I haven’t updated this site’s mandate in ages. This post provides some detail about who I am, what I do, and how that’s related to the things I post.
My goal in running this weblog is to provide information about the growing field of learning sciences, which unites researchers from cognitive science, education, computer science, and other fields. The work of the field is often described as learning about learning; some of the results of the field can be seen in How People Learn. My particular interest is on the design side (e.g. how to move from research to practice), and much of my work explores ways to leverage various resources, including technology, to better support teaching and learning.
I write from the perspective of a learning science researcher (bio here) who now focuses on the design and development of innovative learning technology. The company I co-founded, Inquirium, collaborates with academic researchers and educational organizations to design learning environments for a variety of learning contexts.
The things I post about come from the learning sciences community, the mainstream media (on the occasions when education research or policy sneaks in), and the software development world. Every so often something completely random will show up. I generally try to keep my politics out of this space, except where there’s overlap with education policy (charter schools, NCLB, etc.).
Of course, if there’s news about Inquirium, I’ll post it; I’m borrowing company bandwidth for this weblog, so the least I can do is hawk the company’s wares. Speaking of which, head on over to see what we’re up to. There’s a nice portfolio of our past projects online, and we’re about to release a media transcription tool called InqScribe.
I’ve been updating this weblog, off and on, since 2002. I’d say that makes me a relative old-timer, except that there were some remarkably long gaps between posts along the way. That probably makes me more of a weblog dilettante. I’d blame the tools (first Radio, then Blosxom, now Pivot) but who’d believe me?
Ideally, I’ll post a few times a week. I’m not trying to provide a daily update, so don’t be surprised if there are gaps between posts. The main goal is simply to have my own backup brain on the web.
Cheers,
Eric Baumgartner
Director, Inquirium, LLC
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