4 Strands of Research

 

My research brings culture to the forefront of human learning in technological contexts. Culture is the prism through which human-kind can better understand systems, processes, practices,  social justice, equity, inequality and the like. In my research, culture is defined as everything made by humans and nature; therefore, everything in this world represents our culture. My 4 research strands include: 1. Human Learning in Technological Contexts, 2. The History of Instructional Design & Technologies Made by and for African Americans, 3. Culture in Instructional Design & Technology, and 4. Culture-Specific Information & Communication Technologies.

 

Strand 1: Human Learning in Technological Contexts

 

I am curious about ways to improve human learning, and how the design of technologies can aid in advancing knowledge for young childr­­en and adults. Three recent examples of this can be found in my current articles: (2024) Challenges in developing a systematic process to understanding computational thinking in early childhood educators: A culture-based study, (under review) Designing a culture-based computational thinking curriculum for urban early childhood educators and (under review) Exploring human needs and conditions through culture-based mobile platforms: A systematic & cultural review.

 

My current book, Human Specialization in Design & Technology: The Current Wave for Learning, Culture, Industry and Beyond (2021), published by Routledge/Taylor Francis is the culmination of a decade of ideas about how society is moving more towards specialized (culture-specific, race-specific, gene-specific) designs and technology. Human Specialization exemplifies the natural, but inevitable, evolution to innovate specifically for human needs and conditions. This cultural phenomenon is being enacted across business, manufacturing, science, technology and education industries through trends such as standardization, customization, personalization and specialization. This text grounds its development in the field of Educational Technology to disclose the intricacies of human innovation or lack thereof. Section 1 explores the what and how of human innovation looking broadly across industries, the history of personalization, and COVID-19. Section 2 provides narratives on the current state of Educational Technology and forecasts future outcomes. Some of the topics include: The future professor, public schools, equity & access, XR Technologies, Open Educational Resources, organizational cultures, leadership and the EdTech of People, Places and Things. This book is winner of the 2021 Outstanding Publication Award for a Book: Culture, Learning and Technology Division, Association for Educational Communications & Technology.

 

My expertise in future trends in human learning are captured in these publications: Should AI be permitted in college classrooms? 4 scholars weigh in (2023), The future of college will involve fewer professors (2021) and Human Specialization in Design & Technology: The Current Wave for Learning, Culture, Industry and Beyond (2021).

 

Strand 2: The History of Instructional Design & Technologies Made by and for African Americans

 

The intersection of technology and learning began in my dissertation research; I sought to disclose the cultural and educational significance inherent in historical artifacts made by and for African Americans. Specifically, I examined The Freedman’s Torchlight, a newspaper textbook (1866), 24 issues of W.E.B. Dubois’ children’s magazine The Brownies Book (1920-1921) and Bridge: A Cross Culture Reading Program (1977). I believed these historical artifacts provided critical insights in how to enhance the educational experiences and outcomes of African American students, and of equal importance, how they might aid in the design of culture-based information and communication technologies. After many iterations and expansions on these ideas, I developed the Culture Based Model as a framework for the design of culture-specific (specialized) or culture-neutral (generic) information and communication technologies. The Culture Based Model is situated in the field of instructional design and technology and served as the foundation for my 2009 book - Instructional Design Frameworks and Intercultural Models. One of the underlining purposes of the model is to help designers create more inclusive designs of information and communication technologies that minimize biases of designers or biases directed toward users. This means to design with equity in mind. This is an empirically based model.  The Culture Based Model is recognized and published in the seminal book of the field of instructional design -- Survey of Instructional Design Models authored by Tonia A. Dousay and Robert Branch (2022).

 

Two additional articles in this area include: Disclosing the Design of an African American Educational Technology: Bridge: A Cross Culture Reading Program (2020, 2015) published in the International Journal of Designs for Learning. This manuscript is an interactive multi-media article that provides images of the designers, audio recordings of interviews with the designers and excerpts from the instructional materials. Another important article is M³: Leroy Raadel Posey an African American Inventor of a Mathematics Teaching Machine (2019); this is a newly discovered record of an African American contributing to the history of teaching machines.

 

Strand 3: Culture in Instructional Design & Technology

​​​

Culture in Instructional Design & Technology represents a strand of my research that serves multi-disciplinary and interdisciplinary fields. In 2009, I published the book Instructional Design Frameworks and Intercultural Models, this book describes, The Culture Based Model, one of the most comprehensive cultural models. The origins of the model are explained in Strand 2.

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​​

​

​

​

 

The Culture Based Model is a comprehensive framework for the design of culture-based information & communication technologies. The model is represented by the acronym ID-TABLET to identify the eight areas -- Inquiry, Development, Team, Assessments, Brainstorming, Learners, Elements, and Training. Using ethnographic research methods, the Culture Based Model provides a blueprint to plan, design, analyze and build culture based technologies, environments, products and services (Young, 2009).

​

The Culture Based Model includes 70 Design Factors that aid in better understanding a society, culture or target audience and how to build culture-based information and communication technologies. The areas under project management include: Brainstorming, Team, Development, Learners, Assessments and Training. The areas under project design (specific to content development and monitoring) include Inquiry and Elements. There are 25 Elements or Design Factors intended to be a comprehensive total of which all culture is composed. There are 25 design factors divided into three sections. The Anthropology of Culture covers design factors E1 through E13 and draws from key concepts in the fields of anthropology, language, history, economics, demography, communications and the physical and environmental sciences to explore the depth of culture. The Psychology of Culture covers design factors E14 through E20 and draws from the fields of cognitive anthropology and cultural psychology that focus on cognitive, psychological and social realms. The Science of Culture covers design factors E21 through E25 and draws from key concepts in the fields of physical science, biological science, earth science, ecology, futures research and cross-cultural studies to explore the scientific nature of humanity and the possibilities of cultural futures.

 

(See page 132 of the book Human Specialization in Design & Technology for an overview of the model. Instructional Design Frameworks & Intercultural Models explains The Culture Based Model in its entirety).

 

My most recent article in this area is Culture as a Gauge Towards Social Justice (2024). Other works that ground my research in this strand include the following: Cultural implications in educational technology: A survey (2020); The presence of culture in learning (2014); The significance of the Culture Based Model in designing culturally-aware tutoring systems (2011); The Culture Based Model: Constructing a model of culture (2008); The Culture Based Model: A framework for designers and visual ID languages (2008) and Exploring culture in the design of new technologies of literacy (2008).

 

In 2008, I won the Outstanding Journal Article Award from the Design & Development Division of the Association for Educational Communications & Technology for my article Integrating Culture in the Design of ICTs. This is my most cited article, according to Google Scholar, at 187 in such a niche area.

​

Strand 4: Culture-Specific Information & Communication Technologies

 

Culture-specific Information & Communication Technologies is an extension of Strand 3. Culture-Specific means targeted to a particular audience or group of people. At the Association for Educational Communications & Technology presidential session, I gave the keynote address titled: Culture Specific Design: The Current Wave of EdTech Innovations. This speech proposed that the current wave of educational technology innovations reveals products, services and environments that are culture-specific or specialized to the needs of human beings. The following manuscript (under review) aligns with this strand: Exploring human needs and conditions through mobile platforms: A systematic and cultural review. This co-authored manuscript examines culture-specific mobile learning in international contexts using the qualitative methods of cultural studies and a systematic review.

 

***

 

Overall, my research reflects scholarly publications in leading refereed publications and respected professional outlets such as: Artificial Intelligence and Society; British Journal of Educational Technology; Educational Technology Research & Development, Journal of Educational, Technology & Society; Journal of Language, Identity and Education; Race, Ethnicity & Education, and the Journal of African American Studies. In addition, I have published in highly cited and valued handbooks such as the: Handbook of Research on Educational Communications and Technology (2020, 2014); Sage Encyclopedia of Educational Technology (2015); Handbook of Research on New Literacies (2008) and Handbook of Visual Languages for Instructional Design: Theories and Practices (2008).