Priya Sharma

Dr. Priya Sharma serves as an Associate Professor in the Department of Learning and Performance Systems at Pennsylvania State University's College of Education, where she advances the integration of emerging technologies in educational contexts. Her office is located in 314C Keller Building, University Park, PA 16802, with contact available via psharma@psu.edu or 814-865-4374.

Her research program spans formal and informal learning environments:

• Formal Education: Designs learning analytics systems and machine learning applications to enhance student engagement and instructor responsiveness in online courses
• Informal Learning: Investigates interaction patterns and knowledge sharing in online affinity spaces and communities of practice through discourse and social network analyses

Currently leading three major collaborative initiatives:

• Learning analytics dashboard development with IST faculty using AI to visualize online course engagement
• Online interaction studies with Dr. Susan Land (affinity spaces) and College of Agriculture (hybrid communities)
• Theoretical conceptualization of digital learning places with Kansas State and PSU TLT departments

Dr. Sharma actively recruits graduate students for these projects, leveraging mixed-methods expertise including ethnography, design research, and quantitative analytics to address educational equity and technology integration challenges.