RESEARCHER PROFILE
Name:
Marion Barfurth
Title: Professor of Technology and Learning
Institution: Faculty of Education, University of Ottawa
Region: Ottawa, Ontario
Research Interests: Computer supported collaborative learning; Innovative technologies for change in teacher practice; Research and evaluation in the area broadband visual communication
Complete Biography
Dr. Marion Barfurth is a professor of technology and learning in the Faculty of Education, University of Ottawa. Over the last fifteen years, she has been working in the area of pedagogical innovation, and the integration of technology in the learning and teaching process. As an educational psychologist, Marion’s current research is in the areas of computer supported collaborative learning, and the evaluation and research of innovative technologies for change in teacher practice. She has a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from McGill University, a Master in the Teaching of Mathematics, and a Bachelor in Mathematics and Economics from Concordia University.
Upon receiving her master’s degree, she worked in Switzerland with a group of neo-Piagetian researchers interested in expanding into the conceptual representational world that technology offered and her worked focused on children’s understanding of recursion. Returning to Canada with the desire to further her work in cognitive psychology, Marion engaged in her doctoral studies at McGill University while working for the Quebec Research Centre for the Pedagogical Applications of Computers. Her research focused on innovation in teaching and learning and more specifically on the social and cognitive processes underlying collaborative learning.
Marion’s early achievements include research in mathematics education and the programming language LOGO, children’s understanding of the notion of recursion and a four year innovation project (1987-1990) called the Vitrine 2001 that did research on children learning with technology and how to transfer these experiences and results into the classroom. Her achievements in the 90’s include research in Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL), innovation with technology in University Teaching and in the professional development of teachers.
Marion’s more recent achievements include research and evaluation for the CANARIE funded LearnCanada project and a joint funded project by the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board and Apple Canada on the use of Digital Video in the Classroom. Her current work is focusing on examining evaluation and methodological issues around cognition and learning and the effectiveness of ICT. She is currently doing research in collaboration with the National Research Council for the MusicGrid project funded by CANARIE.
How I got interested in ICT...
In the early 80s, Marion had the opportunity while working as an econometrician to observe others learning and interacting with the new desktop technology. Having witnessed this technology’s potential for fundamentally changing the way we teach and learn, she set out to investigate the future of education with these new tools. Returning to her mathematical roots, her graduate work began in the area of mathematics education investigating the role of artificial life and intelligence in children’s conceptual understanding of mathematics.
