Graduate Scholar Recipients

Melissa Burton
Melissa Burton is currently pursuing a PhD in Human Computer Interaction at Iowa State University (ISU). She has obtained her Bachelor of Science degree in Information Technology and Psychology from the Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, New York. Her current research at ISU involves identifying and correcting perceptual distortions in immersive virtual environments and evaluating current educational tools used in virtual environments as an alternative teaching tool for K-12 students. Melissa’s true passion involves creating and enhancing the learning environment of students with the use of technology. Her specific interests are involved with developing effective teaching tools for underrepresented students (low socioeconomic status, disabilities) in educational communities that lack sufficient funding and resources for higher quality tools.

Lynn Gershman
After teaching Social Studies for 12 years in rural and smaller communities in Telluride and Grand Junction, Colorado, Lynn moved to Denver to continue teaching and pursue a PhD in Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Denver. In addition to pursuing her PhD, she also is currently teaching at a school with a primarily minority student population of mostly Latino/a students, 100% of whom qualify for free and reduced lunch. Her presentation at the Ubiquitous Learning conference is the culmination of her work with English Language Learners and technology skills acquisition. Research at University of Denver includes looking at the digital divide in terms of access, teacher reluctance to use technology, and the containment of the achievement gap through use of technology tools with underserved populations. The experiences she has had teaching in Colorado with a variety of “underserved” communities drives her interest in this field.

Azilawati Jamaludin
Azilawati Jamaludin is a PhD student and Research Associate in the Learning Sciences Lab at the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Drawing on her background in computer science (B.Comp, NUS) and information systems (M.Sc, NTU), she has developed a nuanced appreciation of technology for its potential in affording agency within the context of one’s learning and becoming trajectories. At the research front, she’s currently helming a project on investigating learners’ identity becoming, across offline and online 3D immersive spaces, in relation to coherent construal of self. Her PhD research focuses on the notion of embodiment and embodied subjectivities across youth’s online and offline contextual traversals.

Robin Parent
Robin Parent is a PhD student in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in cultural studies at Utah State University. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Anthropology and a Master of Science degree in American Studies/Folklore, which led her to teaching English both online and traditional for the past twelve years, also at Utah State University. Her online teaching experience fueled her interest in K-12 online learning and precipitated her current pilot project where teacher education students complete part of their student teaching requirements in a virtual school environment. She is also working on a dissertation with a focus on Borderlands in young adult literature.

Spencer Striker

Spencer Striker works for the Media Arts & Game Development Program at the University of Wisconsin at Whitewater while simultaneously pursuing a PhD in Educational Communications & Technology at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. His work seeks to synthesize research and practice toward becoming an expert designer of 21st Century learning systems that integrate new media production, web video, social media optimization, and the new web. Spencer’s Master’s Thesis project at Indiana University, GameZombie TV, went on to become a 4-time Webby Award winning student run game media studio that is now a central component of UWW’s MAGD program. His PhD project focuses on the future of the book.