EDUCATIONAL HISTORY

Ph.D., Learning Sciences, Northwestern University, 2002

• Dissertation on K-12 teachers' practice using technology and real-world problems as anchors for classroom learning.

M.A., Learning Sciences, Northwestern University, 1997

• Studies in the design of technology-supported learning environments.

B.A., Russian Language & International Studies, St. Olaf College, 1992

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

Bouillion Diaz, L. (2009) Creating Opportunities for Ubiquitous Learning with Geospatial Technologies: Negotiating Roles at the Borders of Youth and Adult Practice, In Cope, B. and Kalantzis, M. (Eds) Ubiquitous Learning. Champaign, IL. University of Illinois Press.

Thompson, C.C. and Diaz, L.B. (2009). Building Identities as Experts: Youth Learning in an Urban After-School Space, In Cynthia Carter Ching and Brian Foley (Eds.), Technology and Identity: Constructing the Self in a Digital World. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

Bouillion, L. & DeGennaro, D. (2006) The Interrelationship between Technology Fluency and Scientific Literacy, In Tobin, K. (ed). Teaching and Learning Science: A Handbook. Praeger Publishers.

Fischer, F., Bouillion, H., Mandl, H., & Gomez, L. (2003). Scientific Principles in Pasteur's Quadrant: Integrating goals of understanding and use in Learning Environment Research. In B. Wasson, S. Ludvigsen & U. Hoppe (Eds.), Designing for Change in Networked Learning Environments. Proceedings of the International Conference on Computer Support for Collaborative Learning - CSCL 2003 (pp 493-502). Dordrecht: Kluwer.

Bouillion, L. & Gomez, L. (2001) Connecting School and Community with Science Learning: Real World Problems and School-Community Partnerships as Contextual Scaffolds, Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 38(8), 878-898.

Radinsky, J., Bouillion, L., Lento, E. & Gomez, L. (2001). Mutual Benefit Partnership: A Curricular Design for Authenticity, Journal of Curriculum Studies, 33(4), 405-430.

Bouillion, L. & Gomez, L. (2001). The Case for Considering Cultural Entailments and Genres of Attachment in the Design of Educational Technologies. In K. Forbus and P. Feltovich (Eds.), Smart Machines in Education. (pp. 331-348). Menlo, CA: AAAI Press / MIT Press.

Bouillion, L. & Gomez, L. (2000). Designing for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Communities: A Case Study of the Role of Local Context in Shaping Curricular Adaptation. In B. Fishman & S. O'Connor-Divelbiss (Eds.), Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference of the Learning Sciences (pp. 302-309). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Program Offerings

4-H Science, Engineering and Technology Program, including offerings in: robotics, video/filmmaking, geospatical technologies (GIS/GPS), podcasting/media production. game design, digital graphics/animation, alternative energies (e.g. Power of Wind), plant and soil science, animal science, aerospace, textile science, computer science, electricity, entomology, forestry, geology, vet science, and natural resources. http://web.extension.uiuc.edu/state4h/projects/

Illinois 4-H State Fair Online: Learning to Be Power Communicators: An annual state judging opportunity to encourage 4-H members to use new communication technologies to share what they are learning in their projects (e.g. cooking, robotics, sewing, leadership, plant science). Members are invited to submit video or GISmap exhibits to an interactive website where they are judged by content specialists. Through their experience using technology to raise awareness and teach others, 4-H members are learning to be "Power Communicators". All exhibits are displayed at the Illinois State Fair as part of the annual 4-H Film Festival and Map Gallery. https://webs.extension.uiuc.edu/4hstatefaironline/

4-H Robotics: 4-H clubs (for ages 8-18) are organized around the state and invited to participate in an annual state robotics competition at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Details on the robotics challenge are released every year on Feb. 1st and the competition is the third week of April. FIRST LEGO League (FLL) scholarships are given to winning junior teams (ages 8-14) and the winning senior team is given a scholarship to participate in the FIRST Technology Competition (FTC). Through a JCPenny Grant, Illinois is also organizing 8 FIRST Robotic Competition (FRC) teams for youth ages 8-14.

4-H Metro Programming: Intentional partnership within metro areas to provide high quality, positive youth development experiences for youth ages 8-18. Program focal areas include: Science literacy, youth civic engagement and urban gardening.

4-H Tech Wizards: 4-H Tech Wizards is an afterschool, small-group mentoring program for vulnerable and marginalized youth who tend to be underrepresented in STEM fields. The program uses youth interest in science and emerging technologies to help engage them in learning and to encourage them to apply their learning to their STEM academic instruction and future life paths. Youth also volunteer 15 hours annually in technology-related learning projects benefitting the larger community.

I Think Green: Engages youth in investigating how living things interact with each other and with their environment. This program includes three tracks: 1) worms, 2) butterflies, and 3) insects. All three tracks are aligned to Illinois State Goals and follow a sequence of four 40-60 minute investigations in which youth practice observation skills, conduct hands-on investigations with living things, explore different life cycles, identify how living things function/adapt/change, and compare how living things interact with each other and with their environment.

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