CSRUI Director Biography

Nancy E. Willard has a Bachelors of Science in Elementary and Early Childhood Education (University of Utah, 1975), a Masters of Science in Special Education (University of Oregon, 1977), and a Doctor of Jurisprudence (Willamette University College of Law, 1983).

She taught “at risk” children with emotional and behavior difficulties, practiced law in areas of computer law and copyright, and provided consulting services to schools on the implementation of educational technology, before focusing her professional attention on issues of youth behavior when using information communication technologies and safety, legal, and ethical issues related to the use of the Internet in schools.

In 1995, Willard published Legal and Ethical Issues Related to K-12 Internet Use Policies. This online document, the first analysis of its kind, became a widely recognized resource for educators in the early stages of the implementation of the Internet in schools. Many school districts around the country have policies that are grounded in this early work of Willard. A later version of this document was published in the Brigham Young University Education and Law Journal (Volume 2000, No. 2). The most recent version of this work is now published online as Safe and Responsible Use of the Internet: A Guide for Educators. This full document is available online at: http://csriu.org/onlinedocs/pdf/srui/sruilisting.html

Willard frequently lectures and conducts workshops for educators on policies and practices to help young people engage in safe and responsible use of the Internet. She has presented lectures and workshops at the National Educational Computing Conference, National School Board Association’s Technology and Learning conference, and the Consortium for School Networking’s annual conference. In summer 2003, she traveled to New Zealand to present at an international conference presented by the Internet Safety Group of New Zealand.

Willard was asked to testify before the Children's Online Protection Act Commission on educational strategies to address concerns of youth access to inappropriate material on the Internet. She also testified before a National Research Council Committee that was charged with the task of studying the concerns of children's access to inappropriate material and people on the Internet. The National Research Council’s publication, Youth, Pornography and the Internet, largely endorsed the views of Willard—that simple reliance on policy and technology tools is inadequate and that the focus must be on educational strategies to prepare young people to make safe and responsible choices when using the Internet. Willard was an expert reviewer for the report.

In the late 90’s, Willard tacked an important new issue—the emergence of companies that were seeking commercial access to students by offering free technologies or services to schools in exchange for the ability to profile and advertise to the captive student audience. Her comprehensive report, Capturing the "Eyeballs" and "E-wallets" of Captive Kids in School: Dot.com Invades Dot.edu, outlined the concerns. The National School Board Association published the executive summary of this report. Executives of several of the companies involved in these activities acknowledged that Willard’s report played a significant role in forcing them to abandon this business model.

From 1998 to 2002, Willard was associated with the Center for Advanced Technology in Education at the University of Oregon, College of Education. She received two National Science Foundation grants. The first grant investigated how high school students make decisions about ethical use of the Internet. The second grant provided funds to coordinate a workshop with other researchers and practitioners to develop a recommended research agenda addressing issues of the social dimensions of the use of interactive technologies by young people.

Willard is the author of a book entitled Computer Ethics, Etiquette, and Safety for the 21st Century Student. This book is published by the International Society for Technology in Education. She has written articles that have been published by major educational publications. Links to many of these articles are on the Center’s web site.

In the last two years, Willard has been focusing her attention on the issue of cyberbullying and related concerns. An early pioneer in recognizing the concern, she has placed highest attention of the development of a research-based strategy for schools, working in partnership with the community, to address this concern. She has expanded her previous understandings of human online behavior, law, and Internet use in schools with a study of bullying research, effective violence, bullying, and suicide prevention programs, and school-based threat assessment.

In addition to continuing to present at educational technology conferences, she has expanded her audience to conferences for safe schools personnel. She has presented at the Oregon Violence Prevention Summer Institute and the Hamilton Fish Institute. In summer 2005, at the invitation of the U.S. Department of Education, she presented at the National Safe and Drug Free Schools Conference in Washington D.C.

Willard is available for keynote presentations and workshops, both in person and using video teleconferencing technologies.


	Nancy E. Willard Director, Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use Nancy Willard, Executive Director 474 W 29th Avenue, Eugene, OR 97405 Phone: 541-344-9125 URL: http://csriu.org E-mail:nwillard@csriu.org Nancy E. Willard has a Bachelors of Science in Elementary and Early Childhood Education (University of Utah, 1975), a Masters of Science in Special Education (University of Oregon, 1977), and a Doctor of Jurisprudence (Willamette University College of Law, 1983). She taught “at risk” children with emotional and behavior difficulties, practiced law in areas of computer law and copyright, and provided consulting services to schools on the implementation of educational technology, before focusing her professional attention on issues of youth behavior when using information communication technologies and safety, legal, and ethical issues related to the use of the Internet in schools. In 1995, Willard published Legal and Ethical Issues Related to K-12 Internet Use Policies. This online document, the first analysis of its kind, became a widely recognized resource for educators in the early stages of the implementation of the Internet in schools. Many school districts around the country have policies that are grounded in this early work of Willard. A later version of this document was published in the Brigham Young University Education and Law Journal (Volume 2000, No. 2). The most recent version of this work is now published online as Safe and Responsible Use of the Internet: A Guide for Educators. This full document is available online at: http://csriu.org/onlinedocs/pdf/srui/sruilisting.html Willard frequently lectures and conducts workshops for educators on policies and practices to help young people engage in safe and responsible use of the Internet. She has presented lectures and workshops at the National Educational Computing Conference, National School Board Association’s Technology and Learning conference, and the Consortium for School Networking’s annual conference. In summer 2003, she traveled to New Zealand to present at an international conference presented by the Internet Safety Group of New Zealand. Willard was asked to testify before the Children's Online Protection Act Commission on educational strategies to address concerns of youth access to inappropriate material on the Internet. She also testified before a National Research Council Committee that was charged with the task of studying the concerns of children's access to inappropriate material and people on the Internet. The National Research Council’s publication, Youth, Pornography and the Internet, largely endorsed the views of Willard—that simple reliance on policy and technology tools is inadequate and that the focus must be on educational strategies to prepare young people to make safe and responsible choices when using the Internet. Willard was an expert reviewer for the report. In the late 90’s, Willard tacked an important new issue—the emergence of companies that were seeking commercial access to students by offering free technologies or services to schools in exchange for the ability to profile and advertise to the captive student audience. Her comprehensive report, Capturing the "Eyeballs" and "E-wallets" of Captive Kids in School: Dot.com Invades Dot.edu, outlined the concerns. The National School Board Association published the executive summary of this report. Executives of several of the companies involved in these activities acknowledged that Willard’s report played a significant role in forcing them to abandon this business model. From 1998 to 2002, Willard was associated with the Center for Advanced Technology in Education at the University of Oregon, College of Education. She received two National Science Foundation grants. The first grant investigated how high school students make decisions about ethical use of the Internet. The second grant provided funds to coordinate a workshop with other researchers and practitioners to develop a recommended research agenda addressing issues of the social dimensions of the use of interactive technologies by young people. Willard is the author of a book entitled Computer Ethics, Etiquette, and Safety for the 21st Century Student. This book is published by the International Society for Technology in Education. She has written articles that have been published by major educational publications. Links to many of these articles are on the Center’s web site. In the last two years, Willard has been focusing her attention on the issue of cyberbullying and related concerns. An early pioneer in recognizing the concern, she has placed highest attention of the development of a research-based strategy for schools, working in partnership with the community, to address this concern. She has expanded her previous understandings of human online behavior, law, and Internet use in schools with a study of bullying research, effective violence, bullying, and suicide prevention programs, and school-based threat assessment. In addition to continuing to present at educational technology conferences, she has expanded her audience to conferences for safe schools personnel. She has presented at the Oregon Violence Prevention Summer Institute and the Hamilton Fish Institute. In summer 2005, at the invitation of the U.S. Department of Education, she presented at the National Safe and Drug Free Schools Conference in Washington D.C. Willard is available for keynote presentations and workshops, both in person and using video teleconferencing technologies. Willard lives in Eugene, Oregon, with her three children, Jordan, Ally, and Bakul, plus various and assorted four-legged creatures.