Allison Druin is an American computer scientist who studies

human–computer interaction Human–computer interaction (HCI) is research in the design and the use of computer technology, which focuses on the interfaces between people (users) and computers. HCI researchers observe the ways humans interact with computers and design te ...

, and

digital libraries A digital library, also called an online library, an internet library, a digital repository, or a digital collection is an online database of digital objects that can include text, still images, audio, video, digital documents, or other digital m ...

, particularly focusing on children's use of educational technology. She is a

professor emerita ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

at the

University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...

and Associate Provost for Research and Strategic Partnerships at the Pratt Institute.

Education and career

Druin has a Bachelor of Fine Arts in graphic design from the

Rhode Island School of Design The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD , pronounced "Riz-D") is a private art and design school in Providence, Rhode Island. The school was founded as a coeducational institution in 1877 by Helen Adelia Rowe Metcalf, who sought to increase the ...

(1985). She earned a master's degree in 1987 from the

MIT Media Lab The MIT Media Lab is a research laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, growing out of MIT's Architecture Machine Group in the School of Architecture. Its research does not restrict to fixed academic disciplines, but draws from ...

at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

, and completed a Ph.D. in 1997 at the College of Education at the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; es, Universidad de Nuevo México) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1889, it is the state's flagship academic institution and the largest by enrollment, with over 25,400 ...

. Her dissertation was ''A Multidisciplinary Education for Designing Interactive Applications: The MEDIA Program'', and was supervised by Priscilla Norton. She joined the College of Information Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park as a research assistant professor in 1998, and became a regular-rank faculty member in 1999. From 2006 to 2011 she directed the Human-Computer Interaction Lab at the university, from 2010 to 2012 she was Associate Dean for Research, from 2011 to 2013 she was ADVANCE Professor, and from 2013 to 2015 she was chief

futurist Futurists (also known as futurologists, prospectivists, foresight practitioners and horizon scanners) are people whose specialty or interest is futurology or the attempt to systematically explore predictions and possibilities abo ...

for the university. She took a leave from Maryland to work for two years as Special Advisor for National Digital Strategy to the US

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propert ...

, before joining the Pratt Institute as Associate Provost in 2017.

Books

Druin is the author or editor of: *''Children’s Internet Search: Using Roles to Understand Children’s Search Behavior'' (with Elizabeth Foss, Morgan & Claypool, 2014) *''Methods and Techniques for Involving Children in the Design of New Technology for Children'' (with Jerry Alan Fails and Mona Leigh Guha, Now Publishers, 2013) *''Mobile Technology for Children: Designing for Interaction and Learning'' (ed., Morgan Kauffman, 2009) *''Robots for Kids: Exploring New Technologies for Learning'' (ed. with James Hendler, Morgan Kaufmann, 2000) *''The Design of Children's Technology'' (ed., Morgan Kaufmann, 1999) *''Designing Multimedia Environments for Children'' (with Cynthia Solomon, Wiley, 1996)

Recognition

Druin and Ben Bederson won the

ACM SIGCHI The Special Interest Group on Computer–Human Interaction (SIGCHI) is one of the Association for Computing Machinery's special interest groups which is focused on human–computer interactions (HCI). It hosts the flagship annual international H ...

Social Impact Award in 2010, for developing the

International Children's Digital Library The International Children's Digital Library Foundation (ICDL) is a free online library of digitized children's books in 59 languages from many countries. It is housed by the International Children's Digital Library Foundation and was originally dev ...

. Druin was elected as a

Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

in 2016, "for contributions to creating information and computing technologies with and for children". In the same year she was elected to the

CHI Academy The CHI Academy is a group of researchers honored by SIGCHI, the Special Interest Group in Computer–Human Interaction of the Association for Computing Machinery. Each year, 5–8 new members are elected for having made a significant, cumulative co ...

References

External links

Home page
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Druin, Allison Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American computer scientists American women computer scientists Rhode Island School of Design alumni Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni University of New Mexico alumni University of Maryland, College Park faculty Pratt Institute faculty Fellows of the Association for Computing Machinery American women academics 21st-century American women