National Expert in Learning Technologies to Speak at Pitt

PITTSBURGH—Christopher Dede, Timothy E. Wirth Professor of Learning Technologies at Harvard's Graduate School of Education, will address future educational needs for workforce technology, the changing role of handheld devices, and virtual interactions' impact on learning in a series of public lectures at the University of Pittsburgh Nov. 8 and 9.

The featured speech will be the 2007 Sara Fine lecture, "21st Century Skills, Education, and Economic Development for Global, Knowledge-based Workplaces," on Nov. 8, 2007, from 3 to 4:30 p.m. in the William Pitt Union Assembly Room. The lecture is sponsored by Pitt's Sara Fine Institute and School of Information Sciences (SIS).

That lecture will examine how advanced information and communications technologies are creating a "flat" world in which creative knowledge generation is the key resource, reshaping economic development strategies and educational approaches. This talk describes key 21st-century skills that must be fostered, as well as strategies educators can use to teach these skills.

Dede will participate in a free graduate student seminar, "Augmented Realities via Handheld Devices: Sifting Knowledge Through Our Fingertips," on Nov. 8.

Dede will lead an informal campuswide meeting with proponents of online education, titled "How Virtual Interactions Deepen Learning for Real Students," at 9 a.m. Friday, Nov. 9, in Room 502, SIS Building, 135 N. Bellefield Ave.

Dede's fields of scholarship include emerging technologies, policy, and leadership. His funded research includes a grant from the National Science Foundation to aid middle school students learning science via shared virtual environments and a Star Schools grant from the U.S. Department of Education to help high school students with math and literacy skills using wireless mobile devices to create augmented reality simulations.

For more information about the lectures, call 412-624-2677, or visit www.sarafineinst.pitt.edu.

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