Learning.com co-founder receives joint appointment at Brigham Young University and will complete second doctorate at Cambridge University

Barclay Burns continues education and accepts a teaching position to expand his support for students and teachers

Portland, Ore. – October 13, 2009
Learning.com co-founder Barclay F. Burns, Ph.D., has received a joint appointment at Brigham Young University’s College of Education and the Marriott School of Management, and will also complete his second doctorate at Cambridge University.

Since co-founding Learning.com 10 years ago, Burns’ research in instructional psychology and cognitive neuroscience has been reflected in Learning.com’s award-winning solutions for K-8 classrooms. In his new role at Brigham Young, where he has also contributed to the development of online curriculum and assessment, Burns will focus on teacher and administrator strategies for Response to Intervention (RTI) using instructional technology. He will also serve in a technology and education think tank administered by the College of Education’s dean.

Concurrent with this appointment, Burns will complete his second doctorate in strategy and organization at Cambridge University, Cambridge, United Kingdom. Barclay holds a doctorate in instructional psychology and technology from Brigham Young University.

“I am pleased to have this exciting opportunity to continue my life’s work in instructional design, technology and strategy,” said Burns, who has eight years of experience teaching in public schools. “I’ve been privileged to see first-hand how the instructional design I helped develop for Learning.com’s solutions have supported students to learn and teachers in their teaching. I’m looking forward to taking my experience here and integrating it into my work ahead.”

Since its founding in 1999, Burns and co-founder William J. Kelly have grown Learning.com to provide Web-delivered curriculum and assessment solutions to more than 3,000 school districts and more than two million students nationwide.

“While we will miss Barclay here at Learning.com, we are all certain that he will continue to have an impact for both educators and students. For that, we can all be grateful for the opportunity to see Barclay off on his next endeavor,” said Kelly.

About Dr. Burns
Barclay received his Ph.D. in instructional psychology and technology from Brigham Young University. He has seven years' experience teaching in a public high school where he founded the "Community Bound" integrated education program. This program exposed high school students to real world applications of their learning and successfully solicited corporate sponsorship of innovative programs and trips, such as two trips to Romania to paint orphanages. Barclay has also worked on the development of BYU's extensive online distance learning applications for high school students, which includes the delivery of curriculum and grades to students and parents over the Internet. Barclay was most recently in a post-doctoral program in Internet Strategy at the University of Cambridge in England where he taught and researched at the Judge Institute of Management.