Goldtrap Lecture Series presents Chad Edwards — Human-Machine Communication in the Educational Environment

CATEGORIES: Department Events
February 6, 2020, 7:00pm | Pioneer Room, Memorial Union

Human-Machine Communication in the Educational Environment

In this lecture, Chad Edwards will be discussing the role of human-machine communication (HMC) in an educational setting. He will be addressing such questions as

  1. How can AI and social robots be used in the classroom setting?
  2. What has research demonstrated regarding the possibility of robot teaching assistants?, and
  3. what are the advantages and pitfalls of HMC in the college classroom?

Chad Edwards, Ph.D. (2003-University of Kansas) is a professor of communication in the School of Communication at Western Michigan University. Previously, he was a Hartel Fellow at Marietta College. Edwards’ research interests include human-machine communication, human-robot interaction, artificial intelligence, and instructional communication. Recent publications include articles in: Communication Education, Communication Research Reports, Computers in Human Behavior, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, and Communication Studies (including Article of the Year in Communication Studies).

Chad Edwards co-directs the Communication and Social Robotics Labs (www.combotlab.org). He is a co-author on a Sage textbook entitled, Life in the Communication Age: Connecting and Engaging (2013/2016/2019). He has received several top paper awards for his research. He serves on numerous editorial boards, has held offices at both national and regional communication conferences, and is a Past-President of the Central States Communication Association. He is current Executive Director of CSCA.

In 2009, Chad received the WMU Distinguished Teaching Award (the highest teaching award given by WMU). In 2017, he received the highest research award from the College of Arts and Sciences at WMU. He also has been awarded teaching awards from the WMU College of Arts and Sciences, University of Kansas, and Texas Tech University. Currently, Chad is also an undergraduate student pursuing a BS in Computer Science.