Workshop on
Next-Generation Education Technology
Trends and Opportunities in Education 4.0
Saturday, September 04, 2021, IIT Jodhpur

Prof. Sahana Murthy is Professor in the Educational Technology interdisciplinary program at IIT Bombay. Her research interest is in ‘Technology enhanced learning of disciplinary practices’, which includes developing students' problem-solving, design thinking and inquiry practices in STEM domains via interactive technology-enhanced learning environments. Another area of focus is ‘Teacher use of educational technologies’, which has led to the design of models and large-scale teacher professional development workshops. One such model, the learner-centric MOOC (LCM) model has formed the basis for several online and blended courses on SWAYAM and IITBombayX platforms. Before joining IIT Bombay, she was a post-doctoral researcher in Physics Education Research at MIT, USA and Rutgers University. She received her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Mumbai, Master’s degree in physics from IIT Bombay, and PhD in physics from Rutgers University.

Alex Howland, Ph.D., is president and co-founder of Virbela, a virtual world platform for remote work, learning, and events. Howland created Virbela in 2012, before it was purchased and made public by eXp World Holdings in 2018. Virbela’s mission is to help organizations and people thrive in a remote-first future. Alex leads the development of Virbela’s products and services -- continuing to expand the platform to accommodate not just business workspaces, but classrooms, event spaces, and recreational areas as well. Prior to co-founding Virbela, Howland was an instructor in the Psychology Department at University of California, San Diego, where he taught Industrial and Organizational Psychology to undergraduate students. His expertise in organizational psychology gives him a unique perspective on creating virtual work and education spaces. He designed Virbela specifically to create a unique virtual experience where users feel psychologically safe and are more likely to collaborate, brainstorm, and succeed. Howland has a bachelor of science in psychology from Providence College, and his Ph.D. in organizational psychology from Alliant International University, San Diego.

Dr Kuldeep Yadav is the Director of AI at SHL. Previously, he was a founding member of an EdTech startup VideoKen where he led different technology and AI initiatives. VideoKen's indexing technology has been used by many enterprises across the world and top AI/ML conferences including NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, and SIGKDD. His work in VideoKen led to many accolades including Nasscom AI Game Changer Award. Before VideoKen, he was working as a researcher in Xerox Research Centre, India. He finished his Ph.D. from IIIT-Delhi and was a recipient of the Microsoft Research Ph.D. Fellowship. 

A teacher at heart, a student for life, a wife, a mother to a 5-year old, and a support system to her folks at home and at work, Kripa is personally motivated to make learning joyful, for everyone. In her personal and professional capacity, she aspires to bridge the gap between Bharat and India and bring inclusivity in our country for all. Been in the social space for almost a decade now, focusing on the educational demands in rural India. In her current role at eVidyaloka, a non-profit organization, as the Head of Business Development and Operations for growth programs, she enables learning for lakhs of children in the remotest villages of India. She was awarded the Her Rising Working Woman Professional Award by JobsforHer in 2019. 

Pratiti is currently pursuing her Ph.D. from IDC School of Design, IIT Bombay. She is also a gold medalist at IIT Kanpur where she completed her Masters in Design. She is skilled in User Experience Research and Design, Augmented Reality, HCI, and Educational Technology. Her research interest lies in establishing Augmented Reality (AR) technology in school education. For this, she has been investigating the design strategies for AR-based learning experiences in K-12 classrooms. She has actively conducted workshops and sessions on AR in education with students, teachers, and professionals at Indian and international platforms. For two years, Pratiti has been part of the IndiaHCI organizing team, by chairing tracks like Student Design Consortium & Showcase. She is also currently the chair of IIT Bombay ACM SIGCHI Student Chapter.