Research Team

Tutaleni I. Asino, Ph.D.
Director & Principal Investigator, Oklahoma State University
Associate Professor, Educational Technology
School of Educational Foundations, Leadership and Aviation
College of Education, Health and Aviation

My areas of research, writing & presentations revolve around emerging technologies and spaces in education; diffusion of mobile devices in teaching and learning; Mobile Learning; Design for Mobile Devices; Indigenous knowledge; Openness (access, education, resources, pedagogy); Comparative International Education; and the role of culture in the development and evaluation of learning technologies.

I graduated with a Dual-title doctoral degree in Learning, Design, and Technology in the Learning and Performance Systems department and in Comparative and International Education Program in the Department of Policy Studies at Penn State University in the United States. I hold a Master of Science in Instructional Systems and Technology from Cabrini College, Master of Science in Multimedia Technology, Master of Arts in Corporate Communication, Bachelor Arts in Media Studies and Political Science from Duquesne University.

Rebecca Bayeck, PhD
Assistant Professor
Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences
Utah State University

My research interests lie at the intersection of learning sciences, educational technology, literacy studies, and the interdisciplinary field of game studies. Within this intersection, my research includes games (digital & analog); learning and literacies; emerging technologies, design of inclusive learning spaces and exhibitions. I am also interested in how culture shapes learning and literacy practices in different environments. I hold a dual-Ph. D in Learning Design and Technology and Comparative International Education from the Pennsylvania State University. She recently worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in New York City.

Jessica Briskin, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor and Graduate Coordinator, Department of Technology, Analytics, & Workforce Learning at Bloomsburg University
Assistant Director Institute for Interactive Technologies (IIT)

My areas of research primarily focus on design frameworks, online collaboration methods, and mobile and multimedia development regarding translating learning spaces into online spaces. I also have experience in corporate and educational industries, designing and developing eLearning and mLearning courses, instructor-led training, videos, infographics, and performance support tools.

I graduated from Pennsylvania State University (PSU) with a Doctorate in Philosophy in Learning, Design, and Technology and a Master of Education in Instructional Systems. I hold a Bachelor of Science in Communication, Management, and Design from Ithaca College.

Tonia A. Dousay, Ph.D.

Professor & Dean
School of Education
University of Alaska Anchorage

Tonia. A. Dousay, Ph.D. is a first-generation college graduate and the daughter of two U.S. Navy veterans. She grew up respecting the land and its waterways, hunting for white-tailed deer in the fall and fishing for crappie and bass in the spring. Known by her students as “Dr. D,” Tonia graduated with a B.S. in Agricultural Science and M.S. in Agricultural Education from Texas A&M University, falling in love with experiential education and nontraditional approaches to learning. With more than 20 years of project management experience in PK-20, industry, and law enforcement/military learning environments, she now holds a Ph.D. in Learning, Design & Technology from the University of Georgia. Tonia’s lifelong love of learning has taken her to the University of Wyoming as an Assistant Professor (2013-2017); the University of Idaho as an Associate Professor and Associate Dean for Assessment & Accreditation (2017-2022); and the University of Alaska Anchorage as the Dean of the School of Education (2022-Present). Whether she’s working with middle schoolers or retired community members, Tonia focuses on stimulating natural curiosity to self-regulate and motivate.

Dr. Perien Joniell Boer
Senior Lecturer: Educational Technology
Faculty of Education
University of Namibia

Dr. Perien J. Boer is a Senior Lecturer of Educational Technology in the Faculty of Education at the University of Namibia. Her research interests include: educational technologies and integration nationally in Namibia, the relations between pedagogies and ICT usage in education, emerging technologies and their application for learning and in teaching; educational technology issues, educational technology policies and implementation aspects; Gaming in Education, Robotics, Computer Studies/Science for teachers, Mobile Education in Africa; Knowledge Society in Africa

Camille Dickson-Deane, PhD
Senior Lecturer Higher Education Learning Design
Faculty of Science
University of Technology, Sydney

Dr. Camille Dickson-Deane is a Senior Lecturer Higher Education Learning Design at the University of Technology, Sydney Australia. She received her PhD in Information Science and Learning Technologies from the University of Missouri-Columbia, USA. She is a scholar-practitioner who demonstrates her expertise through design-based research cycles with the intent of bridging and informing both the instructor-practitioner and researcher realms. As a Fulbright and Organisation of American States scholar she has published journal articles, book chapters and media pieces whilst also producing artefacts, completing expert reviews and conducting evaluations on online learning designs. She has expertise in all modes of delivery which contribute to her research area: pedagogical usability of an online learning environments and the individual differences that influence them. Dr. Dickson-Deane serves on the editorial boards of two Q1 journals, Educational Technology Research and Development (ETR&D) and Journal of Computing in Higher Education (JCHE), as well as serving two elected terms on the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) Board as a Division Representative. She recently became an IBSTPI scholar as a way to inform the scholar-practitioner role evidenced within the Instructional Design and its associated fields

Chizoba Imoka-Ubochioma, PhD
Founder, Unveiling Africa Foundation

Dr. Chizoba Imoka is an award-winning educator, a seasoned education reform strategist, and an acclaimed social justice advocate/practitioner with a PhD in Education Policy & Leadership from the University of Toronto, Canada.

As an Education reform strategist and an independent education consultant, she has worked with a wide range of national and international organizations, government agencies, and schools to localize SDG 4.1.1, “strengthen education systems and create more inclusive education spaces.” Dr. Imoka is an expert at analyzing social systems from a social justice perspective and creating effective people-centered interventions that weave in research evidence, social justice, indigenous, and African-centered perspectives into policy design, school curricula, teacher training, and social programming. In Nigeria, she worked on a USAID-funded project to create a draft national reading framework (NRF) for Nigeria. The NRF involved adapting UNESCO’s Global Proficiency Framework on reading to create an evaluation framework and exemplar texts for P1-P3 in 10 Nigerian languages. She also supported the development of early grade reading materials in Igbo and Yoruba for P1-P3. In addition, Dr. Imoka worked with Management Systems International on Piloting the Policy Linking Methodology for Hausa Language.

Within the broader community, Dr. Chizoba is the founder of Unveiling Africa, a non-profit that provides a platform for African youth to learn about their history from an African-centered perspective and get involved in civic and political leadership. As the Director of Programming for the organization, Dr. Imoka designed an award-winning curriculum, Re-Rooting in African History, that engaged a wide range of education stakeholders from different parts of the world for seven consecutive weekends on African history. Based on the program’s success, it has been adapted for secondary school students, and public school teachers in Lagos state will be trained to teach 400 students Nigerian history in a fun, personal, and relatable way.

As a researcher, Dr. Imoka’s scholarship explores ways in which teaching and learning in the African context could become more culturally relevant and inclusive, and lead to effective leadership amongst youth. Chizoba is a passionate advocate for anti-colonial approaches to international development, public education reform in Africa, and transformative youth engagement. Chizoba has given numerous lectures in these areas including a TED Talk and the prestigious Hancock Lecture at the University of Toronto.

For her public leadership and academic excellence, Chizoba has received numerous awards, including the 2021 Ernest D. Morrel African Diaspora Emerging Scholar Award, 2019 Gordon Cressy Student Leadership Award, 2018 African Scholars Emerging Award, 2018 Illuminessence Human Rights Award, 2016 Adrienne Clarkson Laureateship for Public Service, and 2016 Adel Sedra Distinguished Graduate Student Award, amongst others. Between 2014 – 2016, Chizoba was recognized as a leading practitioner in youth engagement and served on the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Civic Participation.

Felicia O. Mormah, PhD
Coordinator Department of Educational Administration & Planning, Delsu Degree programme
University of Delta, Agbor
Agbor Delta State Nigeria
Founder and President ADECT- AECT, Nigeria.

I am the president and founder of ADECT-AECT, Nigeria, a past Deputy director of E-learning in my institution. My teaching and research interest focuses on school Administration and the integration of information and communications technology in Higher Education

Firat Sarsar, PhD
Associate Professor at Ege University
Head of Informatics Department
Department of Computer Education and Instructional Technology
Ege University | Faculty of Education

Instructional Technology Coordinator
Director of Ege University Distance Learning Application and Research Center
Vice-Director of  Ege University Continuing Learning Center

Dr. Fırat SARSAR is an Associate Professor at Ege University, Department of Computer Education and Instructional Technology in Turkey. He earned his BA and MS degrees in the Department of Computer Education and Instructional Technology in Turkey. Dr. Sarsar graduated from Georgia State University in USA with his Ph.D. in Instructional Technology as a Fulbright scholar in 2014. His PhD was fully funded by Fulbright Scholarship.

His research interests include social media and learning, Distance Learning, feedback in online learning environments, motivation and learning, adult in learning process, instructional design and technology, #instructional #technology in engineering education.

Phil Tietjen, PhD
Director, Learning Design
Davidson-Davie Community College

I’m currently the Director of Learning Design at Davidson-Davie Community College . My academic interests generally coalesce around three key areas: emerging learning technologies, group cognition and active learning spaces.

I approach the word technologies in a very broad sense of the word, where it can include not only tools, but also emergent phenomena and practices such as Open Educational Resources, Open Pedagogy and Learning Tools Interoperability. Similarly, I’m interested in exploring how these emergent tools and phenomena can suggest new approaches to the design of online learning environments.

My interest in collaborative learning processes centers on how groups build shared understanding (e.g., intersubjectivity). This builds on Stahl’s work in Group Cognition that examines the dynamics of how groups jointly negotiate perspectives on ill-structured, complex problems. Rather than simply looking at whether a collaborative group experience was “successful” or not in its output, I’m intrigued by the intervening, socio-technical processes through which the group jointly organizes its work.