Rob Nelson Email & Phone Number

I write and teach about the social and historical contexts of educational technology, especially how generative AI is changing education. Follow me for commentary on journalism, social criticism, and other writing about generative AI's impacts on education. Click the View My Blog button next to my profile picture above to check out 𝐀𝐈 𝐋𝐨𝐠, where I publish review essays about books that have helped me understand generative AI as an educational technology and long-form essays about how nineteenth-century ideas explain twenty-first-century technology. I give talks about the social and historical contexts that are important to making decisions about using generative and other forms of AI in educational institutions. I teach courses in cultural and educational history that explore the way slavery, gender, technology, and social justice movements have shaped institutions and individuals in the United States. Before I got distracted by questions about the educational value of AI, I oversaw university-wide strategic and operational projects, including implementing academic information systems for course evaluation (Explorance Blue), learning management (Canvas), graduate admissions (Slate), and student information (Banner & Courseleaf) at the University of Pennsylvania.