For Brian, the IB Diploma Programme’s unique elements—the extended essay, theory of knowledge and group 4, in particular—fuelled his deep interest in how people coordinate, collaborate, adapt and connect across the social media landscape to complete complex tasks. “The Group 4 project introduced us to the difficulties of planning and executing a project as a team: conflicting schedules, visions, personalities and interpretations all had to be negotiated and communicated,” he says.

The IB also helped Brian see the connections among coursework, areas of study and people that are evident in his work today. “I think the combination of both the extended essay and the theory of knowledge, in addition to the common requirements, demanded that IB students engage more deeply and interdisciplinarily with our work than other students whose goals ended with a test at the end of the year,” he says.

After mastering the challenges of the IB Diploma Programme, Brian was ready for the competitive university admissions process. “I was certainly better

prepared and more acquainted with the expectations and priorities of the admission process than non-IB students I knew in both high school and college,” he says. And after entering MIT, he says, “The intensity and self-directed aspects of the IB programme prepared me for the expectations of self-direction during college.”

Today Brian continues research that has been published in the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers’ Computer Society’s Social Computing, the Association for Computing Machinery’s Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and New Media & Society. He is a veteran online collaborator himself, contributing more than 10,000 edits to Wikipedia over five years.

“The IB also gave me a context in which to place my interests in current events, politics and science as a set of interests that could be interrelated rather than standing apart.”

Brian Keegan discovered the power of motivated learning communities as an IB Diploma Programme student—an interest that has led him to explore global collaboration among teams in online communities. After earning two bachelor of science degrees in mechanical engineering and science, technology and society at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), he is continuing his focus on the interconnectedness of media, technology and society as a PhD candidate at the Northwestern University School of Communication.

“The IB offers preparation for learning and communicating in an increasingly interconnected and globalized market.”

Brian Keegan2002 IB Diploma Programme graduateGreen Valley High SchoolHenderson, Nevada, USA

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