Meet the Team

Kathryn Lewis, Project Director

Kathryn Roots Lewis is the Director of Libraries and Instructional Technology for Norman Public Schools in Norman, Oklahoma. Prior to her current position, Kathryn served as a classroom teacher and librarian at all levels. Kathryn is the President of the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) and served on the AASL Standards and Guidelines Editorial Board. She was part of the first LILEAD Fellows group, a national professional development program for school library supervisors. She is on the Oklahoma Technology Association Board and is a past president of the organization. Kathryn was recognized with the 2018 Oklahoma Library Association Distinguished Service Award, the 2013 University of Oklahoma School of Library and Information Studies Outstanding Alumni Award, the ISTE Making IT Happen Award, Oklahoma's 2012 Outstanding Technology Leader, and the 2010 Oklahoma Library Association (OLA) Library Legend. Kathryn is a Past Chair of the AASL Supervisors Section and a Past President of Oklahoma Library Association. Kathryn has authored numerous articles and blogs. Kathryn holds a MLIS from the School of Library and Information Studies, University of Oklahoma.

Shirley Simmons, Project Co-Director

Dr. Shirley Simmons, Norman Public School’s Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services, has been in education since 1983, working in Norman since 2000. For seven years she taught middle school and elementary school in Rose Hill, Kansas; Fort Riley, Kansas; and in two Department of Defense Dependent Schools in Wertheim and Wurzburg, Germany.

For four years she served as a principal and assistant principal in Newton, Kansas and five years as principal of Derby Middle School in Derby, Kansas. Since living in Norman, she served as assistant principal at Irving Middle School for one year and as Truman Elementary principal for seven years. Prior to her current position she was the Director of Staff Development and Student Achievement for Norman Public Schools for four years. Dr. Simmons was named as the 2018 Oklahoma School Librarians Oklahoma School Administrator.

She earned a bachelor’s degree from Wichita State University in Elementary Education in 1982, a master’s in Educational Administration from Kansas State University in 1990, and a doctorate in Adult and Higher Education from the University of Oklahoma in 2004.

Lee Nelson, Project Co-Director

Dr. Lee Nelson has been the Norman Public School's Technology Integration Specialist since 1998. She provides technology professional development to certified and support staff in the following areas: technology integration, Microsoft Office Suite, Gmail, Google Drive and Docs and other Google apps, Kidspiration and Inspiration, Moodle, Web 2.0, digital citizenship and information literacy, web page development, audio, graphics, video, and various multimedia software, student response systems, interactive whiteboards, document cameras, desktop video conferencing, wireless slates, laptops and tablet computers, Chromebooks, and Safari Montage video on demand. She also participates in district planning committees, surveys, and data analysis related to technology use and integration. She earned her PhD at the University of Oklahoma in Instructional Psychology and Technology, and teaches as an adjunct professor at the University of Central Oklahoma.

Kyungwon Koh, Principal Investigator

Associate Professor - School of Information Sciences, University of Illinois

Kyungwon Koh is an associate professor in the School of Information Sciences at the University of Illinois. She earned her MS and PhD at the Florida State University's iSchool and a BS from Yonsei University Department of Library and Information Science in South Korea. Her areas of expertise include digital youth, the maker movement, learning and community engagement through libraries, human information behavior, and competencies for information professionals. Koh has received several research grants and awards, including a 2016 IMLS National Leadership Grant, 2016 ALA YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association) Midwinter Paper Presentation Winner, 2014 IMLS Laura Bush 21st Century Program Early Career Development Grant, 2010 Eugene Garfield Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship, and 2010 ALISE Research Grant Award. Her work has been published in leading IS/LIS journals such as JASIS&T, LISR, Information Research, JRLYA, JELIS, and Library Trends. She currently serves as a co-chair of the ALISE Youth Services SIG (2018-2019) and an editorial board member of the School Library Research journal (2018-2020).

Xun Ge, Co-Principal Investigator

Professor of Instructional Psychology and Technology - Department of Educational Psychology, Jeannine Rainbolt College of Education, the University of Oklahoma

Dr. Xun Ge holds a PhD in Instructional Systems from the Pennsylvania State University. Dr. Ge’s primary research interest involves scaffolding students’ complex and ill-structured problem solving and self-regulated learning through designing instructional scaffolds, cognitive tools, learning technologies, and open learning environments, including virtual learning community, game-based learning, inquiry-based learning, and problem- based learning. Over the past decade, her scholarly inquiry has evolved from cognition and metacognition to their linkage with motivation, and from studying the design of instructional strategies and tools to assessing the impact of the design of a learning environment on students’ skill development in representation, constructing arguments, and proposing solutions in ill-structured problems. Dr. Ge has conducted extensive research in STEM education, from K12 to higher education settings, and she has collaborated with researchers and scholars from diverse disciplines around the world. Dr. Ge’s research has been published as numerous refereed articles in many leading journals in the field of instructional psychology and technology, multiple book chapters with well regarded books and publishers, and two major books published by Springer (one on game-based assessment, and the other on STEAM education). Dr. Ge has been recognized for a number of academic awards by Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT), including 2012 Outstanding Journal Article, 2004 Outstanding Journal Article, and 2003 Young Scholar Award. Dr. Ge has been serving on the editorial board of several major refereed journals, including Educational Technology Research & Development, Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-based Learning, and Technology, and Knowledge and Learning. Currently, Dr. Ge also serves as the Chair for the Problem-based Education Special Interest Group for the American Educational Research Association.

Kelsey Barker, Teacher-Librarian

Kelsey Barker is the Teacher Librarian at Longfellow Middle School in Norman, OK. She earned her MLIS from the University of Oklahoma and is the winner of the 2016 Outstanding New Librarian Award from the Oklahoma Library Association (OLA), as well as the 2017 Oklahoma School Librarians Technology in Education Award. She is a member of the OLA GOLD leadership class of 2016. Kelsey has written for Teacher Librarian, YALSA’s YALS, and AASL’s Knowledge Quest. In addition to being active in AASL and YALSA, she holds positions on the executive board of the Oklahoma Library Association and the OLA Sequoyah Book Award reading team. Within Norman Public Schools, Kelsey is a Guided Inquiry Design district trainer, sits on the Longfellow Leadership Council, and serves as a mentor teacher. You can find her on Twitter at @kelseymbarker.

Martha Pangburn, Teacher-Librarian

Martha Pangburn has been a school librarian in the Norman Public Schools for 20 years. She has a Master's Degree in Library and Information Studies from the University of Oklahoma and a Bachelor's of Science in Education from Oklahoma Baptist University. She achieved her National Board Certification in 2005, and recently renewed her certification through 2025. She is a district Guided Inquiry Design trainer. Martha has presented at local, state, and national conferences, including the American Association of School Librarians conferences, and has been active in the Oklahoma Library Association, serving as member and chair of the Sequoyah Book Award High School Reading Team and chair of the Sequoyah Book Awards Administrative Team. Martha received the 2018 Oklahoma School Librarians Technology in Education Award.

Chloe Summers, Teacher-Librarian

Chloe Summers is a librarian at Norman High School in Norman Public Schools. She is passionate about reading, learning, and making. She served as a summer school librarian for Norman Public Schools during 2018 and interned at a middle school within the same district the semester prior. She also worked on a research project involving Guided Inquiry Design and Making with Norman Public Schools. Prior to working in school libraries, Chloe worked for Pioneer Library System with all age groups. She is currently a member of the Marketing and Intellectual Freedom committees within Oklahoma Library Association.