2024 AECT Fellows Announced
August 27, 2024
Bloomington, IN.
The Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) proudly announces the second annual AECT Fellows for 2024: Dr. Curtis Bonk of Indiana University and Dr. Vanessa Dennen of Florida State University. The AECT Fellows program is an honor for members with exemplary accomplishments in educational communications and technology.
“Dr. Bonk and Dr. Dennen are great models of high-performing scholars within the academy and our organization,” said AECT President Joi Moore. “We are excited about their selection to the Fellows program and their upcoming activities as we continue to engage with members throughout the year.”
About Dr. Curtis Bonk
Dr. Curtis J. Bonk is a professor in the School of Education at Indiana University, teaching psychology and technology courses, and an adjunct in the Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering. He is a former software entrepreneur, certified public accountant, corporate controller, and educational psychologist who presently is an educational technologist, award-winning writer, highly published researcher, statewide and national awardee in innovative teaching with technology, and internationally acclaimed presenter.
Bonk is the author of over 425 publications (including 20 books and nearly 170 peer-reviewed journal articles) and has given close to 2,000 talks around the world, including keynote presentations in places like Bangkok, Melbourne, Sydney, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, Beijing, Toronto, Abu Dhabi, Cairo, Riyadh, Madrid, London, Manila, Seoul, Tel Aviv, Edinburgh, Dublin, Coimbra, Tampere, Barcelona, and Arequipa.
He has been a visiting scholar/distinguished professor in 11 different countries. His books include Transformative Teaching Around the World; Engaging Online Language Learners; The World Is Open: How Web Technology is Revolutionizing Education; Empowering Online Learning; The Handbook of Blended Learning: Global Perspectives, Local Designs; Electronic Collaborators; Adding Some TEC-VARIETY, which is free as an e-book (http://tec-variety.com/); Motivating and Supporting Online Learners (also free; DOI 10.59668/699); and MOOCs and Open Education Around the World as well as MOOCs and Open Education in the Global South (www.moocsbook.com/).
Bonk is on the Stanford University list of the top 2% of scientists in the world based on publication citations for a career. Also, he co-hosts the weekly multiple award-winning podcast Silver Lining for Learning (https://silverliningforlearning.org/). One nominee wrote, “his scholarship consistently puts pedagogy ahead of technology, and it is informed by a rigorous and sustained educational research agenda.”
Bonk can be contacted at cjbonk@iu.edu , and his homepage is http://curtbonk.com/.
About Dr. Vanessa Dennen
Dr. Vanessa Dennen is the Mack and Effie Campbell Tyner Distinguished Professor of Education at Florida State University. She is also the program director for the Instructional Systems and Learning Technologies program and academic director of the Ed.D. program in Learning Design and Performance Technology. She serves as co-editor-in-chief of The Internet and Higher Education.
Dennen’s research focuses on pedagogical, social, and ethical aspects of learning and interacting in online environments. She researches networked knowledge activities in professional development settings, emerging online technologies to support formal and informal learning, and the development of identity and community in online environments. She leads two research groups at FSU, Mediated Environments for Meaningful Education Research Group and the Students, Social Media, and Schools Research Group.
Dennen has authored more than 100 journal articles and book chapters, which have appeared in publications such as Teachers College Record; Instructional Science; Distance Education; Computers in Human Behavior; The Handbook of Distance Education; and The Handbook of Research on Educational Communications and Technology, among others. Additionally, she has co-edited four books: Virtual Professional Development and Informal Learning in Online Environments (2012), Social Presence and Identity in Online Learning (2019), Reshaping International Teaching and Learning: Universities in the Information Age (2021), and Global Perspectives on Educational Innovations for Emergency Situations (2022).
At Florida State University, Dennen’s program-building accomplishments include designing and launching a graduate certificate in online teaching and learning and the Ed.D. program in learning design and performance technologies. She teaches courses on online pedagogy, instructional design for new and emerging technologies, and online and qualitative research methods. As an instructor, she is committed to the use of open educational resources and open pedagogy. As noted by a nominee, “She has presented at nearly every AECT conference since the 1990s, often engaging graduate students in projects presented at the conference.”
Dennen can be contacted at vdennen@fsu.edu, and her homepage is https://vanessadennen.com/.
The Fellows will be introduced at the 2024 AECT International Convention held October 19-24, 2024, at the Kansas City Marriott Downtown.
“Curt Bonk and Vanessa Dennen have been pillars of AECT excellence for decades, with unmatched contributions to research and scholarship,” said AECT President-Elect Tonia Dousay. “It will be a pleasure to honor them in Kansas City at our membership meeting. Recognizing our new fellows has truly become one of the highlights of the convention.”
The membership meeting will be held on October 21 at 4:00 p.m. in the Kansas City Marriott Downtown ballroom during the annual AECT International Convention. During this time, AECT officers and the CEO will provide updates and recognize members.
“The celebration of our new Fellows, Dr. Curtis Bonk and Dr. Vanessa Dennen, will be a noteworthy part of the membership meeting at the 2024 convention in Kansas City,” said AECT CEO Nolan Gruver. “We are excited for Curt Bonk and Vanessa Dennen to be the newest contributors to the AECT Fellows Program.”
About the Association for Educational Communication and Technology (AECT)
AECT is an international organization that values diversity of thought, culture, and people whose activities are directed toward improving learning. AECT members may be found in colleges and universities; in the Armed Forces and industry; in museums, libraries, and hospitals; and in any other places where educational change takes place. AECT members include instructional designers, researchers, professors and teachers, educational technologists, and other professionals united by a passion for improving teaching and learning with technology.
Media Contact
James Shea
812-320-8963