The exponential increase in Cyberbullying and other forms of e-harassment have not been countered with a parallel explosion of technological advances in prevention and resolution mechanisms.  We face a need to stimulate further innovations to help prevent and effectively respond to Cyberbullying and other forms of digital harm doing.  This panel will explore key challenges and opportunities related to the development of digital tools to respond to the unique dynamics of digital bullying.  

Presenter Bios:

Dr. Leah Wing co-directs the National Center for Technology and Dispute Resolution (USA) and is Senior Lecturer in the Legal Studies Program, Department of Political Science, U. of Massachusetts/Amherst.  She serves on the editorial boards of the International Journal of Online Dispute Resolution and Conflict Resolution Quarterly, the Advisory Board of Youstice, and has served two terms on the Association of Conflict Resolution Board of Directors.  Leah, a mediator since 1985, is the founding director of the Social Justice Mediation Institute.  Her most recent research has focused on technological responses to digital harm-doing and through interdisciplinary research teams for NSF funded projects, on “The Fourth Party: Improving Computer-Mediated Deliberation through Cognitive, Social and Emotional Support,” “Process Families and their Application to Online Dispute Resolution,” and “Process Technology for Achieving Government Online Dispute Resolution.”  Her recent publications include:  Wing, L.  “Social Impact and Technology: Issues of Access, Inequality and Disputing in the Collaborative
Economy,”  The International Journal of Online Dispute Resolution, (forthcoming 2014); Wing, L. and Rainey, D.  “Online Dispute Resolution and the Development of Theory.”  In Wahab, M., Katsh, E., and D. Rainey (eds.).  Online Dispute Resolution:  Theory and Practice.  The Netherlands:  Eleven International Publishers, 2012, 53-68.

Bill Warters, Ph.D., is the Academic Director of Wayne State University's Master of Arts in Dispute Resolution program (see http://madr.comm.wayne.edu ) where he teaches courses on social conflict, mediation, and communication technologies. Bill is the author of Mediation in the Campus Community: Designing and Managing Effective Programs (Jossey-Bass, 1999). He is also webmaster of CREducation.org, a site supporting conflict resolution in educational settings. Other web projects he has built include http://democracyis.us and http://escro.us and http://www.campus-adr.org  Relevent to this webinar, Bill’s Cyberbullying Prevention Scoopit collection is found at http://www.scoop.it/t/cyberbullying-prevention

Mrinalini A. Rao, Ph.D., is a postdoctoral research associate at Yale University's Department of Psychology and the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence. Her current research examines the role of technology in adolescent development, particularly adolescents’ social interactions online. She is working on a collaborative project with Facebook Inc. examining cyberbullying and other negative social experiences on the social networking site.

Dr. Rao’s research experience and interests lie at the intersection of developmental, counseling, and clinical psychology. Her broader research examines on the developmental impact of interpersonal violence and aggression among adolescents, the prevention of such interpersonal violence, and the promotion of positive youth development.

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