Welcome to the Technology as an Agent of Change in Teaching and Learning (TACTL) Special Interest Group (SIG) of the American Educational Research Association (AERA). I am honored to serve as SIG Chair and to welcome you to a scholarly community focused on understanding and advancing the role of technology as a driver of change in teaching and learning across educational contexts.
TACTL is grounded in the dissemination of both theoretical and practical understandings of technology as an agent of change in teaching and learning. We conceptualize change agents as entities that transform and enrich education across classroom, organizational, and societal contexts. Our SIG is constituted to support two complementary purposes: preparing educators to serve as agents of change in a technology-driven world through teacher education and professional development in formal and informal settings, and examining how educators and technology shape learners and learning processes from diverse research perspectives.
Throughout the year, we maintain regular connections through bi-monthly newsletters that highlight member scholarship, share emerging research, and communicate SIG activities. We are also developing new programming designed to expand opportunities for collaboration and to elevate the work of our members, with a focus on strengthening scholarly networks and extending research into practice. Watch for these initiatives!
These efforts culminate in our engagement at the AERA Annual Meeting, and we look forward to seeing you in Toronto in 2027. As always, we will share ongoing research, facilitate communication across perspectives, and extend collective knowledge into future programs of practice. Across all activities, the SIG works to capture research findings and translate them into meaningful contributions for both scholarship and practice. For those of you who joined us in L.A., you know how meaningful the ongoing work of TACTL can be, especially the community of colleagues we’ve created.
I invite you to engage with the community, contribute your work, and participate in shaping the ongoing direction of TACTL. I look forward to serving you this year, and hope to hear from you on the direction of TACTL. Be well.
Matthew L. Wilson, Ph.D. | Kennesaw State University Chair, AERA SIG-TACTL mwils268@kennesaw.edu