Michael W. Allen (born 1946) is an American software developer, educator, and author. He is known for his work on

e-learning Educational technology (commonly abbreviated as edutech, or edtech) is the combined use of computer hardware, software, and Education sciences, educational theory and practice to facilitate learning. When referred to with its abbreviation, edt ...

, and led the development of the

Authorware Adobe Authorware (previously Macromedia Authorware, originally Authorware) was an elearning authoring tool with its own interpreted, flowchart-based, graphical programming language. Authorware was used for creating interactive elearning programs ...

software.

Biography

Allen received a BA in psychology from

Cornell College Cornell College is a private college in Mount Vernon, Iowa. Originally the Iowa Conference Seminary, the school was founded in 1853 by George Bryant Bowman. Four years later, in 1857, the name was changed to Cornell College, in honor of iron ty ...

, and MA and Ph.D. from the

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

in educational psychology. From 1971 to 1984 Allen worked for

Control Data Corporation Control Data Corporation (CDC) was a mainframe and supercomputer firm. CDC was one of the nine major United States computer companies through most of the 1960s; the others were IBM, Burroughs Corporation, DEC, NCR, General Electric, Honeywel ...

on its

PLATO Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...

computer-based education system . He rose to be director of advanced educational systems R&D. Allen founded

in 1984, incorporating it in 1985. Authorware merged with

MacroMind MacroMind was an Apple Macintosh software company founded in Chicago in 1984 by Marc Canter, Jamie Fenton and Mark Stephen Pierce. The company's first product was SoundVision, a combined music and graphics editor. Before the release, the graphic ...

Paracomp Paracomp was a Macintosh programming company known for their 3D software, Swivel 3D and ModelShop and FilmMaker. FilmMaker was known for its packaging which was a 16mm film reel tin which was used to contain the software and manuals. Paracomp was ...

in 1992 to form

Macromedia Macromedia, Inc., was an American graphics, multimedia, and web development software company (1992–2005) headquartered in San Francisco, California, that made products such as Flash and Dreamweaver. It was purchased by its rival Adobe Systems ...

, which was later bought by

Adobe Systems Adobe Inc. ( ), originally called Adobe Systems Incorporated, is an American multinational computer software company incorporated in Delaware and headquartered in San Jose, California. It has historically specialized in software for the crea ...

. Allen formed a spinoff of the professional services division of Authorware called MediaPros, which was acquired by Lifetouch, Inc. a year later. He founde
Allen Interactions, Inc.
in 1993, acting as chairman and

Chief Executive Officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

. The company designs custom interactive e-learning applications and provides consulting and training services. He founded Allen Learning Technologies in 2010 and serves as chairman and Chief Executive Officer. The company announced project Zebra in 2010, a new e-learning authoring system. He is associated with the

University of Minnesota School of Public Health The University of Minnesota School of Public Health, located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, is a professional school of the University of Minnesota. The school offers 16 masters programs and four doctoral programs, which culminate in one of the follo ...

as an adjunct associate professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health. He consulted on a study that used e-learning to reduce the spread of

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...

. Allen is the author of several books, most notable being Michael Allen's Guide to e-Learning, and is editor of Michael Allen’s e-Learning Annual, first published in February 2008. In May 2011 the

American Society for Training & Development American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

presented him a distinguished contribution award. Allen was a 2012 Ellis Island Medal of Honor Recipient by the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations.

Books

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References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Michael W. People in educational technology 1946 births Living people American technology chief executives Cornell College alumni Ohio State University College of Education and Human Ecology alumni American technology company founders