Science fiction fans call May 4 “Star Wars Day” – as in, “May the Fourth Be With You” – but that particular Saturday this year centered on science reality for 120 regional teachers and instructional technology specialists. NIU’s Department of Educational Technology,
Read moreETRA graduate students join Fatih Demir to research brain engagement of readers
Researchers in NIU’s Department of Educational Technology, Research and Assessment are preparing to study whether – and how – readers respond differently to “hard” news reports and emotional stories. Fatih Demir, an assistant professor of Instructional Technology, will use eye-tracking systems and
Read moreSteve Builta departs for new challenges training, coordinating disaster responders
Three months after his 1984 graduation from Hononegah High School, Steve Builta arrived at NIU with plans to become a school psychologist. Even though he had enrolled in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, where he eventually would earn a bachelor’s
Read moreRockford sixth-graders help Hsu study makerspaces, scientific argumentation
Six sixth-graders at Rockford Environmental Science Academy are exploring Next Generation Science Standards – and having a blast at the same time. Pi-Sui Hsu, an associate professor in the Department of Educational Technology, Research and Assessment, is making weekly travels to Rockford
Read moreU.S. News raises NIU College of Ed score in annual online grad program rankings
The NIU College of Education remains in the country’s Top 10 among U.S. News & World Report’s annual rankings of online graduate programs. NIU ties for ninth with Pennsylvania State University-World Campus, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the University of Virginia (Curry).
Read moreNIU to open center for cutting-edge research in educational technology
Northern Illinois University is launching a new research center in 2019 to cultivate, support, harness and promote cutting-edge scholarship at the intersection of education and technology. As the first research center opened under the leadership of NIU President Lisa Freeman, CREATE (Cross-disciplinary
Read moreETRA summer course enables students to explore, tap research power of UX lab
As word spread around the NIU campus about the new and rare User Experience Lab in the Department of Educational Technology, Research and Assessment, interest in its possibilities grew immediately. Brainwave monitors! Remote eye trackers! Mobile eye trackers! “Students were contacting me,”
Read moreLEARN-IT scheduled May 5
Claire Duvall first attended the annual LEARN-IT Conference as a graduate student in the Department of Educational Technology, Research and Assessment. Now Duvall is the department’s online program support specialist – and the coordinator of the event that this year will feature
Read moreUser Experience Lab debuts
Students in the Department of Educational Technology, Research and Assessment (ETRA) and all of NIU returned from Spring Break to find the cutting-edge literally at their fingertips. Located in Gabel 212, the ETRA Innovation Lab features not only 3-D printers, Lego Education
Read moreU.S. News extols College of Ed online grad programs – again
Another January, another celebration of a Top 5 ranking from U.S. News & World Report for the NIU College of Education’s online graduate programs. NIU is tied for fifth with the University of Houston and Utah State University this year, bringing the
Read moreKyung Kim brings ‘knowledge structure’ research work to NIU
Accolades are mounting quickly for Kyung Kim, assistant professor in NIU’s Department of Educational Technology, Research and Assessment. Kim received two prestigious awards from Association for Educational Communications and Technology during his trip earlier this month to the organization’s international convention in
Read moreNew Morgridge Chair visits CoE
As a teacher in South Korea, Yanghee Kim gradually realized that her daily work in the classroom was robbing her of her joy of teaching. Day in and day out, month after month and year after year, she recited the same information
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