Vanessa Dennen

Vanessa Dennen is a Professor of Instructional Systems & Learning Technologies in the Department of Educational Psychology & Learning Systems at Florida State University and the Editor in Chief of The Internet and Higher Education. Her research focuses on online learning and social media. Specifically, she considers how people use online environments to support a variety of knowledge and social or community-building activities, and how to best design online learning activities to support learner engagement and active learning processes. She co-leads the Students, Social Media & Schools Research Group at FSU. Vanessa has authored more than 75 journal articles and book chapters, which have appeared in publications such as Teachers College Record; Instructional Science; Distance Education; Computers in Human Behavior; Online Learning; The Handbook of Distance Education; and The Handbook of Research on Educational Communications and Technology, among others. Additionally, she co-edited Virtual Professional Development and Informal Learning in Online Environments (with Jennifer B. Myers) and Social Presence and Identity in Online Learning (with Patrick Lowenthal). At Florida State University, Vanessa teaches courses on online pedagogy, instructional design for new and emerging technologies, and online and qualitative research methods.