USC ICT - Learning Sciences Group careers

This is Ben Nye, the Director of the USC ICT Learning Sciences group. The reason I do research is to build tools and new approaches that can benefit society, especially the parts of society that are underserved because there isn't an obvious profit motive.

We're interested in making advanced learning technology such as AI-personalized learning accessible for people with only smartphones and unreliable internet. We're interested in helping leaders at a community outreach organizations build virtual mentors to share strategies and career guidance at-scale using AI, for low or no cost. We're interested in helping teachers build high-quality learning activities like chat-based tutoring, without needing to understand how the AI works. We're interested in the potential for augmented reality to help students learn together as groups, where the technology brings learners together indoors and outdoors, rather than isolating them at desks. We're interested in training protective interpersonal skills that build social support and reduce the likelihood of suicide, sexual assault, and other dark outcomes.

These are all active areas for our team, which we have made contributions to this month. In some cases, we are building up systems intended to transition directly to broader use (e.g., 1-3 year horizon). In other cases, we are building prototypes to establish that an approach is feasible and useful, which can pave the road for other teams to follow (3+ year horizon). Finally, we conduct research studies and detailed analyses which can identify general patterns for learning and engagement that increase our knowledge about how learning and technology should be leveraged more generally (5+ year horizon).

We are now in a position where multiple systems are read to scale up and make an impact. If you feel this is an area for you to make a mark, please drop us a line. Open positions are infrequent, but we also collaborate with small businesses on SBIR, STTR, and other efforts.