The Education Now Lab is a community-engaged research+practice lab that engages in and produces a range of scholarship (e.g., public, academic, new media) alongside community members.
The Lab launched in 2020 by Dr. Anna Smith and doctoral students in Illinois State University’s School of Teaching and Learning course Critical Perspectives on Technology-Based Learning. Throughout the course—at the time what we thought was the height of the COVID pandemic—we took an inquiry-based approach to course readings and activities with this essential question in mind:
How can we support our local schools and communities through critical public scholarship on technology in education?
Doctoral students queried local schools and communities to find mutually beneficial topics of interest, researched the subject with a critical lens, and produced a range of outputs from infographics sent via social media to drafts of podcast episodes.
Their public scholarship has inspired the trajectory of the Lab today!
Meet the Team
(click on the image to know more about them!)
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Inaugural Member
Anna Smith
Associate Professor of Literacies & Technologies, Illinois State University
Theory/Method Series Team
Robby Anggriawan
Graduate Student, School of Teaching and Learning at Illinois State University
Munchuree Kaosayapandhu
Ed.D. candidate, School of Teaching and Learning at Illinois State University
Megan Kybartas
Ed.D student, School of Teaching and Learning at Illinois State University
Derek Lough
Ed.D. candidate, School of Teaching and Learning at Illinois State University
Watsachol Narongsaksakul
Ed.D student, School of Teaching and Learning at Illinois State University
ELT lecturer, curriculum developer, and Google-certified educator
Tiffany Wyse-Fisher
Ed.D student, School of Teaching and Learning at Illinois State University
Doctoral Members
Josh Fitzgerald
Ed.D student, School of Teaching and Learning at Illinois State University
Ryan Kerr
Ed.D student, School of Teaching and Learning at Illinois State University
Teacher of English language and Director of dramatic programs at Normal Community West High School
Alex Kritselis
Ed.D student, School of Teaching and Learning at Illinois State University
Kathy Webster
Ed.D student, School of Teaching and Learning at Illinois State University
Associate Professor of Medical Laboratory Science at Illinois State University
Nicole Zaremba
Ed.D student, School of Teaching and Learning at Illinois State University
Community Partners
Rochele Gloor
Creative Designer and VR Artist, M.S. in Creative Technologies from Illinois State University
Fikayo Olutomiwa
Graduate Student, Creative Technologies at Illinois State University