LEARNING TECHNOLOGIES
“If we teach today as we taught yesterday, we rob our children of tomorrow.”
—John Dewey
We are a collaborative and interdisciplinary group that studies, teaches and designs innovative and equitable technologies and learning environments for students, teachers and practitioners working in a variety of settings.
Explore What We Offer
Our Degree Programs
Corporate Learning Professional Certificate (entirely online)
Learn to design, develop, and manage corporate learning solutions such as eLearning courses, online and virtual programs, and other interventions to support organizations of all sizes with Georgia State’s online graduate certificate in corporate learning. Four courses from the master of science program in instructional design and technology come together to make up this 12-hour certificate.
Learn more about this program »
Instructional Design and Technology, Graduate Certificate (entirely online)
The online graduate certificate in instructional design and technology prepares you for careers as instructional designers and technologists. Professionals in these positions support the learning function of a variety of types of organizations by creating learning solutions using a systematic design process. Complete the graduate certificate to reach your career goals or move on to the full M.S. program. You will gain the skills necessary to analyze, design, develop, implement, evaluate, and manage learning and technology training programs, including corporate and industry learning development projects.
Learn more about this program »
Online Learning Design and Development, Graduate Certificate (entirely online)
Online learning design is a high-demand field. Whether you want to learn how to develop multimedia e-Learning or online virtual learning courses for your company, this 12-hour online graduate certificate in online learning design and development will make you career-ready.
Computer Science Endorsement (entirely online)
The computer science endorsement program is 100% online and designed for teachers who are interested in adding computer science to a current teaching certificate in another content area. Candidates who successfully complete the program are prepared to teach computer science courses at the pre-kindergarten through the 12th-grade level. The courses are designed to accommodate the schedules of working, in-service teachers, and pre-service teachers in full-time programs.
Instructional Design and Technology, M.S. (entirely online)
The Masters of Science degree in Instructional Design & Technology is a 100% online program that prepares practitioners for positions as instructional designers in corporate, government, education, and a range of industries. Graduates from our program work in a variety of settings to support the learning function for organizations by analyzing, designing, developing, implementing, and evaluating learning solutions. The program offers coursework, internships, professional e-portfolio support, and opportunities to work with our Atlanta learning community partners to earn course credit while co-developing innovative learning solutions.
Instructional Technology, Ph.D.
The Instructional Technology Ph.D. program prepares students to conduct research, design, and evaluate technology-enhanced learning environments. Our interdisciplinary approach prepares students to address issues of equity, access and quality within the instructional technology field. Specialty areas include computer science education, Artificial Intelligence (AI) augmented teaching and learning, enacting equity-focused pedagogy online, maker-based learning and information visualizations. Graduates work in various sectors including K-12 schools, higher education, business, industry and government agencies.
Learning Sciences Doctoral Student Association
This is dedicated to supporting all graduate students through providing activities that foster research, support learning and strengthen our community. For more information, contact [email protected].
Graduate Instructional Technology Students
GrITS! Our goal is to provide a website that all graduate students within Learning Sciences (LS) can use and help further or advance their education here at Georgia State! Visit GrITS.
Careers
Several Graduate Certificate Programs are offered to help practitioners working in similar positions and related fields transition to new career opportunities as Instructional Designers, Online Learning Designers, and Corporate Learning Professionals. Each program requires a minimum of 12-credit hours of coursework that can be used to earn the M.S. degree in Instructional Design & Technology.
Certificates
Corporate Learning Professional Certificate
- Our recent graduates are working as instructional designers and learning experienced designers in a wide variety of corporate and education settings.
Instructional Design & Technology Certificate
- Our recent graduates are working as instructional designers and learning technologists in a wide variety of corporate and education settings.
Online Learning Design & Development Certificate
- Alumni are working in a wide variety of education, training, and development areas, including the non-profit and military sectors.
Computer Science Endorsement
- This endorsement is for any pre-service or in-service teacher who wants to add the field of computer science to a teaching certificate in another content area.
Master’s Degree
- Recent graduates of the program hold the following positions
- Instructional Designers
- Learning Experience Designers
- Performance Technology Consultants
- Learning Technology Coordinators
- eLearning Developers
Doctoral Degree
- Recent graduates of the program hold the following positions
- University instructors
- Clinical faculty
- Research professors
- Leadership positions in edtech companies
- Instructional designers at higher education institutions
Our Faculty
Research Highlights
Click the blue dots below to scroll through our various research projects that students can get involved with.
Computer Science Education in K-12
Lauren Margulieux researches computer science education in K-12. Specifically, she explores ways of integrating computer science into other subjects (e.g., science, art, or humanities) to support learning in those subjects while building computational literacy. She works closely with teacher preparation programs at Georgia State and with the Georgia Department of Education to apply her work. If you are interested in conducting research on computer science education or using computer science to support other areas of education, please contact her at [email protected].
Constructionist Learning Environments
Jonathan Cohen, Ph.D. focuses his research on constructionist learning environments. His research explores the maker movement in education and focuses on making in kindergarten through 12th-grade learning environments and on preparing teachers to leverage maker principles and technologies in their practice. If you are interested in discussing doctoral research in these or related areas, contact him at [email protected].
Digital Media, Learning and Professional Development
Brendan Calandra is a professor and chair of the Department of Learning Sciences at Georgia State in Atlanta, Georgia. His research and teaching focus on digital media, learning and professional development. Some of his projects include using rich and immersive technologies to help novice teachers learn from practice teaching; designing technology-enhanced safety awareness training; and providing authentic, technology-rich learning experiences for underserved and marginalized youth. His work has been funded by private, non-profit, state and federal organizations.
If you are interested in doing your doctoral work in these areas contact Dr. Calandra at [email protected].
Creative Adaptive Learning Environments
Min Kyu Kim, Ph.D. focuses his research on creating adaptive learning environments. To this end, he addresses these challenges:
- How can we personalize and advance learning experiences with formative assessment and feedback methods?
- How can we design highly accessible learner experiences using learning technologies that deepen learner engagement?
To date, he has engaged in three major areas of research, each of which focuses on adaptive learning:
- Create computational models for student thinking and learning
- Advance understanding of multi-dimensional learning dynamics
- Design artificial intelligence (AI)-augmented learning environments
Building on his interests and dedication to working collaboratively with a large interdisciplinary network, he has created an interdisciplinary and cross-institutional research lab entitled “the AI² Research Laboratory.” AI² stands for Artificial intelligence (A), Interactive (I), Augmented (A), and Immersive (I) learning environments. AI² represents the innovative learning environments he pursues to advance more adaptable, engaged, equitable, and effective teaching and learning in various educational contexts.
If you’re interested in conducting doctoral work in this area contact [email protected].
Fostering Equity in Online Learning
Jennifer Darling-Aduana, Ph.D. focuses her research on the equity implications of K-12 online learning as well as the student-teacher and student-curriculum interactions in these settings that inadvertently contribute to (or can be used to mitigate) social reproduction in the classroom. As such, she aims to answer the following questions through her research:
- To what extent (and in what manner) can digital tools be used to enhance educational equity?
- And more specifically, to what extent, and under what conditions, can equity-focused, social justice-based pedagogy be implemented online?
Current projects include studies geared toward designing, enacting, and evaluating culturally sustaining pedagogy in virtual learning environments through Research-Practice Partnerships with the district, educator, and student partners.
If you’re interested in conducting doctoral work in this area contact [email protected].
Information Visualization in Education
Ben Rydal Shapiro, Ph.D. focuses on the equitable and ethical design and use of information visualization tools and pedagogies in education through projects that focus on:
a) leveraging learner’s relationships to data to support learning,
b) promoting pathways to data literacy and engagement with civic data,
c) supporting teaching technology ethics, and
d) supporting teachers’ and other professionals’ reflective professional practice
He also works closely with Lauren Margulieux, Ph.D. and others to expand computer and data science education initiatives through the Snap Inc. Center for Computing Education. If you’re interested in conducting masters or doctoral work in any of these areas, contact [email protected].
Professional Micro-credentials & Digital Badges
The purpose of the Professional Microcredentials & Digital Badges program is to provide opportunities for Learning Services professionals to earn micro-credentials to fill critical competency gaps identified by their employers in keys areas of high business value and expected return on investment such as project management, instructional design, eLearning development, and corporate learning analytics. Unique in the approach is to provide evidence of knowledge and skill acquisition through the use of work products and artifacts created by learners that demonstrate the accomplishment of the stated learning outcomes.
The evidence produced by learners is evaluated using professional standards of practice from industry standards and academic accrediting institutions. Finally, the learner is awarded a digital badge as an electronic credential from Georgia State University. The digital badge contains credential information such as the primary skill, individual learning outcomes, assessment standards and viewable work products attached electronically to the badge that can be uploaded and shared to various professional social networking sites.
The faculty member to contact leading this research is Mike Law, Ph.D.
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PHONE
404-413-8040
EMAIL
[email protected]
Department of Learning Sciences
30 Pryor St. SW
Suite 750
Atlanta, GA 30303