Jon Udell to serve as first Distinguished Innovator in Residence
Jon Udell, author, information architect, software developer, and new media innovator, has been named Virginia Tech’s first Distinguished Innovator in Residence.
Udell will give a free public lecture at the Inn at Virginia Tech on Thursday, April 12, at 7 p.m. entitled “Representing the World: How Web Users Become Web Thinkers and Web Makers.”
“Udell works to help make technology better serve the needs of society,” Gardner Campbell, director of professional development and innovative initiatives for Learning Technologies, said. “His analysis of industry trends is well informed by his own experiments, as you can see on his blog, Strategies for Internet Citizens. As a thinker, doer, and maker in the world of information and communication technologies, Jon is truly committed to the ideal of the strong, productive communities these technologies can and should empower,” Campbell said.
In his talk, Udell will explore plans and principles that empower those who use the web to be more active Web creators. “Knowing something about how Web resources are represented and named makes us better users of the Web,” Udell said. “But we’re not just users. We’re participants in — and co-creators of — the Web. We can invent our own representations for things in our personal and professional lives, and for contexts surrounding those things. And we can name those representations in ways that enable other people to communicate and collaborate with us.”
The Distinguished Innovator in Residence is a joint program between Learning Technologies and the University Libraries that brings great thinkers and leaders in the world of technological innovation to Virginia Tech. During his residency, Udell will visit classes, student groups, professors, and other units on campus to brainstorm and consult on a variety of topics.
“We are excited to partner with Learning Technologies to support the Distinguished Innovator in Residence program,” Tyler Walters, dean of University Libraries, said. “By connecting the great work here with eminent people in the world of technology, we can learn from their expertise and share the exciting advancements happening at Virginia Tech.”
Udell’s public lecture will be held in the Alumni Assembly Hall at the Inn at Virginia Tech. For more information about the lecture, please email Gardner Campbell or call 540-231-8053.
Learning Technologies at Virginia Tech is a division of Information Technology that seeks to create and support robust environments for learning, discovery, and engagement for faculty and students that are grounded in sound principles of learning, and in a thorough knowledge of integrating technology for effectiveness and efficiency of effort.
