Monthly Archives: March 2015

Ito presents on ‘connected learning’ at SXSWedu Conference

March 30, 2015

South by Southwest’s education conference (SXSWedu) held in Austin, Texas, invited research scientist Mimi Ito to present at its newly formed closing program in March. Ito discussed “connected learning,” the concept of harnessing information and social connectivity for education. She presented alongside GRAMMY Museum Executive Director Bob Santelli, actress and founder of Hawn Foundation Goldie Hawn, and Khan Academy founder and Executive Director Sal Khan.

The single-stage closing program highlighted unique educational convergences by exploring education through the lens of music, film and interactive technologies. “The closing session is a new format, and intended to bridge the education and interactive programs,” Ito says. “I think it is an important signal that we need to find ways to unite the social agenda of educational reform to innovative technology approaches.”

Ito’s discussion of connected learning advocated for using today’s tools to advance the longstanding goals of progressive education. “Too often, new educational technologies are used to reinforce traditional forms of education which we know are not effective or empowering to the learner. We have the opportunity to change that,” she says.

ICS Ph.D. Grad Receives Best Doctoral Dissertation Award from iSchools

March 23, 2015

Information Schools (iSchools) has awarded recent ICS Ph.D. graduate Xinru Page a Best Doctoral Dissertation Award for her dissertation “Factors that Influence Adoption and Use of Location-Sharing Social Media,” which seeks to understand real-world factors shaping behaviors and attitudes toward location-sharing social networks (LSSN), especially as to why people avoid or abandon this technology, or limit their usage. Page, now an assistant professor in computer information systems at Bentley University, was advised by Informatics Professor Alfred Kobsa. Her current research interests include privacy, technology adoption, interpersonal communication, social media and human computer interaction. During her time with ICS, she received a Dean’s Fellowship and Yahoo! Best Dissertation Fellowship Award. She will receive her latest $2,500 prize at this week’s iConference, iSchools’ international gathering of scholars and researchers concerned with critical information issues in contemporary society. The iSchools selection committee, drawn from leading international schools, noted that Page’s dissertation is timely and important, with one reviewer calling it “a multi-method tour de force which masterfully integrates qualitative and quantitative research.”

Read more about Page and the award here.