoter for our conference next August. You really have too much information there and you’ve displayed it too well.”

“Internet Time is the most useful elearning site on the web.” Dennis Callahan

“Jay Cross, among just a few others, gives me the impetus to keep on moving ahead into uncharted territory.” Michael Hotrum

“Very few times have I bumped into a presentation material around the world of Learning and Knowledge that I may have enjoyed just as much as the one I have just been through from Jay Cross over at Informal Learning. It is titled Informal Learning Research Findings. There are just so many things that Jay mentions throughout the presentation that in itself it is just worth while the time to go through it. It is not too long so you can just sit down, relax and enjoy the show. Because it certainly has been one of those presentations worth while listening and learning from.” Luis Suarez

“I enjoyed the session and especially the opportunity to meet you. I think your perspectives on informal learning are spot on in the context of our broader shift from push to pull worlds. All the best, John” John Hagel, III

It would be impossible for you to remember me, so first a little reminder. Nearly four years ago I wrote to you (and many other people) who I thought would be able to give me some advice. I had come to a crossroads in my life; I had been working for over twenty years as a self employed journeyman trainer staying in a never ending stream of Holiday Inns, setting up the classroom and delivering the message to a new group of 25 participants every week. To be honest it had its moments, but mostly I missed my family and felt as if I was taking a cup of water to the ocean. So…. I decided something had to change, but what?

That’s where you came in. I wrote asking for advice, what direction should I take, where was the future. I told you I was unsure about e-learning (as it appeared to be back then) and that I wanted to be in touch with people. I said I was passionate about learning and loved helping people to discover what they were capable of.

You wrote back almost immediately and told me to investigate blended learning (you were the only one who did write back). I wrote back to you with more questions, what is it exactly? Is there a ‘course’ I can take to be certified? (I was still hung up on courses) who is doing this? You replied once again and told me the only way to get into working with blended learning was to get a job with a company who was doing it, and the only way to get a job was to get some experience, and… the only way to get some experience was to get a job. That’s when I picked up the phone and called you. You gave me some great advise, which I followed to the letter and landed my first six-month contract in a dynamic design team in one of the worlds biggest companies.

What has happened since then has been a roller coaster ride of success and fun. I now love every moment of every day. My ‘work’ is just so interesting…. My family life has blossomed and grown into something spectacular, and my outside work interests are introducing me to people, places and satisfaction levels I never dreamed possible. I could fill a book with what has happened to me since you gave me your time.

So…I wanted to say thank you. I had a collection of half-baked ideas and half finished initiatives, but with your guidance and coaching I was able to get it all in a line and start living the life I wanted. I have achieved so much the last three and a half years, and I have so much ahead of me that I now have to live to be at least 200!

Jay, you helped me when I was totally lost and confused, so thank you once again (I’ve discovered since I started writing this that I haven’t got the words to express my gratitude). I have one word written on a small card stuck to my shaving mirror and that is ‘grateful’

About Informal Learning

Do you live for the next book on business management trends and innovative practices? Are there motivational problems in your work environment? Are you tired of being “trained”? Are you a learning revolutionary interested in nontraditional and informal learning avenues? If so, you will find much value in this book since it cuts at the heart of recent technology, business management, and psychology trends. Enjoy it! Curtis J. Bonk, Professor, Indiana University and President, SurveyShare, Inc.

Nobody more than Jay Cross has been more dutiful in keeping his finger on the pulse of that strange being whose body is technology and whose soul is learning, an entity which he was the first to call “e-learning” before it was hijacked by opportunistic dotcom vendors. Even back then, Jay was talking about how technology enhances – not replaces – what people do ever so naturally as they build their skills and acquire their professional competencies: use human networks to exchange information and wisdom, tips and tricks, secrets of context and thereby create and maintain their professional culture, their garden of learning (what Jay calls Learnscape). His message hasn’t changed, but the distracting illusion created by the marketplace that technology alone might do the job has largely subsided. This book marks a critical moment in the history of learning. It’s what people do, feel, say and share that counts, within an increasingly flexible technological framework that adds value everywhere but creates none itself. “Informal Learning” provides the facts, clues, case studies and detailed anecdotes that will give the reader more than just a feel for what it’s all about. There is much needed wisdom in every page. Peter Isackson, Intersmart, Paris

“Inside many organizations most staff hates to go to training classes as it just feels like going back to school. In the same organizations there is often also no opportunity for leveraging your own research, exploratory and testing skills. No time to allow you to sit down and learn from others. No area where to meet and discuss how to make the next project be more efficient. If you work in one such organization and believe there is a different way to go, you need to read this book.” Robin Good, Robin Good Online Publishing Network