MIT Educational Technologists Win Awards

Thoughtfully and effectively integrating technology with teaching is an ongoing challenge for those of us who conduct research in, develop, or support educational technologies at MIT. Over the past year a number of our colleagues have won awards for their work and we would like to acknowledge their acheivements. Congratulations to all!

This year's Harold Larnder Prize was awarded to Professor Richard Larson. This award is given annually to an individual who has achieved international distinction in operational research modeling and analysis opportunities in the educational sector.

Former MIT Intelligent Engineering Systems Laboratory (IESL) student Dr. Hai Ning (graduated in June 2004) won the Best Ph.D. Student Presentation Award in the Seventh International Conference on Computers and Advanced Technology in Education (CATE 2004) at Kauai, Hawaii, USA, in August 2004. Dr. Ning’s paper Tablet PC Enabled Design-Oriented Learning, a research effort originated from the MIT I-Campus project called Robot World, received the highest score from the judges. The paper illustrates the development of the software tool, InkBoard, and its impact in design-oriented learning environments such as mechanical engineering machine design courses. The CATE conference is sponsored by the International Association of Science and Technology for Development (IASTED).

(Dr. Ning will be presenting on his paper at MIT Academic Computing's Crosstalk Seminar for Educational Change, February 17, at 2:00 in 56-114.)

OpenCourseWare has won several awards and nominations this year including:
• Computerworld 21st Century Achievement Award - “Best IT Application in the World of Education and Academia.”
The MIT OpenCourseWare project was nominated for this award by Bill Gates, chairman and chief software architect of Microsoft. Honorees were celebrated for their significant achievements in the use of information technology to benefit mankind.
• Digital Education Achievement - “Best of Web Award"
from the Center for Digital Education. The BOW evaluates Higher Education, K-12 state and K-12 district Web sites on their innovation, Web-based delivery of public services, efficiency, economy, and functionality for improved student and faculty access.
• District 1 Gold Award from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) which recognized the "About OCW" pages on the MIT OpenCourseWare Web site which introduce users to the MIT OCW concept and include the homepage, FAQs, media section, the "About Us" and other informational, non-course-related sections.
• Nominated for the Webby Award – Services Category
Nominated by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, at http://www.webbyawards.com/

The Teal Visualization Team placed in the finals of the prestigious Pirelli Award in the multimedia category. This competition aims to promote the spread of scientific culture by merging the “values of culture with the passion for new technologies”. The Teal Team placed as one of two finalists in the multimedia education category. Led by Prof. John Belcher, the team includes Peter Dourmashkin, Sen-ben Liao, David Litster, Norman Derby, Stanislaw Olbert, Yehudit Judy Dori, Andrew McKinney, Philip Bailey, Pierre Poignant, Ying Cao, Ralph Rabat, Michael Danziger, Mark Bessette, Michael Danziger, Andreas Sundquist (DLIC), Mesrob Ohannessian.

Craig Counterman, Web Tools and Operations Head, Academic Media Production Services(AMPS), and chief architect of the Stellar course management system, won the 2004 Infinite Mile Award for his work on Stellar. According to the citation, “... Craig led an interdepartmental team of diverse talents and successfully produced an enterprise software application in the face of significant challenges.”

The MIT Infinite Mile Award Program, sponsored by the Offices of the Provost and Associate Provost and the Vice President for Research, recognizes those individuals or teams who have made extraordinary contributions within their own organizations to help the Institute carry out its mission.

The Steven Wade Neiterman Award was presented to Katie Vale of Information Services and Technology (IS&T) Academic Computing (formally of AMPS). Katie was cited for “...her eagerness to happily share her impressive technical expertise, and her in-depth institutional knowledge with the MIT community”, as well as for her team spirit, willingness to take responsibility, and her ability to keep the greater goals of projects in mind and clearly communicate them to others. “[Katie's] efficient yet unassuming ways encourage clients and others to take the initiative in projects of interest and benefit to the Institute.”

The Steven Wade Neiterman Award is given to individuals who in their work demonstrate exceptional abilities for collaborative problem solving, team building, coaching colleagues, sharing knowledge, and commitment to creating community at MIT.

Academic Media Production Services (AMPS) won a 3rd place award in the ACM Special Interest Group on University and College Computing Service (SIGGUCCS) competition in the Communications – Web-Based Services category for the AMPS web site. (http://web.mit.edu/amps)

The Ed Tech Times Project Team won Honorable Mention in the Electronic Newsletter category in the ACM (SIGGUCCS) Competition. The team included from IS&T Academic Computing, Jean Foster, Phil Long, and Carter Snowden, and Joanna Proulx, Ben Brophy, and Mark Brown from AMPS.

Although this award was not received in the past year, we'd like to also mention the Infinite Mile Award for Innovation and Creativity that was presented to the Libraries' Digital Reference Pilot Project Subgroup for their groundbreaking work on Digital Reference. According to the nomination, “When they first proposed it, almost no one was doing Digital Reference. ... For their foresight, bravery, creativity, and collaborative skills, we honor [group members] Pat Flanagan, Deborah Helman, Lisa Horowitz, and Sarah Wenzel."