About

We live in a society where concepts of self, family, community and what is right and wrong are constantly changing. This makes it particularly challenging for children and teenagers to construct a sense of self, to build strong community ties and to identify their most cherished personal and moral values. There is a mounting pressure in schools and society to create learning environments that encourage young people to actively explore these issues. The DevTech research agenda focuses on how new technologies can be used to create learning environments to help young people explore their inner world and build just and caring communities.  

We strongly believe that the time has come for educators, researchers, practitioners and mental health professionals interested in issues of self, identity and community to discover how to appropriate computer technologies and design their own computational tools and computer-rich interventions to influence new ways of thinking and behaving, while supporting both cognitive and socio-emotional growth and awareness.  

The primary goal of the DevTech research program at Tufts University is to understand how to design and evaluate technologically-rich psychoeducational programs aimed at helping children develop in positive ways through the use of technology. In order to accomplish this vision, our research has three methodological aspects that go together: theory building, design of technologies and applied work with youth in formal and informal educational settings to test and evaluate the theory and the technologies. Each of these dimensions involves engaging in interdisciplinary work with different partners.