MIT’s Caitlin Morris: Reimagining Online Learning Through Technology, Education, and Human Connection
In an era dominated by digital interactions, MIT Morningside Academy for Design (MAD) Fellow Caitlin Morris is pioneering innovative approaches to enhance online learning by intertwining technology, education, and human connection. As an architect, artist, researcher, and educator, Morris brings a unique interdisciplinary perspective to the challenge of creating more engaging and effective digital learning platforms.
Morris’s journey began in rural upstate New York, where she cultivated a love for making and building. This hands-on background, combined with her self-taught coding skills acquired through online communities, shaped her understanding of how people learn and interact with technology. She realized the power of community-oriented platforms in fostering a deeper, more personal learning experience.
“For me, that was this huge, wake-up moment of feeling like there was a path to expression that was not a traditional computer-science classroom,” Morris explains. “I think that’s partly why I feel so passionate about what I’m doing now. That was the big transformation: having that community available in this really personal, project-based way.”
Her involvement extends to co-organizing the MIT Media Lab’s Festival of Learning and leading creative coding community meetups, emphasizing the importance of social interaction in learning. Morris’s research focuses on identifying the essential elements of social dynamics that drive motivation and curiosity, aiming to integrate these elements into digital environments.
“My years of organizing learning and making communities — both in person and online — have shown me firsthand how powerful social interaction can be for motivation and curiosity,” Morris said. “My research is really about identifying which elements of that social magic are most essential, so we can design digital environments that better support those dynamics.”
Morris’s expertise extends beyond academia. She has contributed to numerous large-scale art installations with Hypersonic, combining movement, sound, and technology to create immersive experiences that evoke nature and engage viewers’ senses. Her background in psychology and architectural building sciences from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, along with an MFA in design and technology from Parsons School of Design, enriches her approach to educational innovation.
Her teaching philosophy diverges from traditional classroom methods, focusing instead on project-based learning that unlocks students’ potential. By empowering students to create animations, designs, websites, and graphics in unconventional ways, she witnesses transformative “unlock moments” that inspire confidence and creativity.
Currently, Morris is pursuing doctoral work with the MIT Media Lab’s Fluid Interfaces Group, concentrating on the emotional and personal gaps in online and AI-assisted learning. Her research involves developing a framework that combines AI-driven behavioral analysis with human expert assessment to study social learning dynamics.
“I’m developing a framework that combines AI-driven behavioral analysis with human expert assessment to study social learning dynamics,” she says. “My research investigates how social interaction patterns influence curiosity development and intrinsic motivation in learning, with particular focus on understanding how these dynamics differ between real peers and AI-supported environments.”
Morris aims to determine what aspects of social interaction cannot be replicated by AI tutors and to create a prototype platform for experiential learning. By tracking observable behaviors and capturing learners’ subjective experiences, she seeks to bridge the gap between the efficiency of digital platforms and the social richness of in-person learning.
Her work aligns perfectly with the MIT MAD Fellowship, which promotes creativity, critical thinking, and collaboration to prepare students for real-world challenges. Morris envisions helping community organizations navigate the rapid changes in education brought about by AI, particularly in addressing the divide between physical and virtual learning spaces.
Looking ahead to 2026, upon completing her doctorate, Morris is committed to addressing the critical question: “What should we do with this ‘physical space versus virtual space’ divide?” Her ongoing exploration promises to yield innovative solutions for the future of education.
