Overview
Tanner Higgin is a researcher, theorist, and creative working at the intersection of technology, culture, and learning. For much of his 20-year career, he has focused on human-centered, inclusive approaches to edtech design, development, evaluation, and implementation. As Senior Research Associate on the Learning and Technology team, Higgin is exploring how we can create a future where we create, choose, and use edtech that supports thriving learning cultures.
Currently, Higgin is coleading a larger user research project focused on better understanding the math courseware experiences and needs of Black, Latine, Indigenous, and low-income college students. He is also conducting user research on AI learning tools and their impact on college performance. Recently, he helped superintendents in rural school districts in Washington State more effectively evaluate and implement technology. Outside of his funded project work, Higgin is developing a framework for what he calls Convivial Classrooms. This is a vision for learning with technology that aims for agency, social cohesion, and creativity rather than disruption, revolution, or transformation.
Prior to WestEd, Higgin was the Editorial Director at Common Sense Media where he helped to build and grow their editorial program for teachers. During this time, he helped to create several popular websites, developed classroom activities and resources, and wrote extensively about edtech and media literacy. Over the years, his team rated and reviewed over 4,000 tools for learning quality and influenced millions of decisions about edtech in schools.
Before Common Sense Media, Higgin was part of a scrappy, Fast Company–award winning team at GameDesk that developed educational games, a play-based 6th grade curriculum, and a website called Educade.
Education
- PhD in English, University of California, Riverside
- MA in English, University of California, Riverside
- BA in English, Michigan State University
Select Publications
Higgin, T. (2023, April 27). The future of game-based learning isn’t more educational games [Conference presentation]. Valid Gains Through Video Games, Monmouth University, NJ.
Higgin, T. (2022, October 13). Connecting at-home play to in-school learning [Conference presentation]. Meaningful Play, East Lansing, MI.
Higgin, T. (2022, May 26). How to find learning opportunities in video games kids and teens love. Common Sense Education. https://www.commonsense.org/education/articles/how-to-find-learning-opportunities-in-video-games-kids-and-teens-love
Higgin, T. (2019, September 5). Are phones and social media a distraction in museums and galleries? Common Sense Education. https://www.commonsense.org/education/articles/are-phones-and-social-media-a-distraction-in-museums-and-galleries
Higgin, T. (2018, April 3). What the research says about VR in classrooms. Common Sense Education. https://www.commonsense.org/education/articles/what-the-research-says-about-vr-in-classrooms
Honors, Awards, and Affiliations
Digital Media and Learning Research Associates Summer Institute Fellowship, 2011
University of California Dissertation Year Fellowship, 2011
University of California Graduate Humanities Fellowship, 2011
University of California Humanities Research Institute (UCHRI) Scholarship, 2006
Recent Media Appearances
- Do cellphone bans in middle school work? It’s complicated, KQED MindShift, September 25, 2024.
- It’s time to ditch the idea of edtech disruption. But what comes next? EdSurge, April 12, 2024.
- Smart strategies for creating gamified products in today’s K–12 market, MarketBrief, May 5, 2023.
- How to talk to kids and teens about misinformation, MIT Technology review, November 2020.
- How fan fiction inspires kids to read and write and write and write, KQED MindShift, August 25, 2020.
- How to tell if an app, game or show is actually educational for kids, Huffpost, March 2020.
- Common sense census: Inside the 21st century classroom. Write Learn Lead, June 22, 2019.
- Video games can make kids smarter—But not how you think. New York Post, February 11, 2019.
- What makes a good edtech tool great? EdSurge, July 21, 2018.
- What the teacher strikes can teach students about the history of the labor movement, KQED MindShift, May 15, 2018.
- Protecting student privacy on social media, Edutopia, September 19, 2017.
- Tech is tech, but teachers are artists, Sesame Workshop and Joan Ganz Cooney Center, February 8, 2016.
- Unstructured play with Tanner Higgin, EdTech Adventures podcast, November 14, 2023.