Research

I am in the midst of two comprehensive projects:

Capstone

A doctorate in education is a “scholar practitioner” degree, balancing the theoretical work of a scholar with the practical work of a professional.  To that end, Pepperdine’s doctoral program in Learning Technologies has replaced the comprehensive examination component of the degree with an interdisciplinary culmination project where we are to imagine the next five to ten years of learning, and build a practical model to address this future, utilizing theories from our coursework.

I am interested in creating an application for a tablet device that allows for authentic interaction between subject and object in a museum space.  Such apps have been part of the New Media Consortium’s imagined futures for several years.

New Media Consortium - Imagined Futures in the Horizon Report - from Seb Chan's blog Fresh and New(er)

Despite the interest in and focus on tablet-based computing, the offerings currently presented by museums do not achieve the possibilities the technology affords.  With very few exceptions, most apps are a watered-down version of the museum website, serving as an advertisement rather than a learning portal.  While researchers and scholars discuss the bountiful opportunities of tablet-based apps, the reality does not realize that.

More to come…