PETTT Spring Forum 2001:
Locating the Learner:
Educational Uses of Technology and Rich Media

Thursday, May 24 2001 Mary Gates Hall 389 Opening Remarks: Dr. Patricia Wasley Dean, College of Education Keynote 1: Dr. Ricki Goldman-Segall Professor, Computer and Information Sciences, New Jersey Institute of Technology "Computers, Cultures and Constructions: Locating the Learner in the Con/Text of Digital Video Cases" Keynote 2: Dr. Reed Stevens Assistant Professor, Cognitive Studies in Education, UW "Video Traces: Media Rich Annotations for Learning and Teaching" One of PETTT's areas of focus is the use of "rich media" to support teaching and learning, which was the theme of our 2001 Spring Forum. Innovative uses of video, audio, text, and graphics make it possible for the learner to engage in knowledge creation activities and provide opportunities to participate in communities of practice. We invited two keynote speakers and created opportunities for members of the UW community to discuss how they have used rich media in their own teaching. A reception followed in Mary Gates Hall Commons. People from Adobe, Apple, Macromedia, and Real Networks were there to show off their productivity tools.

Biographical sketches

Dr. Ricki Goldman-Segall, Professor, Computer and Information Sciences, New Jersey Institute of Technology

Internationally recognized as the pioneer of an emerging field of study called Digital Video Ethnography, Dr. Ricki Goldman-Segall has recently accepted a position as Professor of Information Systems at the New Jersey Institute of Technology where she will set up a laboratory dedicated to understanding the role of digital tools and video cases in learning systems. After completing her doctorate at MIT's Media Lab in 1990, Goldman-Segall established the Multimedia Ethnographic Research Laboratory (MERLin) in the Faculty of Education at the University of British Columbia where she and her team of graduate researchers conducted longitudinal video-based research and designed media rich video tools and cases. Among her invited presentations is the AERA 1999 President's State of the Art in Technology Address. Her book, Points of Viewing of Children's Thinking: A Digital Ethnographer's Journey (LEA, 1998), was nominated for the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Best Book Award for its innovation as a research volume with accompanying web site for viewing and annotating video cases: www.pointsofviewing.com. Her scholarly articles and chapters cross the disciplinary boundaries of anthropology, media studies, information systems, cognitive science, feminist pedagogy, and educational reform and can be found at the MERLin web site, www.merlin.ubc.ca.

Reed Stevens, Assistant Professor, Cognitive Studies in Education, University of Washington

Dr. Reed Stevens' research examines and compares cognitive activity in classrooms, workplaces, and science museums. On the basis of this comparative work, he is exploring new ways to conceptualize cognition and experimenting with new ways to organize learning environments. His specific interests include how mathematical activity contributes to various settings and how technology mediates thinking and learning. His multidisciplinary research draws on cognitive science, interactionist traditions, and the social studies of science and technology.