MS&E PhD candidates Lodewijk Gelauff and Sukolsak Sakshuwong recieved a 2020-21 Magic Grant from the Brown Institute for Media Innovation.
Gelauff and Sakshuwong received the grant for their research project entitled "Self-Moderating Online Focus Groups and Deliberation."
Their project's abstract is below:
"Due to the precautions we are taking around COVID-19, our society has rapidly shifted from traditional in-person meetings to online meetings. Building a tool for better online deliberation through an automated moderator that provides equitable, respectful, and constructive conversation is the focus of Self-Moderating Online Focus Groups and Deliberation. To support deliberative democracy, the team will develop a scalable online platform that addresses challenges, such as a small group dominating the conversation, a single topic that absorbs too much time, and a biased moderator."
The Brown Institute for Media Innovation, a collaboration between Stanford University’s School of Engineering and Columbia Journalism School, awards grants each year to foster new tools and modes of expression, and to create stories that escape the bounds of page and screen.
