Established in 2010, the Center for 21st Century Universities (C21U) is Georgia Tech's living laboratory for fundamental educational change.
Serving as a research arm of the College of Lifetime Learning, C21U's technologists and researchers support the Institute's innovation mission by pushing the boundaries of what is already done in higher education to bring learners the most impactful resources and technologies.
We serve as a nexus of collaboration and communication and a catalyst for innovation, bringing together an array of internal and external partners across various disciplines.
Through a sustained and systemic program of research, experimentation, design, prototyping, and implementation, C21U serves the Institute in thought leadership, educational technology design, community building, and support of Georgia Tech stakeholders of all ages.
Recent News
AI Oral Assessment Tool Uses Socratic Method to Test Students' Knowledge
C21U collaborated with computer science master's student Ray Hung and other researchers to develop "Socratic Mind," an AI-powered oral assessment platform designed to enhance students’ understanding, critical thinking, and communication skills through Socratic questioning. The project, which won a Catalyst Award, is being piloted in several classes, with C21U researchers Jonna Lee and Meryem Soylu evaluating its effectiveness and potential to transform traditional learning and assessment methods.
Using Generative AI in Education: Learning by Doing
At 1EdTech's 2024 Learning Impact Conference, panelists in the "Intersection of AI and Education" session argued that using AI is essential for understanding and preparing for the future. Sandra DeCastro, vice president of marketing and higher education programs at 1EdTech, spoke with Tom Andriola of the University of California, Irvine, who moderated the discussion, and panelists Ryan Lufkin of Global Academic Strategy at Instructure, Steve Harmon of Georgia Tech, and Shawna Dark of UC Berkeley to share their insights in this article.
Surfacing barriers to adoption: lessons learned from end-to-end deployments of Learning and Employment Records (LERs) as Verifiable Credentials
As members of the Digital Credentials Consortium, we are eager to share the Consortium’s recent advancements in developing and deploying Learning and Employment Records (LERs) as Verifiable Credentials (VCs). The latest project has highlighted the transformative potential of VCs in securely sharing skills and achievements. Despite challenges such as the need for technical resources and clearer communication of VCs’ benefits, the pilot projects have successfully demonstrated the full lifecycle of VCs. These efforts are crucial in making LERs more accessible and meaningful for learners, issuers, and employers alike.
Georgia Tech Commits to Doubling Educational Reach
Today, the Institute announced the launch of its new College of Lifetime Learning, a cornerstone initiative in its commitment to double the number of degrees granted and non-degree learners reached by 2030. The announcement was made at the annual Institute Address by Georgia Tech President Ángel Cabrera, who emphasized the Institute's dedication to transformative education.
THE podcast: How Technology is Reshaping the 21st-Century Campus
In this episode, Steve Harmon, C21U executive director, and Lev Gonick, chief information officer at Arizona State University, discuss how technology is redefining the university experience. They were both speakers at Times Higher Education’s Digital Universities US 2024 event.
(Photo: Eliza Compton, Campus deputy editor, and Steve Harmon.)
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Featured Research
The global pandemic accelerated the shift to remote teaching, leading to a rise in digital course materials such as textbooks. However, existing literature indicates limited research on how online students utilize digital textbooks and the features they find valuable for their online learning experiences and desire to aid their learning. Therefore, this research aimed to explore the experiences and perceptions among diverse online students and then draw implications for designing future intelligent textbooks.
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