Allison Druin facts for kids
Allison Druin is an American computer scientist. She studies how people, especially children, use computers and technology. She also looks at digital libraries and educational technology, which is technology used for learning.
She is a professor at the University of Maryland, College Park. She is also an Associate Provost at the Pratt Institute.
Her Journey and Work
Allison Druin studied graphic design at the Rhode Island School of Design. She earned her master's degree from the MIT Media Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Later, she completed her Ph.D. at the University of New Mexico. Her Ph.D. work was about creating interactive applications for learning.
In 1998, she joined the University of Maryland. She became a professor there. From 2006 to 2011, she led the Human-Computer Interaction Lab at the university. This lab studies how people interact with computers. She also worked as a special advisor for the US National Park Service for two years. Since 2017, she has been working at the Pratt Institute.
Books She Wrote or Edited
Allison Druin has written or edited several books. These books often focus on technology and children.
- Children’s Internet Search: Using Roles to Understand Children’s Search Behavior (2014): This book is about how children search for information online.
- Methods and Techniques for Involving Children in the Design of New Technology for Children (2013): This book shares ways to include children in designing new technology.
- Mobile Technology for Children: Designing for Interaction and Learning (2009): This book is about creating mobile technology for kids to learn and interact with.
- Robots for Kids: Exploring New Technologies for Learning (2000): This book looks at how robots can be used to help children learn.
- The Design of Children's Technology (1999): This book focuses on how to design technology specifically for children.
- Designing Multimedia Environments for Children (1996): This book explores how to create digital learning spaces for kids.
Awards and Honors
Allison Druin has received important awards for her work.
In 2010, she and Ben Bederson won the ACM SIGCHI Social Impact Award. They received this award for creating the International Children's Digital Library. This library provides free digital books for children around the world.
In 2016, she was chosen as a Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery. This is a high honor for computer scientists. She received it for her work in creating technology with and for children. In the same year, she was also elected to the CHI Academy. This group recognizes leaders in the field of human-computer interaction.
