My research and evaluation interest focus on technology and new media as it intersects with free-choice learning environments. During my time at ILI, that has included projects in the US and abroad involving mobile phones, web sites and web 2.0, exhibit kiosks, augmented and mixed reality, novel data visualization systems, RFID tags and online learning. I am particularly interested in developing reliable and valid evaluation methodologies for online environments and deepening the theoretical knowledge base as it applies to technology and these environments. In addition, I work on institution-wide evaluation planning and the long-term impact of museum visits.
Online Computer Library Center Western Forum Keynote Address (2008). Museums and Libraries: Addressing learners' needs in the digital environment.
Invited workshop: Learning in Museums 2008: Technology, Interpretation and Learning in Museums. Evaluating Educational Technology
Invited workshop: NIH- SEPA 2008 Project Directors Meeting. Evaluating Educational Technology.
Visitor Studies Association Annual Meeting 2008, Facilitating Logic Models Workshop.
"Understanding the Intersection of Museum Audience Motivations and Technology" (2007) book chapter with Kirsten Ellenbogen and John Falk in Museum Informatics: People, Information, and Technology in Museums. New York: Taylor & Francis.
The Next Generation of Models: Alternative Applications of Program Logic Modeling, Visitor Studies Association, Annual Conference, August 2007
Cell Phones and Exhibitions 2.0: Moving Beyond the Pilot Stage, Museum and the Web Annual Conference, April 2007
Thinking Evaluatively: Gateway to Evaluation, Museums and the Web Annual Conference, April 2006
"Setting a Course for Research in the Virtual Science Center," (2005) book chapter with Lynn Dierking in E-learning and the Virtual Science Center, Idea Press, Hershey, PA.
"Geeked Out: Visitor-centered applications of new technology" Association of Science and Technology Centers Annual Meeting, October 2005
"Web-Based Surveys: Pros and Cons", Visitor Studies Annual Conference, August 2005
Invited Speaker for International Workshop, Munich, Germany. "User or science oriented? On-line educational tools offered by science museums. Theoretical basics, methodical problems, practical examples" April 2005
