NASA innovator joins thought leaders for digital symposium

A senior advisor at NASA is teaming up with the chief information officer for CIEE, which operates study abroad programs in more than 40 countries, along with some of the most renowned minds in the field to assess the current state of digital education and explore its future during a daylong symposium on Tuesday, Oct. 15.

The Symposium on Digital Education, which is open to Salve Regina students, faculty and staff, will examine current delivery, assessment and analytics of digital learning platforms with an eye on how the technology can evolve for enhancing future student success.

A limited number of reservations are available to the University community on a first-come, first-served basis. Those interested in attending should RSVP through the symposium’s Eventbrite page.

The symposium will feature the expertise of Charles Camarda, senior advisor for innovation to the Office of Chief Engineer at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, and Peter Morales, chief information officer at CIEE, in collaboration with Irving Bruckstein, chief information officer at Salve Regina.

“The days of linear computer-based training are behind us,” Bruckstein said. “The future lies with using artificial intelligence, machine learning and advanced analytics applied to adaptive individualized learning; for maximizing student success and outcomes.”

Camarda will present his keynote address at 10:15 a.m. Participants will then break into working committee groups with expert panelists to focus on pedagogy, assessments, analytics and technology. The symposium will conclude with a question-and-answer session from 4:15-5 p.m., followed by closing thoughts.

Panelists include:

• John Katzman (pedagogy), creator of Noodle Partners, co-founder and former CEO of the Princeton Review and best-selling author of “Cracking the SAT”
• Diego Zapata Rivera (assessments), managing principal research scientist in the cognitive and learning sciences center at Educational Testing Service
• Sasha Dietrichson (analytics), founder of X-Ray learning analytics product developed for Moodle and now owned by Blackboard
• Sherif Samman (technology), CEO of Business Transformation Technologies with 25 years of experience as an IT executive for business and higher education

Named a mission specialist in 1996, Camarda was a backup crew member for Expedition 8 of the International Space Station. His first space flight was STS-114, NASA’s “return to flight” mission following the loss of the space shuttle Columbia. Camarda continues to work for NASA and has pioneered an engineering pedagogical approach called EPIC that explores how to develop a mission as a collaborative training project.