5th Annual HCI@UBC Annual Kickoff Event

In the 2017 HCI@UBC Annual Kick off Event, we welcomed three Faculty speakers, from Computer Science Assistant Professor Dongwook Yoon, from UBC Curriculum & Pedagogy Associate Professor Marina Milner-Bolotin & from the iSchool Assistant Professor Dr. Julia Bullard

Speaker #1: Dongwook Yoon, Assistant Professor, UBC Computer Science

Title: Rich collaboration systems: Improving online collaboration with multi-modal interactions

Abstract

In this talk, Dongwook Yoon will present rich collaboration systems that are designed to bring the expressivity of human-to-human interaction into online collaboration. Face-to-face interaction, as compared to meeting in a virtual way, offers unmatched expressivity for conveying complex ideas and nuanced emotions (e.g., emotions embedded in voice inflection or the unspoken meaning of a pointed finger). To enhance expressivity of virtual collaboration tools, Yoon’s design approach translates such natural human interactions into novel combinations of input modalities (e.g., speech, writing, and gesture) that serve as building blocks for fluid, rich, and lightweight interfaces. Yoon built, deployed, and evaluated high-fidelity systems in real world contexts (e.g., classrooms), from which we can obtain ecologically valid user data. He plan to pursue the vision for rich collaboration systems by extending his approach to virtual reality, a promising next generation computing platform.

Bio

Dongwook Yoon completed his Ph.D. at Cornell in Information Science. Dongwook joined the UBC Department of Computer Science as an assistant professor in August 2017. His research lies at the intersection of human-computer interaction, computer-supported cooperative work, computer-mediated communication, and educational technology. He builds interactive systems powered by expressive multi-modal interactions. His work frequently appears at top-tier ACM venues including UIST, CSCW, and CHI. His multi-modal document commenting system, RichReview, has been deployed to six different classes at Cornell, including a massive open online course where it was successfully used by more than 150 students around the world as a tool for online peer discussion assignment. He has worked at Microsoft Research, edX, and KIST. He earned his B.S. in electrical engineering and M.S. in computer graphics from Seoul National University. His Ph.D. study has been supported by a Kwanjeong Scholarship.

Speaker #2: Marina Milner-Bolotin, Associate Professor, UBC Curriculum & Pedagogy (Faculty of Education)

Title: Examination of Technology-Enhanced Collaboration in STEM Teacher Education: Opportunities, Challenges and Possibilities

Abstract

The 60th anniversary of Sputnik is a great opportunity to reflect on the developments of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education in Canada. It is also timely to examine how modern technological developments, specifically collaborative technologies, have shaped and are shaping how we learn and teach STEM and how we educate new teachers. This is the focus of my research. I will also describe how technology is changing how we are educating future STEM teachers here at the University of British Columbia and what I think might be the future of STEM teacher education.

Bio

Dr. Marina Milner-Bolotin is an Associate Professor in Science Education at the UBC Faculty of Education (Department of Curriculum and Pedagogy). Her research focusses on uncovering the potential of modern technologies in STEM teacher education; STEM outreach to the general public; and on increasing student engagement with STEM disciplines through creative use of technologies. To learn more about her work, please visit her web site: http://blogs.ubc.ca/mmilner/

Speaker #3: Dr. Julia Bullard, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Arts, iSchool

Title: Invisible conflict: Organizing systems in construction and experience

Abstract

Organizing systems—such as classifications, subject headings, and metadata schemes—are meant to fade into the background of our experience. In contrast to this invisibility, the construction of an organizing system is often a fraught process which surfaces latent conflicts and crises among concepts and among interdependent technical systems. In this talk, Julia Bullard will introduce her research into how designers manage and express such conflicts in the construction of an organizing system.

Bio

Dr. Bullard joined the iSchool at UBC in September 2017 after completing her PhD at University of Texas, Austin. Her program of research focuses on classification systems, specifically in the design of organizing systems and how these invisible layers of information infrastructure come to represent—or conflict with—the needs and values of their users and collections. Her dissertation research entailed an ethnography of volunteer classification designers for a large fanfiction repository.