Learning Sciences + Educational Technology
Understanding how emerging technologies shape learning.
I study how people learn, think, and interact in AI-mediated and immersive environments, and use those insights to design better learning technologies.
The question behind my work
New technologies change what learners can see, say, and do. What happens to learning as a result?
My research examines the cognitive, behavioral, and social processes that emerge when people learn with technologies such as artificial intelligence, immersive environments, and interactive simulations.
My research
Three connected research programs.
My work asks how emerging technologies change the experience, process, and measurement of learning.
01
Human–AI Interaction
How do people communicate, reason, and learn with intelligent agents? I examine AI-supported simulations and generative AI, with particular attention to dialogue, feedback, social interaction, and learning.
02
Immersion & Cognition
What makes an experience immersive and when does immersion actually help learning? My work examines presence, attention, mental imagery, cognitive load, memory, and immersive media.
03
Learning Analytics & Assessment
How can interaction traces, language, and performance data reveal what learners are doing and whether an emerging technology is actually working? I use quantitative and computational methods to study learning processes and evidence of effectiveness.
43
Publications
20
Journal articles
14
First-authored
Research through design
I don’t only study learning technologies. I build them.
Designing and developing learning environments gives me another way to investigate how theory, technology, and human behavior meet in practice.
01
Digital learning ecosystem
Career Readiness at Scale
Designing an asynchronous university career-readiness and digital badging experience.
02
Award-recognized e-Learning
IBSTPI Instructor Competencies
Translating professional instructional competencies into an interactive learning experience.
03
Immersive learning design
VR Language Learning Lab
Building immersive environments that connect language learning, spatial experience, and instructional design.
Teaching & mentoring
Learning by making, revising, and collaborating.
I approach learning as a social and iterative process. My students work toward meaningful products, learn through feedback and collaboration, and apply ideas in contexts that resemble the professional worlds they are preparing to enter.
Featured publications
A few papers to start with.
Preservice Teachers’ Dialogue with AI-Powered Virtual Student Agents: Patterns and Perceptions
Journal of Technology and Teacher Education
The Virtual Reality in Your Head: How Immersion and Mental Imagery Are Connected to Knowledge Retention
Educational Psychology Review
Large Language Models and Automated Essay Scoring of English Language Learner Writing: Insights into Validity and Reliability
Computers and Education: Artificial Intelligence
Beyond the research
My path to learning sciences began in the classroom.
Before completing my Ph.D. in Instructional Systems and Learning Technologies at Florida State University, I spent years teaching internationally, experiences that continue to shape the questions I ask about technology, learning, culture, and human interaction.
Away from research, you’ll usually find me reading, exercising, making something, or spending time with my family.
Collaborate
Good research begins with good questions, and often with good collaborators.
If our interests overlap, I’d be glad to hear from you.
Alex Barrett 