Brendan Calandra
Chair, Department of Learning Sciences - Professor Learning Sciences- Education
Ph.D., University of South Florida
M.A., University of Florida
B.A., Florida State University
- Specializations
The use of digital media for learning and professional development.
- Biography
Brendan Calandra is professor and chair of Learning Sciences in the College of Education & Human Development at Georgia State University 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.
In addition to textbooks and book chapters, he has published in quality journals such as Educational Technology Research and Development, Educational Technology, The Journal of Research on Technology in Education, Internet and Higher Education, The Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, The Journal of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia, and Technology, Pedagogy, and Education among others. He also has an edited book on Digital Video for Teacher Education with Routledge Press.
He has guest-edited two special issues of Educational Technology; serves on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Research on Technology in Education; serves on the Board of Consulting Editors for Educational Technology Research and Development; and reviews for Computers and Education.
He is the former chair of the Instructional Technology Special Interest Group (SIG-IT) of the American Educational Research Association, as well as the recipient of their 2010 Leadership Award.
Before his formal study of educational technology, he was a student and teacher of modern languages in the United States and Europe. He still enjoys the diversity, and the cultural and intellectual stimulation associated with working in multicultural contexts, and he was recently added to the Fulbright Specialist Roster.
- Publications
Ketenci, T., Calandra, B, & Cohen, J., Renken, M., & Chonoeva, N. (2022) An examination of middle school student learner characteristics as related to the reuse and remixing of code in two different computer science learning contexts. Journal of Research on Technology in Education. DOI: 10.1080/15391523.2022.2085215
Wade-Jaimes, K. Cohen, J., & Calandra, B. (2022). A cultural-historical comparison of in-school and out-of-school STEM activity systems for African American girls. Cultural Studies of Science Education. 17, 511-540. DOI: 10.1007/s11422-021-10070-8
Ari, O. & Calandra, B. (2021). Dual modality effects on college students’ comprehension of short texts during a simulated self-study session. College Teaching. DOI: 10.1080/87567555.2021.1971604
Hicks, T., Cohen, J., Calandra, B. (2021). App development in an urban after-school computing program: A case study with design implications. Technology Pedagogy and Education. 31(2), 217-229. DOI: 10.1080/1475939X.2021.1956578
Calandra, B. Renken, M., Cohen, J., Hicks, T., and Ketenci, T. (2020). An examination of a group of middle school students’ engagement during a series of afterschool computing activities in an urban school district. Tech Trends. 65, 17-25.
Ayer, T., Calandra, B., Margulieux, L. & Cohen, C. (2019). The Relationship between learner characteristics and student outcomes in a middle school computing course: An exploratory analysis using structural equation modeling. Journal of Research on Technology in Education. 51(1), 63-76.
Wade, K., Cohen, J., Calandra, B. (2019). Mapping the evolution of an after-school STEM club for African American girls using activity theory. Cultural Studies of Science Education. 14, 981–1010.
Calandra, B. Brantley-Dias, L., Yerby, J. & Demir, K. (2018). Examining the quality of pre-service teachers’ written reflections using video recordings, audio recordings and memories of a teaching event. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education. 18(1), 81-101.
Cohen, J., Jones, M., Smith, S. & Calandra, B. (2017) Makification: Towards a framework for leveraging the maker movement in formal education. Journal of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia. 26(3), 217-229.
Cohen, J., Renken, M. & Calandra, B. (2017). 21st century skills and the ICT workplace: Do urban middle school students feel prepared? Tech Trends. 61(4), 380-385.