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Charles Patton

Senior Software Engineer

After completing his Ph.D. in the mathematics of quantum gravity at Stony Brook, with additional work Oxford's Mathematical Institute, and France's I.H.E.S, spending a year as the first AMS Post Doctoral Research Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies, and a number of years of research and teaching and the University of Utah, Dr. Patton was struck with a compelling vision of how handheld devices could be designed to radically democratize access to the concepts of mathematics. In 1982, he took this vision to Hewlett-Packard Co., home of the first scientific calculator. Since that time, at HP, with Texas Instruments, through NSF grants, and now, at SRI, he has been fully engaged in researching, fostering, and inventing the future of handhelds in education, including the first symbolic handhelds, the HP-28C and successors, that changed forever the ground rules for the teaching of calculus and algebra. Dr. Patton has authored 4 books, numerous articles, and currently holds 13 final and pending patents in handheld software systems, wireless networking, and digital rights management, with several more in preparation. At CTL, Dr. Patton is helping build a technology bridge from research to practice, while fostering the uptake of learning science insights in a number of SRI's technology programs.

Education 

• Ph.D. Mathematics, Stony Brook, 1977
• M.A., Mathematics, Stony Brook, 1974
• B.A., Mathematics/Physics, Princeton University, 1972

Professional Experience 

• Senior Scientist, SRI International, Menlo Park, CA (2001-present)
• Appliances Project Manager, Hewlett-Packard, Corvallis, OR (2000-2002)
• Founder and Consultant, MathTech Services, Eugene, OR (1997-2000)
• Mathematician/Scientist, Hewlett-Packard, Corvallis, OR (1992-1997)
• Software Research and Development Engineer, Hewlett-Packard, Corvallis, OR (1982-1992)
• Visiting Assistant Prof., University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT (1981-1982)
• Instructor, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT (1978-1981)
• Member, Institute for Advanced Studies, Princeton, NJ (1977-1978)

Research Areas at CTL

Learning Environments
Technology Development

Current Projects at CTL

• Adaptive Expertise in Second Life (InnoQ)
• Build IT: Girls Building Information Technology Fluency Through Design (Staff)
• OPerETTA Initiative: Optimizing Performance & Enhancing Teaching with Technology & Assessment
• ScribbleProv: Supporting disciplined improvisation during face-to-face discussion
• Thinking With Data
• Wireless Internet Learning Devices (WILD)

Past Projects at CTL

• Information Technology Research and Education, Teaching and Learning Workshops ended 2003
• Principles for Improving Mathematics Learning in High-Poverty High Schools ended 2008
• Technology & Math Learning Strategic Alliance (Leader) ended 2006
• Training and Resources for Assembling Interactive Learning Systems (TRAILS) ended 2007
• Tuple Spaces as a Foundation for Collaborative Learning ended 2006
• Wireless Handhelds for Improving Reflection on Learning (WHIRL) ended 2004

Publications

• Brecht, J., DiGiano, C., Patton, C., Tatar, D., Chaudhury, R., Roschelle, J., & Davis, K. (2007). Coordinating networked learning activities with a general-purpose Interface. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning.
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• Roschelle, J., Patton, C., Tatar, D. (2007). Designing networked handheld devices to enhance school learning. In M. Zelkowitz, Ed. Advances in Computers, 70, 1-60.
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• Roschelle, J., Tatar, D., Chaudhury, R., Dimitriadis, Y., Patton, C., & DiGiano, C. (2007). Ink, improvisation, and interactive engagement: Learning with tablets. Computer, 40(9), 42-48.
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• Chan, T., Roschelle, J., Hsi, S., Kinshuk, Sharples, M., Brown, T., Patton, C., Cherniavsky, J., Pea, R., Norris, C., Soloway, E., Balacheff, N., Scardamalia, M., Dillenbourg, P., Looi, C., Milrad, M., & Hoppe, U. (2006). One-to-one technology-enhanced learning: An opportunity for global research collaboration. Research and Practice in Technology Enhanced Learning, 1(1), 3-29.
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• Koch, M. (2006) Build IT curriculum. Featured in Consumers Guide to After School Science Resources at http://www.sedl.org/cgi-bin/mysql/afterschool/science.cgi?location=search&show_resource_id=45
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• Vahey, P., Yarnall, L., Patton, C., Zalles, D., & Swan, K. (2006, April). Mathematizing middle school: Results from a cross-disciplinary study of data literacy. Paper presented at the annual conference of the American Educational Research Association, San Francisco, CA.
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• DiGiano, C., & Patton, C. (2002). Orchestrating handhelds in the classroom with SRI’s ClassSync™. In G. Stahl (Ed.), Computer Support for Collaborative Learning 2002 (pp. 706-707). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
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• DiGiano, C., Yarnall, L., Patton, C., Roschelle, J., Tatar, D. G., & Manley, M. (2002). Collaboration design patterns: Conceptual tools for planning for the wireless classroom. In Proceedings of WMTE 2002 (pp. 39-47).
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• Roschelle, J. & Patton, C., Pea, R. (Stanford) (2002). To unlock the learning value of wireless mobile devices, understand coupling. In M. Milrad, U. Hoppe, Kinsuk (Eds.), Wireless and mobile devices in education, Los Alamitos, CA: IEEE Computer Society, 2-6.
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