Biography
Cathleen Norris is a Regents Professor in the Department of Learning Technologies, College of Information, at the University of North Texas, Denton, TX. From 1995-2001, Norris was President of the National Educational Computing Association (NCEA), and led its merger with ISTE, the International Society for Technology in Education, creating the largest, international organization for technology-minded educators in the world. Norris was Co-President of ISTE from 2001-2004. Norris’ 14 years in K-12 classrooms – receiving a Golden Apple Award from Dallas ISD along the way – has shaped her university R&D agenda: developing resources to support K-12 teachers as they move into 21st century classrooms.
Norris has also given presentations on educational technology all over the world for the past 20+ years and is the co-founder of GoKnow, Inc., a Dallas-based company that supports K-12 in using mobile learning devices.
40 years ago as an artificial intelligence researcher, Dr. Elliot Soloway was drawn to the challenge of how to make computers learn. But, after the birth of his first child, he had an epiphany: Making children smarter would be a much better use of his time than making computers smarter. This inspired him to stop doing AI research altogether and start working on educational technology. But as a college professor with little experience in education technology, he needed someone who really understood K-12.
Dr. Cathie Norris, a math and Spanish teacher for 14+ years was the ideal partner. In the days when technology was just taking off in the classroom, the duo founded a company to give teachers mobile learning tools. However, they quickly learned that tools are not enough—teachers need curricula that can guide them in effectively using the tech tools with their students.
Curriculum Vitae
Click here to download Dr. Norris’s Curriculum Vitae.