Nicola Yuill

Role: Head of Children & Technology Lab, Professor in Psychology, University of Sussex

Research areas: Children's social interaction, children's technology, especially for collaboration, children with autism, autism and technology, children's literacy and reading comprehension

In the ChaTLab we aim to understand and support children working and playing together, at school and at home, in typical and atypical development, with peers, with parents and with teachers. We have a special interest in how technology can help or hinder this.

An underlying theme of our work is the role of social interaction and collaboration in learning and development. How do interactions between peers support learning? How do parents scaffold children's learning at home? What role do teachers play in supporting children to become independent learners? And how might technology be used creatively and innovatively to support all of these interactions?

We have particular expertise in developing and evaluating the role of technology as a way of supporting collaborative interactions in typical and atypical development, especially in autism. We specialise in analysing video of social interactions and conversations to understand underlying mechanisms.

You can find out more on www.sussex.ac.uk/psychology/chatlab and follow us on Twitter @chatlabuk

See our lab website for current projects, publications and how to get involved, and check our twitterfeed for latest news