Symposium Keynote Speaker

Dr. Gerhard Fischer  
Cultures of Participation
Tuesday, April 17, 2018, 1:15 pm – 2:30 pm in ACT 301

Dr. Gerhard Fischer is a Professor Adjunct and Professor Emeritus of Computer Science, a Fellow of the Institute of Cognitive Science, and the Director of the Center for Lifelong Learning and Design (L3D) at the University of Colorado at Boulder. He is a member of the Computer Human Interaction Academy and a Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery. In 2015, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

Dr. Fischer’s recent work is centered on quality of life in the digital age, social creativity, meta-design, cultures of participation, design trade-offs, and rich landscapes for learning. The presentation will discuss theoretical foundations and system developments for understanding, fostering, and supporting cultures of participation grounded in the basic assumption that while innovative technological developments are necessary for cultures of participation, they are not sufficient. Socio-technical environments are needed because cultures of participation are not dictated by technology: they are the result of changes in human behavior and social organization in which active contributors engage in innovative design, adoption, and adaptation of technologies to their needs and in collaborative knowledge construction.