JOSH GORDESKY

At the intersection of Ed Tech, AI, and learning

Visionary Leader | Purposeful Educator | Audacious Innovator

Learning fascinates me! I’m amazed at how the brain works, how ed tech combines with learning to enable and empower us to achieve and develop our skills and talents. I also see AI as a thought partner, which actually makes our human qualities more important than ever.

And it’s those qualities of curiosity, critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and resilience that drive me to design college level courses and training programs for corporate L&D initiatives. We’re living in a time of constant discovery and uncertainty in terms of thinking about how we should partner with all forms of AI from a learning and development perspective.

I leverage that sense of discovery and uncertainty to create student-centered, project-based learning opportunities through assignments and discussions. Most importantly, I provide timely, constructive, and non-AI/very human feedback. Students should feel heard and valued as they make adjustments in their thinking and in the quality of their work so that they can achieve new levels of mastery and confidence.

I’m excited to contribute to this field of knowledge. This site provides a glimpse into how I’m thinking about learning, teaching, and AI. I look forward to hearing what you think about those ideas as well!

THE FULL
PICTURE

02 — ABOUT

Since 2024, I have served as a part-time adjunct lecturer at Rutgers University where I teach an undergraduate course, Developing Talent. I developed the course specifically as a student-centered, project-based learning experience taught in both online and hybrid formats.

Curious about the evolving role of artificial intelligence in education, I integrate AI fluency concepts into the design of assignments and assessments. This empowers students as they create their mindsets and workflows needed to collaborate effectively with generative AI platforms so they can lead AI-enhanced projects for work and personal enrichment.

A former captain in the U.S. Air Force, I bring more than 20 years of experience in learning and development across military, higher education, and corporate environments. In addition to my academic role, I currently work full time as a Learning Facilitation Lead at Humana, supporting the Group Benefits team.

I also served as the Learning Technologies Director for Noodle Partners, an online program manager, where I created the strategic plans for integrating technology tools into online graduate programs for top universities.

I was the president of Game Plan Communications, a communication skills training firm that I founded that provided executive coaching and delivered training programs for clients in finance, insurance, utilities, and other commercial sectors.

I have earned my PhD in Learning Technologies from the University of North Texas in 2016 through their distance learning section and is an alum of University of Texas at Austin.

03 — TEACHING

STUDENT-CENTERED
LEARNING

teaching responsibilities

I’m responsible for designing and delivering “Developing Talent”, which is a 15-week hybrid undergraduate course, along with a 12-week asynchronous version.

I leverage AI and other productivity tools to map and align learning objectives so there’s a red thread that connects the program goals, course goals, and module objectives.

In addition, I create engaging LMS pages and flows using the Cidi Labs DesignPLUS features to present a clean, crisp learner-focused journey within each module that’s easy to navigate and complete multimedia assignments on all devices.

teaching
philosophy

I view teaching as a fascinating personal and rewarding challenge. My goal in creating student-focused learning experiences is to provide students with multiple opportunities to use their curiosity and critical thinking skills in solving real-world problems through a scaffolded series of assignments.

I carefully select technology tools that enhance communication and collaboration to achieve the course and module outcomes.

Through these assignments, students develop persistency skills to overcome their own challenges, which then builds their confidence and internal motivation to direct their own learning journeys.

03 — TEACHING

DEVELOPING TALENT

SPRING (HYBRID) | SUMMER (ONLINE) | FALL (HYBRID)

AFTER COMPLETING THIS course you will be able to answer the question: “How do I develop talent in our AI driven world?”

Talent Development Strategist

You can discuss talent development plans and methods to create a learning culture for an organization to achieve business goals. In addition, you can conduct needs assessments to make recommendations based on research-backed learning principles to build engaging, ROI-focused training initiatives.

Digital Storyteller

You can present your ideas in a clear, concise, and impactful way in person, through a podcast, and with PPT slides on a video. You will demonstrate a keen ability to focus on a theme that’s delivered in a confident, conversational tone. You will also be able to provide targeted feedback for peers to improve their presentations.

Tech/AI Advisor

You can explore, analyze, and evaluate the pros and cons of using generative AI to meet a project’s requirements. You will be able to apply AI literacy skills to help an organization develop their internal AI policies. In addition, you can work with simple HTML codes, videos, and tech tools to achieve learning goals.

Download SPRING ‘26 SYLLABUS

COURSE FEEDBACK

Below are end of course student survey responses and ratings

FALL 2025

Professor Gordesky has supported my intellectual growth by being available when I had questions. I was able to email him, and he explained things clearly and helped me understand the material. He also met with me on Zoom when I missed class, which helped me stay on track. At first, I didn’t think I would like the class on the first day, but it ended up becoming my favorite. He kept us engaged every session, and I was always participating and learning something new.

I really liked the detailed feedback he always gave on our assignments. He would review our submissions and provide advice or comments based on what he reviewed.

SUMMER 2025

I like the format of the workload. He gave us an estimate of how long each assignment should take which helped me schedule out when I will get around to it. I also like the concept of the "I need a break" passes, since it is easy to get overwhelmed and knowing that that is accessible definitely took the pressure off if I had a lot going on during a particular week, and he made sure that we scheduled a meeting with him if we were to use one to make sure that we can get the support we need. I only used one, but it made the difference in my week.

Dr. Gordesky clearly shows that he cares about his student's growth. His assignments were created in ways to ensure that we were learning, and he made us use canvas eportfolio since it is a skill that will benefit us in the future.

04 — AI & LEARNING DESIGN

THOUGHT
LEADERSHIP

Meetings

Designing for Impact: Enhancing Student Learning Through ID-Faculty Collaboration on QM Standards

Feb 20, 2025 - Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations

CONFERENCES

Assessing Learning with Al:
What Works Across Modalities

Mar 16, 2026 - RUOnline Conference

Instructional Design Samples

Let’s discuss on a call