University of Nebraska-Lincoln students in business, computer science, education, and fine and performing arts/film studies have a new opportunity for interdisciplinary collaboration with the launch of the Learning Technology Academy this fall.
Ron Nelson, the Larry & Sharon Roos Family Professor of Special Education, developed the idea for the academy in an effort to create learning technologies for children experiencing learning difficulties, while also providing interdisciplinary training for UNL students.
For the first year of the academy in 2016-17, Nelson and Leen-Kiat Soh, associate professor of computer science, will guide a team of students in the creation of learning technologies that will help children achieve automaticity of letter names, letter sounds and high-frequency word recognition. Automaticity refers to children’s abilities to use fundamental skills to help process complex tasks such as reading comprehension and mathematical problem solving.
Nelson and Soh are looking for students in education and fine and performing arts/film studies to work alongside students in business and computer science. The students must have minimum GPAs of 3.75, personal gaming experience, and a commitment to attend weekly meetings during both fall and spring semesters. Stipends are available. The students will work as a team to develop curriculum, establish characters, create artwork, build interface and data analytics, and develop brand and marketing strategies for the learning technologies.
Students interested in joining or learning more about the Learning Technology Academy should email Nelson at nelson@unl.edu or Soh at lksoh@cse.unl.edu.