Allison Druin

Professor
2117H Hornbake Library
(301) 405-7406
Academic Web Page
Education: 
Ph.D., University of New Mexico (Educational Specialties in K-12 Technology)
Special Awards/Honors: 
National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award, Appointed to the National Commission on Library and Information Science by President George W. Bush, 2010 SIGCHI Social Impact Award, 2009 Digital Education Achievement Award, ACM Distinguished Scientist
Biography: 

Allison Druin is a professor in the College of Information Studies (iSchool) with an appointment in the Human-Computer Interaction Lab (HCIL).

Over the last 20 years, Druin’s HCIL research has extensively focused on developing new technologies for children. She has led the development of new educational technologies, such as the International Children’s Digital Library and StoryKit, which are used by children, parents, and teachers around the world.

Druin is also co-director of the Future of Information Alliance and previously served as director of HCIL and Associate Dean for Research in the iSchool. Her focus is not on predicting the future, but on preparing for it, with faculty and students campus-wide conducting research. In this role, she has helped develop a “Visiting Future-ist” program for gatherings around the Washington, D.C. area, which have included some of the first events to discuss MOOCs, big data and more.

She has assisted in establishing an FIA partner network with the U.S. Library of Congress, the U.S. National Park Service, the Governor of Maryland, the Smithsonian, and many others.

In 2014, Druin was awarded the National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award, given to outstanding junior faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars so they can further their research in their areas of expertise, and named an ACM Distinguished Scientist. She was appointed to the National Commission on Library and Information Science by President George W. Bush and has received numerous awards, including the 2010 SIGCHI Social Impact Award and the 2009 Digital Education Achievement Award.

Druin has published extensively in journals and books, and has been a keynote speaker throughout the world. For the last seven and a half years, she has also been a monthly technology correspondent for the WAMU 88.5 Kojo Nnamdi show as the “Computer Gal.”

Druin received her doctorate in educational specialties in K-12 technology from the University of New Mexico in 1997.

Publications

2010


Druin A, Foss E, Hutchinson H, Golub E, Hatley L.  2010.  Children's roles using keyword search interfaces at home. Proceedings of the 28th international conference on Human factors in computing systems. :413-422.

Tarkan S, Sazawal V, Druin A, Golub E, Bonsignore EM, Walsh G, Atrash Z.  2010.  Toque: designing a cooking-based programming language for and with children. Proceedings of the 28th international conference on Human factors in computing systems. :2417-2426.

Xie B, Druin A, Fails J, Massey S, Golub E, Franckel S, Schneider K.  2010.  Connecting generations: developing co-design methods for older adults and children. Behaviour & Information Technology. 99999(1):1-11.

Guha ML, Druin A, Fails JA.  2010.  Investigating the impact of design processes on children. Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children. :198-201.

Druin A.  2010.  Children as codesigners of new technologies: Valuing the imagination to transform what is possible. New Directions for Youth Development. 2010(128):35-43.

Fails JA, Druin A, Guha ML.  2010.  Mobile collaboration: collaboratively reading and creating children's stories on mobile devices. Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children. :20-29.

Brown Q, Bonsignore E, Hatley L, Druin A, Walsh G, Foss E, Brewer R, Hammer J, Golub E.  2010.  Clear Panels: a technique to design mobile application interactivity. Proceedings of the 8th ACM Conference on Designing Interactive Systems. :360-363.

2009


Druin A, Bederson BB, Rose A, Weeks A.  2009.  From New Zealand to Mongolia: Co-designing and deploying a digital library for the world's children. Special issue of Children, Youth and Environments: Children in Technological Environments: Interaction, Development, and Design.

Druin A, Foss E, Hatley L, Golub E, Guha ML, Fails J, Hutchinson H.  2009.  How children search the internet with keyword interfaces. Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children. :89-96.

Bederson BB, Quinn A, Druin A.  2009.  Designing the reading experience for scanned multi-lingual picture books on mobile phones. Proceedings of the 9th ACM/IEEE-CS joint conference on Digital libraries. :305-308.

Druin A, Jaeger PT, Golbeck J, Fleischmann KR, Jimmy Lin, Qu Y, Wang P, Xie B.  2009.  The Maryland Modular Method: An Approach to Doctoral Education in Information Studies. Journal of education for library and information science. 50(4):293-301.

2007


Druin A, Weeks A, Massey S, Bederson BB.  2007.  Children's interests and concerns when using the international children's digital library: a four-country case study. Proceedings of the 7th ACM/IEEE-CS joint conference on Digital libraries. :167-176.

Komlodi A, Hou W, Preece J, Druin A, Golub E, Alburo J, Liao S, Elkiss A, Resnik P.  2007.  Evaluating a cross-cultural children’s online book community: Lessons learned for sociability, usability, and cultural exchange. Interacting with Computers. 19(4):494-511.

Guha ML, Druin A, Montemayor J, Chipman G, Farber A.  2007.  A theoretical model of children's storytelling using physically-oriented technologies (SPOT). Journal of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia. 16(4):389-389.

Hutchinson HB, Druin A, Bederson BB.  2007.  Supporting elementary-age children's searching and browsing: Design and evaluation using the international children's digital library. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology. 58(11):1618-1630.

2006


Hutchinson HB, Bederson BB, Druin A.  2006.  The evolution of the international children's digital library searching and browsing interface. Proceedings of the 2006 conference on Interaction design and children. :105-112.

Druin A, Massey S, Weeks AC.  2006.  Initial findings from a three-year international case study exploring children's responses to literature in a digital library. Library trends. 54(2):245-265.

Chipman G, Druin A, Beer D, Fails JA, Guha ML, Simms S.  2006.  A case study of tangible flags: a collaborative technology to enhance field trips. Proceedings of the 2006 conference on Interaction design and children. :1-8.

Plaisant C, Clamage A, Hutchinson H B, Bederson BB, Druin A.  2006.  Shared family calendars: Promoting symmetry and accessibility. ACM Trans. Comput.-Hum. Interact.. 13(3):313-346.

2005


Hutchinson H, Druin A, Bederson BB, Reuter K, Rose A, Weeks AC.  2005.  How do I find blue books about dogs? The errors and frustrations of young digital library users Proceedings of HCII 2005.

Fails JA, Druin A, Guha ML, Chipman G, Simms S, Churaman W.  2005.  Child's play: a comparison of desktop and physical interactive environments. Proceedings of the 2005 conference on Interaction design and children. :48-55.

Hutchinson HB, Rose A, Bederson BB, Weeks AC, Druin A.  2005.  The International Children’s Digital Library: A Case Study in Designing for a MultiLingual. Multi-Cultural, Multi-Generational Audience. Information Technology and Libraries.

Druin A.  2005.  What children can teach us: Developing digital libraries for children with children. Library Quarterly. 75(1):20-41.

Lathan CE, Tracey MR, Vice JM, Druin A, Plaisant C.  2005.  Robotic apparatus and wireless communication system. 10/085,821(6895305)

2004


Montemayor J, Druin A, Chipman G, Farber A, Guha ML.  2004.  Tools for children to create physical interactive storyrooms. Computers in Entertainment (CIE). 2(1):12-12.

Hourcade JP, Bederson BB, Druin A.  2004.  Building KidPad: an application for children's collaborative storytelling. Software: Practice and Experience. 34(9):895-914.

Hourcade JP, Bederson BB, Druin A.  2004.  Preschool children's use of mouse buttons. CHI'04 extended abstracts on Human factors in computing systems. :1411-1412.

Reuter K, Druin A.  2004.  Bringing together children and books: An initial descriptive study of children's book searching and selection behavior in a digital library. Proceedings of the American Society for Information science and Technology. 41(1):339-348.

Guha ML, Druin A, Chipman G, Fails JA, Simms S, Farber A.  2004.  Mixing ideas: a new technique for working with young children as design partners. Proceedings of the 2004 conference on Interaction design and children: building a community. :35-42.

2003


Hutchinson H, Bederson BB, Plaisant C, Druin A.  2003.  Family Calendar Survey. Technical Reports from UMIACS.

Hutchinson H, Mackay W, Westerlund B, Bederson BB, Druin A, Plaisant C, Beaudouin-Lafon M, Conversy S, Evans H, Hansen H et al..  2003.  Technology probes: inspiring design for and with families. Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems. :17-24.

Druin A, Bederson BB, Weeks A, Farber A, Grosjean J, Guha ML, Hourcade JP, Lee J, Liao S, Reuter K et al..  2003.  The International Children's Digital Library. First Monday. 8(5-5)

Druin A, Bederson BB, Hourcade JP, Sherman L, Revelle G, Platner M, Weng S.  2003.  Designing a digital library for young children: An intergenerational partnership. The craft of information visualization: readings and reflections. 178

Knudtzon K, Druin A, Kaplan N, Summers K, Chisik Y, Kulkarni R, Moulthrop S, Weeks H, Bederson BB.  2003.  Starting an intergenerational technology design team: a case study. Proceedings of the 2003 conference on Interaction design and children. :51-58.

Druin A, Bederson BB, Weeks A, Farber A, Grosjean J, Guha ML, Hourcade JP, Lee J, Liao S, Reuter K et al..  2003.  The International Children's Digital Library: Description and analysis of first use. First Monday. 8(5):315-315.

Druin A, Revelle G, Bederson BB, Hourcade JP, Farber A, Lee J, Campbell D.  2003.  A collaborative digital library for children. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning. 19(2):239-248.

Ceaparu I, Druin A, Guimbretiere F, Manipulation D, Shneiderman B, Westerlurid B, Keogh E, Hochheiser H, Shrieidemian B, Shneidemiari B et al..  2003.  HCIL Technical Report Listing (1993-2002). The craft of information visualization: readings and reflections. 27(29):393-393.

Hourcade JP, Bederson BB, Druin A, Rose A, Farber A, Takayama Y.  2003.  The International Children's Digital Library: viewing digital books online. Interacting with Computers. 15(2):151-167.

Hourcade JP, Bederson BB, Druin A, Guimbretiere F.  2003.  Accuracy, Target Reentry and Fitts’ Law Performance of Preschool Children Using Mice. University of Maryland Technical Report, HCIL-2003. 16

2002


Montemayor J, Druin A, Farber A, Simms S, Churaman W.  2002.  Physical Programming: Designing Tools for Children to Create Physical Interactive. Proceedings: SIGCHI.

Druin A, Fast C.  2002.  The child as learner, critic, inventor, and technology design partner: An analysis of three years of Swedish student journals. International Journal of Technology and Design Education. 12(3):189-213.

Plaisant C, Druin A, Hutchinson H.  2002.  Technologies for families. CHI '02 extended abstracts on Human factors in computing systems. :938-939.

Hutchinson H, Plaisant C, Druin A.  2002.  Case study: a message board as a technology probe for family communication and coordination. Proceedings of the 2002 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems.

Farber A, Druin A, Chipman G, Julian D, Somashekhar S.  2002.  How young can our design partners be. Proceedings of the Participatory Design Conference. :272-277.

Revelle G, Druin A, Platner M, Bederson BB, Hourcade JP, Sherman L.  2002.  A visual search tool for early elementary science students. Journal of Science Education and Technology. 11(1):49-57.

2001


Browne H, Bederson BB, Plaisant C, Druin A.  2001.  Designing an Interactive Message Board as a Technology Probe for Family Communication. Technical Reports of the Computer Science Department.

Lathan C, Vice J M, Tracey M, Plaisant C, Druin A, Edward K, Montemayor J.  2001.  Therapeutic play with a storytelling robot. CHI '01 extended abstracts on Human factors in computing systems. :27-28.

Taxén G, Druin A, Fast C, Kjellin M.  2001.  KidStory: A technology design partnership with children. Behaviour & Information Technology. 20(2):119-125.

2000


Benford S, Bederson BB, \AAkesson KP, Bayon V, Druin A, Hansson P, Hourcade JP, Ingram R, Neale H, O'Malley C et al..  2000.  Designing storytelling technologies to encouraging collaboration between young children. Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems. :556-563.

Plaisant C, Druin A, Lathan C, Dakhane K, Edwards K, Vice J M, Montemayor J.  2000.  A storytelling robot for pediatric rehabilitation. Proceedings of the fourth international ACM conference on Assistive technologies. :50-55.

Alborzi H, Druin A, Montemayor J, Platner M, Porteous J, Sherman L, Boltman A, Taxén G, Best J, Hammer J et al..  2000.  Designing StoryRooms: interactive storytelling spaces for children. Proceedings of the 3rd conference on Designing interactive systems: processes, practices, methods, and techniques. :95-104.

1999


Stewart J, Bederson BB, Druin A.  1999.  Single display groupware: a model for co-present collaboration. Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems: the CHI is the limit. :286-293.

Druin A.  1999.  Cooperative inquiry: developing new technologies for children with children. Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems: the CHI is the limit. :592-599.

Druin A, Montemayor J, Hendler J, McAlister B, Boltman A, Fiterman E, Plaisant A, Kruskal A, Olsen H, Revett I et al..  1999.  Designing PETS: a personal electronic teller of stories. Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems: the CHI is the limit. :326-329.

1998


Stewart J, Raybourn E, Bederson BB, Druin A.  1998.  When Two Hands Are Better Than One: Enhancing Collaboration Using Single Display Groupware. CHI’98. Extended Abstracts. :287-288.

1997


Druin A, Stewart J, Proft D, Bederson BB, Hollan J.  1997.  KidPad: a design collaboration between children, technologists, and educators. Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems. :463-470.

Bederson BB, Hollan JD, Stewart J, Rogers D, Druin A, Vick D, Ring L, Grose E, Forsythe C.  1997.  A zooming web browser. Human Factors in Web Development.

1996


Bederson BB, Hollan JD, Druin A, Stewart J, Rogers D, Proft D.  1996.  Local tools: an alternative to tool palettes. Proceedings of the 9th annual ACM symposium on User interface software and technology. :169-170.

Druin A, Solomon C.  1996.  Designing Multimedia Environments for Children: Computers, Creativity, and Kids..