Comm Tech Lab - Principals


		Carrie Heeter heeter@msu.edu Director, Comm Tech Lab Creative Director, Virtual University Design and Technology Professor, Department of Telecommunication, Information Studies, and Media Dr. Carrie Heeter is founding Director of the Communication Technology Laboratory and Creative Director for Michigan State University's Virtual University Design and Technology group. She is Professor of Digital Media Arts in the Department of Telecommunication where she teaches design research and design of interactive learning courses. Carrie lives in San Francisco, using communication technologies to "telerelate" with colleagues, students, and friends in Michigan and elsewhere. Heeter has published articles and spoken at conferences about technology-enhanced learning, games and learning, social presence, and gender differences. She has exhibited original prototype virtual experiences at SIGGRAPH, CyberArts and other galleries. Winner of the 1995 Discover Magazine Software Innovation of the Year award, Heeter is creator of innovative CD-ROMs, software, and web sites. She loves the shared passion of co-creating innovative, high impact experiences which help advance emerging genres and benefit users. Click to read more

		Darcy Greene greened@.msu.edu Principal Investigator, Comm Tech Lab Associate Professor, School of Journalism Darcy Greene has been designing experiences with the Comm Tech Lab (CTL) since the early 1990s. Much of her work has dealt with the creation of patient information software using the "personal stories" model first developed in the CTL with the Breast Cancer Lighthouse project. In addition to her work in the CTL, she is an associate professor in the School of Journalism. Her instructional focus is in visual journalism. She teaches courses in photojournalism and both print and online publication design. She is always looking for the best ways to tell stories using content, design and technology to meet the needs of particular audiences. The diverse talents and interests of those working in the CTL make it a powerful educational resource for her to draw upon. Click to read more

		Brian Winn winnb@msu.edu Principal Investigator, Comm Tech Lab Assistant Professor, Department of Telecommunication, Information Studies, and Media Brian Winn obtained a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from the University of Minnesota and a Masters Degree in Computer Science from Michigan State University. His academic interests are in hypermedia, artificial intelligence, human cognition, education, and human-computer interface design. His master's thesis focused on the creation of knowledge encoding and retrieval tools to help structure and navigate large, complex knowledge domains. Recently he has expanded his research focus to the more general problem of creating effective educational tools to promote learning and skill building in various subject matters. His goal is to create an entire set of "Tools for Thought" that learners and teachers can choose from and apply to digital content in different knowledge domains. Winn is a Principal Investigation in the Comm Tech Lab and the Director of the New Media Center at Michigan State University. He has served as lead programmer and interface designer on eight educational multimedia CD-ROMs. He has also designed and created several web sites, including this site. Winn teaches advanced courses in digital media art and technology through the Department of Telecommunications at Michigan State University. He is also the founder and leader of the Multimedia Interest Group at Michigan State University. Click to read more

		Norm Lownds lownds@msu.edu Principal Investigator, Comm Tech Lab Curator, Michigan 4H Children's Garden Associate Professor, Department of Horticulture Associate Professor and Curator, 4-H Children’s Garden, Department of Horticulture, Norm Lownds directs all aspects of the Michigan 4-H Children’s Garden, including several very successful classroom outreach programs. He has developed the “Connected Classrooms” program where students and teachers connect with the 4-H Children’s Garden and Dr. Norm to enhance and expand their science explorations. Through this program, classrooms are connecting to scientists in different parts of the country, exploring science in the garden, creating web pages of their discoveries, and learning that science is interesting and fun. He has also developed a summer garden program, “Kid Curator,” and the award winning “Stories in the Garden,” where teens read to young children. Lownds works closely with the Communication Technology Laboratory to create the child-oriented 4-H Children’s Garden Web site (http://4hgarden.msu.edu) and the various explorations and activities there. Dr. Lownds also serves as the chair of the National Children and Youth Gardening Advisory Panel for the American Horticultural Society. Click to read more

		Punya Mishra punya@msu.edu Principal Investigator, Comm Tech Lab Assistant Professor, Learning, Technology, & Culture, College of Education Research Associate, MIND Lab Dr. Mishra began collaborating on Comm Tech Lab projects with the NSF-funded Girls As Designers Project in 2002. He joins the Comm Tech Lab as a principal in fall 2004. Dr. Mishra is an assistant professor in the Learning, Technology and Culture Program at the College of Education, Michigan State University. He has an undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering, Masters degrees in Visual and Mass Communications, and a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology. His research has focused on the theoretical, cognitive and social aspects related to the design and use of computer based learning environments. He has worked extensively in the area of technology integration in teacher education and teacher professional development both in face-to-face and online settings. Click to read more

		Jim Anthony janthony@msu.edu Principal Investigator, Comm Tech Lab Professor & Chairman, Department of Epidemiology Professor Jim Anthony joined the faculty of the MSU College of Human Medicine Department of Epidemiology in October 2003, and rapidly forged a strong partnership with the MSU Communications Technology Laboratory and the associated Games and Learning Collaboratory. The talents and strengths of the CTL and GLC mesh well with the future of epidemiology and public health, which strive to help families and individuals learn to live healthier and happier lives, one at a time, or 1000s at a time. He has worked with Carrie Heeter and CTL staffers Jason Justman and Pete Maziak to create the CTL Longitudinal Surveillance Engine, a new tool for rigorous longitudinal research, program evaluation, and formal experimentation to evaluate the impact of new online software products, public service announcements, and other public health and educational interventions that can be delivered via the internet. With Brian Winn as a partner, he is a creator of the CTL Cognitive Games Initiative, with a goal of helping to perserve cognitive health from middle through late adulthood via regular online exercise to promote memory and other cognitive functions. With Darcy Greene as a partner, he is fostering the development of online interventions that seek to reduce risk of adolescent suicide. Click to read more

		John Sherry jjsherry@msu.edu Principal Investigator, Comm Tech Lab Assistant Professor, Department of Communication Dr. Sherry teaches a variety of courses on the effects of mass media. He is currently teaching a course on the effects of educational media. His research focuses on the uses and effects of video games. He is interested in the cognitive processes that facilitate flow experiences during game play and how those differ between girls and boys. He is also involved in starting a games research group at the International Communication Association. He joins the Comm Tech Lab in fall 2004 when he returned to MSU as assistant professor of Communication. After several years of adding to his vitae, John joins the College in the fall. Click to read more

		René Weber renew@msu.edu Principal Investigator, Comm Tech Lab Assistant Professor, Communication & Telecommunication, Information Studies and Media René received his Ph.D. for his work on the theory and methods of TV audience prediction. He has developed a system that can predict ratings and market shares of TV programs and helps to optimize program decisions. His system was tested by media research professionals over a period of nearly two years. With his dissertation he introduced modern artificial intelligence approaches (e.g. neural networks) in communication research in order to model complex dependencies (e.g. transactional, dynamic structures). In his recent research projects he concentrates on using brain imaging techniques (fMRI) to explore media effects (especially video games’ effects) and also on how to define and measure “Television Quality”. René joins the Comm Tech Lab in fall 2004 when he returned to MSU as an assistant professor of both Communication and Telecommunication, Information Studies and Media. Click to read more