Ph.D., University of Maryland, College Park, Teaching and Learning, Policy and Leadership (2020)
• Concentration: Technology, Learning and Leadership; Minor: Higher Education
• Dissertation: The Role of Cyberbullying on Women’s Social Presence in Online Courses

University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), Graduate Certificate, Instructional Systems Design (2014)
• Studied Adult Education & Adult Learning Theory

M.S., Florida State University, Higher Education and Student Affairs (2012)
• Thesis: Urban Education and University Transitions in the City of Chicago

B.S., University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Business Administration and Marketing (2010)

Biography
Virginia L. Byrne, Ph.D., researches climate and equity in online and technology-enhanced learning environments. Her work investigates how social media and instructional technology are changing how we teach, learn, and connect in higher education. Virginia earned her Ph.D. from University of Maryland, College Park in Technology, Learning and Leadership with a minor in Higher Education. At UMD, she worked at the Teaching and Learning Transformation Center conducting faculty development workshops and coordinating the University’s research on undergraduate teaching and learning.

Before starting her PhD, Virginia served as the Student Life Coordinator for Leadership Development at UMBC. She holds a Certificate in Instructional Systems Design from UMBC and a Master’s degree in Student Affairs from Florida State University. Virginia moved to Baltimore in 2012 and lives in the Highlandtown neighborhood with her partner, Jacob, and her incredibly loud cat, Martha. You can find her on Twitter at @virginialbyrne and her personal website www.virginialbyrne.com.

Research Interests: 

Online and technology-enhanced learning environments 

Cyberbullying and online harassment on college campuses

Selected Publications: 

Byrne, V. L., Hogan, E., Dhingra, N., Anthony, M., & Gannon, C. (2021). An exploratory study of how novice instructors pivot to online. Distance Education. doi: 10.1080/01587919.2021.1911624

Byrne, V. L. (2021). “You might as well just all agree with each other”: An initial study of cyberbullying victims’ social presence in online discussion. Computers & Education, 67. doi: 10.1016/j.compedu.2021.104174

Byrne, V. L. (2021). Validating a cyberbullying victimization measure among undergraduates. Journal of College Student Development, 62(1), 124-129. doi:10.1353/csd.2021.0010.

Byrne, V. L., Higginbotham, B. L., Donlan, A. E., Stewart, T. (2021). Occupying the university hashtag: Exploring how student activists use social media to engage in protest. Journal of College and Character, 22(1), 13-30. doi: 10.1080/2194587X.2020.1860775

Byrne, V. L. (2020). Blocking and Self-Silencing: Undergraduate Students’ Cyberbullying Victimization and Coping Strategies. TechTrends. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11528-020-00560-x

McGrew, S. & Byrne, V. L. (2020). Who is behind this? Preparing high school students to evaluate online content. Journal of Research on Technology in Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/15391523.2020.1795956

Byrne, V. L. & Donlan, A. E. (2020). A mid-semester evaluation of college teaching to improve online teaching effectiveness. Online Learning Journal, 24(2). https://doi.org/10.24059/olj.v24i2.2126

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