Marcia C. Linn, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley and leading researcher in the use of technology for teaching mathematics and science, will speak at Columbia University on Thursday, April 17 at 3:00PM in 203 Butler Library. The event is free and open to the public.

Linn’s talk is titled “Innovations in Online Education: What Works?” and will discuss the many debates surrounding the use of technology in higher education: Should classes be face-to-face, online, or a mixture of both? Should lectures be long, short, or nonexistent? Should labs be hands-on or could they be simulated, remote, or virtual? Should discussions be online, mentored, student led, or face-to-face? Can computer tools make valid interpretations of students’ written responses to open-ended questions?

As new technologies become available, empirical research is shedding light on these key issues. Linn’s talk will draw on recent research to suggest promising directions for the use of innovative technologies to support effective online education.

The talk is part of the Conversations on Online Learning series sponsored by the Office of the Provost and the Columbia Center for New Media Teaching and Learning (CCNMTL). A video of the event will be publicly available after the event. Videos of past talks in the series are available on CCNMTL’s YouTube channel.

Marcia C. Linn is professor of development and cognition specializing in education in mathematics, science, and technology in the Graduate School of Education at the University of California, Berkeley. She directs the NSF-funded Technology-enhanced Learning in Science (TELS) community. She has been a fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in Behavioral Sciences three times. Her books include Computers, Teachers, Peers (2000), Internet Environments for Science Education (2004), Designing Coherent Science Education (2008), and WISE Science (2009). She chairs the Technology, Education—Connections (TEC) series for Teachers College Press.

Linn's awards include the National Association for Research in Science Teaching Award for Lifelong Distinguished Contributions to Science Education, the American Educational Research Association: Willystine Goodsell Award, and the Council of Scientific Society Presidents first award for Excellence in Educational Research. Her latest book is Science Teaching and Learning: Taking Advantage of Technology to Promote Knowledge Integration (2011).