Keynote Speakers of L@S 2024

Chris Dede

Chris Dede is a Senior Research Fellow at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and was for 22 years its Timothy E. Wirth Professor in Learning Technologies. His fields of scholarship include emerging technologies, policy, and leadership. From 2001-2004, he was Chair of the HGSE department of Teaching and Learning. In 2007, he was honored by Harvard University as an outstanding teacher, and in 2011 he was named a Fellow of the American Educational Research Association. In 2023 he was named a Fellow of the Online Learning Consortium.

In 2020 Chris co-founded the Silver Lining for Learning initiative (https://silverliningforlearning.org). He is currently an Advisor to the Alliance for the Future of Digital Learning, sponsored by the Mohammed bin Rashid Global Initiative (MBRGI). Also, Chris is a Co-Principal Investigator and Associate Director for Research of the NSF-funded National Artificial Intelligence Institute in Adult Learning and Online Education.

His most recent co-edited books include: Teacher Learning in the Digital Age: Online Professional Development in STEM Education; Virtual, Augmented, and Mixed Realities in Education; Learning engineering for online education: Theoretical contexts and design-based examples; and The 60-Year Curriculum: New Models for Lifelong Learning in the Digital Economy.

Nesra Yannier

Dr. Nesra Yannier is a Special Faculty and Senior Systems Scientist in the Human-Computer Interaction Institute at Carnegie Mellon University and inventor/founder of NoRILLA, a patented mixed-reality AI platform combining physical and virtual worlds to improve children’s inquiry-based STEM learning. Her background spans multiple disciplines, with undergraduate degrees in Physics and Computer Engineering, M.S. in Computational Sciences & Engineering from Koc University, Turkey, M.A. in Learning, Design & Technology from Stanford University, and a Ph.D. in Human-Computer Interaction from Carnegie Mellon University. She has also worked at Disney Research, NASA Ames Research Center and start up companies building real-world products. She is passionate about creating innovative educational technologies and learning experiences at the intersection of physical and virtual worlds to improve children’s learning and engagement. She has received multiple awards including a Mister Rogers Scholarship (Emmy’s College Television Awards in New Media for Children), Gold Award in Cultivating Curiosity from Reimagine Education and Innovation Fellowship from Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship at Carnegie Mellon University. Her work has been supported by the National Science Foundation as well as other foundations such as PNC Grow Up Great, EQT Foundation, Grable Foundation and Sprout Foundation. Her educational technologies (Intelligent Science Stations shown to improve learning by 5 times compared to other screen-based technologies) are being used in many museums, science centers, schools and after school programs reaching millions of children and families in the US and Europe.