Bradley Wiggins,
associate professor and head of the department of Media Communications at
Webster University in Vienna, Austria, is being honored with the 2016 College
of Education and Educational Technology Alumni Scholar Award.
Wiggins graduated from
the IUP Communications Media and Instructional Technology (CMIT) PhD program in
2011, where he focused his research and dissertation on cultural implications in
online learning settings. Wiggins states “The CMIT PhD program prepared me to
fully understand that being a teaching professor also means producing quality
scholarship.”
After graduating from
IUP, he joined the faculty at the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith, where he
became head of the Communication Department in 2014. In his current position,
Wiggins is responsible for accreditation and assessment of the Media
Communications program, working with representatives from the St. Louis-based
Webster University campus as well as media department heads in Switzerland and
The Netherlands.
As Wiggins explains, “The
best part of working in Vienna is that I have the privilege of teaching truly
diverse students. I am allowed to witness their genuine curiosity and eagerness
to know more. This challenges to me to continue to make classes interesting,
inviting, and a comfortable but stimulating zone for learning.”
Wiggins’ research
investigates technology and the uses of technology as cultural forces. He is
co-author of a textbook to be published by Fountainhead Press, Writing the New Landscape, which focuses on composition in new and
social media, expected 2017. He has also published several articles in critically acclaimed
journals such as the International
Journal of Communication, New Media and Society and the International Journal
of Game-Based Learning. Wiggins has
completed extensive research on games, simulations, gamification, and memes.
Wiggins states that
learning about communications and media is significant. “Without a critical
understanding of these and many other related issues, we merely use language
and other forms of communication without realizing their actual power, potential
for impact, positive or negative change, and so much more.”
The College of Education
and Educational Technology Alumni Scholar Award will be presented to Wiggins on September 22. While on
campus, Wiggins will meet with current students in the CMIT PhD program as
well as make presentations to classes.