Kevin Oliver, Professor (Learning, Design, and Technology)
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Web Resources
  • Tool Kit: Maker Professional Development; Goal: provide professional development resources to train and prepare future maker leaders
  • ​Repository: Plantation Letters; Goal: digital history initiative providing access to a searchable collection of digitized primary source letters written on antebellum southern U.S. plantations to study public health themes under the conditions of enslavement
Active Projects:
  • Grant: Programmed Robotics in the School Makerspace (PRISM) (2020-22); Role: Principal Investigator; Funder: Burroughs-Wellcome Fund Student Science Enrichment Program (SSEP); Goal: seed new maker clubs into 24 middle and high schools in the four-county Piedmont Unifour region of NC to promote programming and robotics skills across multiple platforms (Cubelets, Sphero RVR, mBot, LEGO EV3) with the support of inter-school FlipGrid and Slack communities; Collaborators: Regina Barrier (Science House), Parks Newby (Technology Education), Jennifer Houchins (doctoral student), Cansu Tatar (doctoral student)​​
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  • Grant: INFUSE CS (2019-21); Role: Co-Principal Investigator; Funder: NSF STEM+Computing; Goal: develop problem-solving and computational thinking skills among upper elementary students through a storytelling platform with combined coded/digital and fabricated/physical elements; Collaborators: Brad Mott (Computer Science), James Minogue (Elementary Education, Science), Jennifer Houchins (doctoral student), WestEd
  • Grant and Study Abroad: Cultural Investigations and Digital Representations for Educators (CIDRE) (2020-recurring, annual); Role: Principal Investigator; Funder: Triangle Community Foundation Borchardt Fund; Goal: offer in-service teacher professional development in international locations to practice technical strategies for investigating and digitally representing cultural themes toward more culturally responsive teaching; Collaborators: Angela Wiseman (Elementary Literacy), Michael Cook (Auburn, English Education)​
Projects in Planning Stage:
  • Grant in Development: Everyday Security; Role Co-Principal Investigator; Funding Target: NSF-Secure and Trustworthy Cyberspace; Goal: build an "Everyday Security" video portal focused on educating the public about pressing security and privacy topics; Collaborators: Laurie Williams (Computer Science)
  • Startup: Locative Press, Inc. (2019-present); Goal: provide locative media products and services, extending from work with the NSF iCorps and Sweat Equity Challenge programs out of NC State's Office of Technology Commercialization and New Ventures (OCTNV) and Office of Research Commercialization (ORC); Collaborators: Angela Wiseman (Elementary Literacy, Co-Founder)
Archived Projects:
  • Grant: Innovative Exploration of Science and Technology (2016-19); Role: Principal Investigator; Funder: Burroughs-Wellcome Fund Student Science Enrichment Program (SSEP); Goal: study the development of computational thinking skills among middle and high school girls participating in new maker club with circuitry, programmed robotics, and fabrication projects; Collaborators: Jennifer Houchins, Cigdem Meral (doctoral students)
  • Grant and Study Abroad: Cultural Connections, Collections, and Reflections (2016-19); Role: Co-Principal Investigator; Funder: Triangle Community Foundation Borchardt Fund; Goal: offer in-service teacher professional development in international locations to practice technical strategies for connecting with, collecting instances of, and reflecting on other cultures; Collaborators: Ruie Pritchard (English Education); Web Sites and Teacher Portfolios: Prague (2018-19), Stockholm (2017), Helsinki (2016)
  • Grant and Study Abroad: New Literacies, Literal and Virtual Learning through Cross-Cultural Connections (2011-14); Role: Co-Principal Investigator; Funder: Triangle Community Foundation Borchardt Fund; Goal: building on a successful National Writing Project site in Raleigh, this program conducted at the University of Surrey in England and other cultural sites in the south of England, prepared North Carolina teachers to merge varied writing modes with technology around culturally-reflective topics; Collaborators: Ruie Pritchard (English Education)