Event Type: Discussion
Event Date: October 14-18, 2019
Join the Integrating Technology and Program Management Groups as a panel of cutting-edge experts share examples of innovations in AI, VR, and AR that have been specifically designed for adult learners, or that have been designed for K-12 students and have promise for adult basic skills learners. Using these examples, participants will learn techniques for using AI with adult learners. The panelists will participate in an ongoing discussion about these technologies and be available to answer questions as participants learn about and engage with the models. Many AI, VR, and AR technologies discussed are designed to improve attendance, retention, completion, and learner gains.
Panelists include:
- Art Graesser, PhD. Dr. Graesser is a professor in the Department of Psychology and the Institute of Intelligent Systems at the University of Memphis. Art Graesser and his University of Memphis colleagues, working with the Center for the Study of Adult Literacy at Georgia State University, have developed and tested the use of AutoTutor, an intelligent tutoring system that holds conversations with adult learners in natural language.
- Cindy Ball. As Program Manager for Oculus Education, Cindy Ball has 20 years of experience in product development, team and client management, and providing creative, technical, strategic and operational leadership, with a focus on consumer-facing interactive products. At Oculus VR her focus has been understanding how VR can have a unique and positive impact on learning, and supporting equitable access to VR technologies.
- Susan Gaer. An emeritus professor of English, specializing in ESL at Santa Anna College in Southern California, Susan Gaer has been a subject matter expert and technology integration professional development specialist for the Outreach and Technical Assistance Network (OTAN), California’s statewide adult basic skills technology professional development organization. She has focused on using VR with ESL students from beginning to advanced levels.
- Cliff Archey. As Senior Education Program Manager for IBM Corporate Social Responsibility, in his current role Cliff Archey is the Offering Manager for Teacher Advisor With Watson, managing the strategic direction and implementation of this free AI-enhanced planning tool for teachers.
- Johan E. Uvin, Ph.D. As President of Institute for Educational Leadership, Dr. Uvin’s work in the field of adult basic skills education, including ESOL/ESL. He first engaged in Virtual Reality work when he represented the federal government on a Virtual and Augmented Reality Summit where he promoted the use of VR for training and development purposes. He subsequently provided oversight to the EdSim Challenge. Most recently, he has been working with Oculus to expand VR applications in the education sector, particularly focused on creating access to hardware and applications in communities where children, youth, and adults never get to access these new emerging technologies due to lack of resources.
- Robert Murphy, Ph. D. is a Senior Policy Researcher at the RAND Corporation. Before joining RAND, Dr. Murphy was the director of evaluation research for SRI International’s Center for Technology in Learning where he was the Principle Investigator for the Technologies for Adult Basic Literacies Evaluation (TABLE) study. Dr. Murphy’s research focuses on research and evaluation of innovative educational and workforce training programs and technologies. He is author of Artificial Intelligence Applications to Support K–12 Teachers and Teaching, A Review of Promising Applications, Opportunities, and Challenges.