Colin Furness

Biography

Colin’s multidisciplinary design background combines psychology, human-computer interaction, information and knowledge management, and public health. His expertise and experience lie at the crossroads of effective design for information systems, collaborative knowledge use in workplace settings, and epidemiology. Colin earned his PhD at the iSchool in 2010, focused on the relationship between organizational information culture and the effective use of collaborative information systems. Prior to that, he earned his Master’s at the iSchool, becoming one of the early Information Architects working in New York’s ‘Silicon Alley’ of the late 1990s. In 2011 he began teaching MI courses as a sessional instructor, and in 2017 he accepted the iSchool’s first permanent teaching stream faculty appointment. Prior to joining the faculty, Colin worked at a technology start-up focused on hospital infection control measurement and improvement. Colin is currently the Faculty Liaison for the Knowledge Management/Information Management Concentration. He also assists with administering and supervising the iSchool’s Co-Op program. Colin was the recipient of the Master of Information Student Council Outstanding Instructor Award in 2015 and 2016. Colin’s multidisciplinary design background combines psychology, human-computer interaction, information and knowledge management, and public health. His expertise and experience lie at the crossroads of effective design for information systems, collaborative knowledge use in workplace settings, and epidemiology. Colin earned his PhD at the iSchool in 2010, focused on the relationship between organizational information culture and the effective use of collaborative information systems. Prior to that, he earned his Master’s at the iSchool, becoming one of the early Information Architects working in New York’s ‘Silicon Alley’ of the late 1990s. In 2011 he began teaching MI courses as a sessional instructor, and in 2017 he accepted the iSchool’s first permanent teaching stream faculty appointment. Prior to joining the faculty, Colin worked at a technology start-up focused on hospital infection control measurement and improvement. Colin is currently the Faculty Liaison for the Knowledge Management/Information Management Concentration. He also assists with administering and supervising the iSchool’s Co-Op program. Colin was the recipient of the Master of Information Student Council Outstanding Instructor Award in 2015 and 2016.

Research Interest

At the iSchool, Colin’s current research pertains to the effect of student laptop use in class on learning outcomes, as well as exploring experiential learning models for curriculum design. He is also developing a “design for behaviour change” framework, to support quality improvement among professional workers and service workers.