Patrick Dickson is a Professor of Educational Psychology in the College
of Education at Michigan State University and Director of the Technology
Exploration Center. He combines interests in human development, multimedia
learning environments, and cross-cultural research. His teaching and
research activities focus on applying lifespan developmental perspectives
to the design of new learning environments. Through his work on technology
advisory committees at the university, state and public school levels,
he is engaged in the challenge of integrating rapidly evolving new
technologies into schools, universities, and teacher education. He
earned his Ph.D., at Stanford University.
He has taught in the MSU Graduate Studies in Education Overseas summer
programs in Bangkok and Valbonne. He has also taught short courses
on portfolios and assessment or technology at many international schools
throughout Asia.
He is the Director of the Michigan State University Technology Exploration
Center which opened in January 1995. This innovative center embodies
key design principles aimed at providing a socially inviting and intellectually
stimulating environment for learning about technology in education.
http://www.educ.msu.edu/TEC/
During the past year he has been the director of the LETSNet Project,
funded by a $500,000 grant from Ameritech, to create resources on
the World Wide Web to support teachers learning to use the Web in
K-12 education. http://commtechlab.msu.edu/sites/letsnet/
As a part of another research team with Carrie Heeter and David Stewart
he has helped develop an award-winning CD-ROM Personal Communicator
with American Sign Language in QuickTime on a PowerBook. http://commtechlab.msu.edu/CTLprojects/perscomm/
He is also a participant in an NSF grant to the Center for Microbial
Ecology aimed at developing educational resources on the World Wide
Web and CD-ROM to make work of the Center accessible to K-12, higher
education and the public. This work can be seen at: http://commtechlab.msu.edu/ctlprojects/dlc-me/index.html.
He has three children, ages 13, 18, and 20. He has observed his own
children's uses of the computer and other technology since his first
child began playing with his Apple II computer when he was only 3
years old. (Andrew began study at Stanford University this fall in
computer science.) His children and technology have become better,
faster and more powerful with each passing year. He, unfortunately,
seems to have remained about the same.
http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/09/13/reviews/980913.13tavrist.html
This review of the Nurture Assumption by Judith Harris on the New
York Times website, includes a link to the entire first chapter of
the book.
http://magazines.enews.com/magazines/new_yorker/archive/980817-001.html
The August 17, 1998, issue of The New Yorker profiled the Nurture
Assumption and the author. The Electronic Newsstand website includes
this link.
And, go to http://www.amazon.com,
type in Nurture Assumption, read the reviews, the customer comments,
and the "books other people who bought this book also liked" sections.
Also, go to http://www.pbs.org,
and search on "Nurture Assumption" which appears under "Online NewsHour:
Nature vs. Nurture-- October 20, 1998", includes a RealAudio interview,
plus transcript, with author, etc.