Staff
Karen French is the coordinator for the IDEA Studio. She holds a Ph. D. in Curriculum and Instruction with a specialization in Instructional Technology as well as a Master's degree in Anthropology. She is certified to teach both Spanish and Latin and taught high school Latin for seven years. Prior to joining the IDEA Studio staff, she worked as a facilitator in the WINGS program, an online mentoring program for new teachers sponsored by the University of Texas at Austin. Karen's professional interests include training K-12 and university faculty to integrate technology into classroom instruction. Her dissertation research focuses on the role of reflection in electronic discourse and the online mentoring of novice teachers.
Royce Kimmons is a Graduate Research Assistant in the IDEA Studio and a Doctoral student in Curriculum and Instruction, specializing in Instructional Technology. Royce currently holds a Master's degree in Teaching, emphasizing Language Arts instruction, and before joining the IDEA Studio, he served as a founding teacher for a new charter school, where he taught digital media and computer literacy, designed websites and multimedia, and developed and maintained the technology-rich school's computing infrastructure. Royce's research interests include the potential for free and open source software in spear-heading school change and educational gaming.
Michelle Fulks Read is a Graduate Research Assistant in the IDEA Studio and a Doctoral student in Curriculum and Instruction, specializing in Instructional Technology. Michelle's professional experience includes 15 years as a teacher, Technology Integration Specialist, school web developer, and Intel Master Teacher. She holds two master's degrees, both obtained through the UT Telecampus system, in Educational Technology and Literacy Studies. Michelle's research interests include the successful and practical integration of technology in the average classroom and its impact on student performance and overall literacy development.
Jaejin Lee is a Graduate Research Assistant in the IDEA Studio, and a Doctoral student in Curriculum and Instruction, specializing in Instructional Technology. He has a Master's degree in Instructional Technology. He has diverse Instructional Technology research experiences and taught several university classes in South Korea. He is a volunteer researcher in the Alien Rescue project with Dr. Min Liu, as well as participating in the Funwritr project. Major research interests include feedback systems in technology-based learning environments, motivational and emotional change through technology, and research methodology for educational technology.
Hyojin "Helena" Yoon is a Graduate Research Assistant in the IDEA Studio, and a Doctoral student in Curriculum and Instruction, specializing in Instructional Technology. She holds Master’s Degree in Instructional Technology. Since 2007,she has been a Research Assistant of Dr. Joan E. Hughes, assisting her for research related with Preservice Teacher Technology Preparation program, with contacting participants, supporting survey question creation and developing online survey, and analyzing data. She is interested in Teacher Education, Effective Technology Integration in Curriculum.
Nabil Qamar is a Graduate Research Assistant (GRA) in the Idea Studio and a graduate student studying Electrical and Computer engineering. He completed his bachelors in the same field at UT-Austin. As part of the Idea Studio technical team, he has been working on a diverse range of projects ranging from online social collaborative tools for learning to mobile applications. Nabil’s research interests include software engineering, with emphasis on mobile computing, web 2.0 and embedded systems.