Contributors

Federal Organizations

The National Science Foundation - an independent US government agency responsible for promoting science and engineering through research programs and education projects
Smithsonian's National Museum of American History - Division of Information Technology and Society

Universities

Arizona State University's Educational Technology Graduate Program - M.Ed. and Ph.D. programs focusing on the design, development and evaluation of learning environments, and on theory and research into the use of technology in applied settings.
Harvard University's Graduate School of Education - one of nine professional schools that make up Harvard University. At its core, HGSE is a research institution articulating, analyzing, and evaluating education theory, policy, and practice from the perspective of individual learners to whole nations.

Participating States

In 2007-2008, approximately 100 teachers implemented River City with over 5,000 students in North America. In the U.S., teachers in twelve states (Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Texas, and Wisconsin) successfully implemented River City.

People

Chris Dede

Chris Dede is the Timothy E. Wirth Professor in Learning Technologies at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education (HGSE). His fields of scholarship include emerging technologies, policy, and leadership. In 2007, he was honored by Harvard University as an outstanding teacher, and in 2011 he was named a Fellow of the American Educational Research Association. Chris has served as a member of the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Foundations of Educational and Psychological Assessment, a member of the U.S. Department of Education’s Expert Panel on Technology, and a member of the 2010 National Educational Technology Plan Technical Working Group. His edited books include: Scaling Up Success: Lessons Learned from Technology-based Educational Improvement, Digital Teaching Platforms: Customizing Classroom Learning for Each Student, and Teacher Learning in the Digital Age: Online Professional Development in STEM Education.

Shari Metcalf

Shari Metcalf is the Project Director of the EcoXPT and EcoMOD projects at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and was previously the Project Director of EcoMUVE and EcoMOBILE. Her research focuses on educational technology projects in STEM education, including research on computer-based data collection and analysis tools for middle school science students. Her PhD research involved the design and development of Model-It, a software tool for students building models of dynamic systems. Her professional interest centers on the design of modeling, simulation, and immersive environments to support inquiry-based STEM learning.

San Chye Cheng

Jody Clarke

Jody is a learning scientist whose research explores how virtual environments and serious games can be used to engage under-represented students in STEM. Her research bridges numerous areas: study of the development of science inquiry skills, socio-cultural aspects of learning, equity, learning and assessment in virtual environments, and mixed methods research.

Linda Kaye Davenport

Linda's research interests examine the advancement and enhancement of positive, technology literate environments for teaching and learning through multiple intelligences. Prior to beginning her doctoral studies, she worked in Elementary Education in schools throughout Arizona and Texas. She enjoys writing poetry and prose, reading, singing, dramatic arts, examining various cultures, playing the clarinet, practical ministry, and helping others.

Ed Dieterle

Ed’s research interests focus on the psychosocial and policy aspects of learning and teaching with current and emerging technologies. In regard to teaching and learning, his primary research interests focus on media-based learning styles made possible by multiuser virtual environments and augmented realities, which support the situational and distributional nature of cognition with respect to thinking, learning, and doing. In terms of policy, he is primarily interested in issues related to secondary school reform and educational technology policies. At the nexus of policy and practice, he is most interested in how policy, learning science, and practice can collaborate to harness the power of tools that streamline administrative tasks, amplify social constructivism among learners inside and outside of schools, and better capture and represent what students know and are able to do.

Eugenia Garduño

Eugenia Garduño is experienced in educational research and evaluation. Her research interests include the introduction of emerging technologies in schools serving rural and indigenous populations in Latin America, as well as studying the factors that contribute to successful implementation, scaling and sustainability of such educational technology initiatives. Prior to coming to the U.S. she worked for close to ten years in Mexico, primarily in the field of higher education, at the ministry of education and in a public university. She was also a member of the Latin American Institute for Educational Communication (ILCE) team that coordinated the design of a distance education program for Mexico, financed in part by the Inter-American Development Bank. More recently, she collaborated with several professors from the Harvard Graduate School of Education in evaluating " Enciclomedia ", a national program in Mexico, aimed at introducing a digitized curriculum for 5th and 6th graders.

Diane Jass Ketelhut

Diane’s research interests center on scientific inquiry, specifically looking at the effects of (a) inquiry on science self-efficacy, (b) using emerging technologies to deliver scientific inquiry curricula on student learning and engagement, (c) professional development in scientific inquiry on helping teachers integrate scientific inquiry into their curricula, and (d) different methods of assessing scientific inquiry. In her teaching, she provides students with scientific inquiry experiences meant to engage them and challenge them to confront their own preconceptions.

Brian Nelson

Brian currently has several research foci, including: (a) designing and evaluating educational multiuser virtual environments, (b) designing and evaluating adaptive guidance systems, and (c) designing and evaluating learning environments for second language learners.

Janet Smith

Janet comes to River City with a background in education and technology and a strong interest in science education. Before joining River City, she was the Project Coordinator for the Usable Knowledge Web site at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Prior to working at Harvard, she was a technical writer and documentation architect at Lotus Development Corporation and IBM. She holds an Ed. M. from Boston University and has experience teaching children (K-6) and training adults to use computer applications.