R&D: Over his career, Dr. Shapson’s research has spanned the fields of technology enhanced learning, bilingual education, and program evaluation. He has published widely, been awarded SSHRC research grants, and has directed large-scale, externally funded, national and provincial studies. His research and publications have received awards from the American Educational Research Association (AERA) and the Canadian Journal of Education (CJE). He has been a principal researcher for a variety of national studies such as the NCE – TeleLearning, the SSHRC Strategic Theme (Knowledge-based Economy), the CANARIE funded broadband learning program ABEL (Advanced Broadband Enabled Learning), and the Tri-Council IPM/Knowledge Mobilization project.

Professional Leadership: Dr, Shapson has served as Co-chair of both the Ontario Advisory Committee on Advanced Technology in Learning and the Federal SchoolNet Advisory Committee on Professional Development and chaired the Provincial Working Group on Learning Environments and Resources for the Ontario Knowledge Network for Learning (OKNL). A member of SSHRC Council, he also has served as Interim President and chair of the SSHRC Research Support Committee. He served as chair of the Optical Regional Advanced Network of Ontario (ORANO) Board, is a member of the Board of Research Canada , and chair of the Ontario Council of University Research (OCUR).

Capacity Building: In his role as VPRI at York , Dr. Shapson’s strategy has focussed on building capacity with municipalities, community hospitals, and private sector companies on economic cluster initiatives. In this regard, he is the founding Co-chair, with the Mayor of Markham of the Innovation Synergy Centre in Markham, founding Chair of YORKbiotech, Vice-chair of the Consortium Board that is developing scientific and business plans for the National Centre for Medical Device Development (NCMDD) to be located in Markham, Ontario, and Chair of the Steering Policy Group for CONCERT (Consortium on New Media, Creative, and Entertainment R&D in the Toronto Region).