Roy Pea

Roy Pea
Pea at TeachAIDS 2010 inaugural gala
Born	July 5, 1952 (1952-07-05) (age 65) Highland Park, MI
Website	www.stanford.edu/~roypea

Roy Pea is David Jacks Professor of Learning Sciences and Education at the Stanford Graduate School of Education. He has extensively published works in the field of the Learning Sciences and on learning technology design, and made significant contributions since 1981 to the understanding of how people learn with technology.

Pea was born in Highland Park, Michigan on July 5, 1952. He received a dual major B.A. in philosophy and psychology from Michigan State University with an independently declared major in Cognition (1974) working with his mentor and friend Stephen Toulmin, and later, a D.Phil. in developmental psychology from Oxford University (1978), while studying as a Rhodes Scholar, working with his advisor Jerome Bruner. After studying child language and cognitive development from 1975 to 1980, his research concerns were attracted to understanding how innovations in computing and communications technologies can significantly influence learning, thinking, collaboration, and educational systems.

Pea is a key figure in the development of the learning sciences as a recognized field of research and graduate study. He founded and served as the first director of the first learning sciences doctoral program, at Northwestern University (1991), directing the NSF-funded field-building Center for Innovative Learning Technologies [6], and launching in 2002 the Learning Sciences and Technology Design (LSTD: http://ed.stanford.edu/academics/doctoral/lstd) program at Stanford University. In 2004–2005, Pea was President of the International Society for the Learning Sciences.