President

Hoda Harati is an Assistant professor in the Department of LTDM at Towson University. Her research areas are Online Learning, SNA, SRL, DEI Simulations, and  VR/AR.

President-Elect 

Suzhen Duan is an assistant professor in LTDM department at Towson University. She received a Ph.D. in Learning Design and Technology from Purdue University in 2022 and joined Towson the same year.  Her research interests mainly focus on applying positive psychology interventions (especially the Best Possible Self intervention) into the instructional design to promote learners’ well-being, positive attitudes, motivation, identity, and optimism. Additionally, she maintains an interest in computing education, particularly in the development of students' competencies, encompassing knowledge, skills, and dispositions, for a managerial pathway. This interest is deeply rooted in her engineering education background and 11 years of experience in the educational technology company, where she served in roles such as project manager, product manager, and general manager. 

Past President 

Shamila Janakiraman is an assistant professor of Learning Design & Technology at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. She is a lifelong learner and passionate educator who believes quality education should be accessible to everyone. Her research interests include the application of emerging technologies to promote attitudinal learning regarding socio-scientific topics like environmental sustainability, online teaching and learning, and competency-based education. 

International Affiliates Liaison 

Daniel L. Hoffman is an Associate Professor of Learning Design & Technology at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa. A former elementary teacher, Dan earned his doctorate in Instructional Technology & Media from Teachers College, Columbia University in 2013. His research focuses on the design of interactive experiences and their impact on learning and engagement. This interdisciplinary work takes place at the intersection of cognitive science, computer science, and learning science.  

AECT Ethics Committee Representative & Communication Co-Chair 

Zilong Pan is an assistant professor of teaching, learning and technology at Lehigh University. He has spent his academic career researching emerging educational technologies and innovative methodological approaches in educational practices and studies in STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) disciplines. 

Communications Officer 

Weijian Yan is the assistant professor in Instructional Design and Technology at the Idaho State University. She earned her PhD degree from the Learning Design and Technology program at Purdue University. Her research areas include the application of  emerging technologies, such as AR and VR and AI  into instructional design, especially on distance learning.

Secretary 

Dr. Samaa Haniya is an Assistant Professor of Education at the Graduate School of Education and Psychology at Pepperdine University. Through a human-centered design lens, Dr. Haniya explores the role of emerging technologies in shaping learning and meaning-making. Her work sits at the intersection of technological affordances, learning sciences and learner variability, examining how emerging technology systems can, and sometimes cannot, support equitable learning opportunities, particularly for marginalized individuals. In particular, she explores how educators and learners engage with and use new technologies, such as AI tools while developing the competencies needed to integrate them thoughtfully and responsibly in educational settings, especially within underserved communities. She is interested in developing practical, technology-informed approaches and interventions that help educators address persistent learning gaps, build competency and support all learners.

AECT Board Representative

Cengiz Hakan Aydin is a full professor at the Anadolu University of Turkey. where he has been offering courses in the field of open and distance learning . He is currently the chair of the Distance Education Department at Anadolu University and the director of the Anadolu University’s Open Anadolu Project (including AKADEMA MOOCs platform).  His current research interest focuses on the design and development of ODL environments, integration of new technologies into ODL, Open Education Resources (OERs), Open Education Practices (OEPs), and Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs).   

TechTrends Representative 

Yu-Chang Hsu is an associate professor at Boise State University. His responsibility is to report to the INTL Board regarding TechTrends articles on international education and training and promote an issue featuring an international technology theme and articles. 

ICEM Representative 

 Robert G, “Bob” Doyle, who recently retired after 36 years at Harvard University, was an associate dean in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and former associate dean of Harvard College. For more than 30 years, he also served as an academic adviser for undergraduate students. Doyle has completed courses at ten universities and earned several degrees including a doctorate at Boston University where he wrote a dissertation on the relationship between job satisfaction and self-concept. He continues to take courses every semester at Harvard . He joined the International Division in 1989. 

PD Co-Coordinator 

Qian Xu is an Assistant Professor of Practice in Educational Technology at Iowa State University’s School of Education. Her research focuses on how emerging technologies—such as AI, mobile learning, and game-based learning—can enhance self-regulated learning, social presence, and engagement in online and language learning environments. Together with the team, she has published multiple peer-reviewed articles on self-regulated learning and educational technology and received the AECT Graduate Student Research Award for Best Quantitative Paper. Dr. Xu’s work integrates the Community of Inquiry framework and self-regulation theory to design innovative technology-enhanced learning experiences.

PD Co-Coordinator 

Zhuo Zhang is an Assistant Professor of Educational Research at Towson University. He earned his Ph.D. in Learning Design and Technology from Purdue University. His research intersects learning technology, educational psychology, and data analytics, with a particular focus on the psychological effects of emerging learning technologies on human learning behaviors and beliefs in the contexts of online learning, blended learning, and teacher education.  

International Division Intern 

Sihan Jian is a doctoral student in the Instructional Systems and Learning Technologies program at Florida State University. Prior to joining her PhD program, she worked as a data analyst and instructional designer at an ed-tech startup in Shanghai, where she focused on teacher competencies and personalized professional development. Her research interests include online learning, professional learning, and digital literacy for adult learners. 

Web-master

Sarah Wright, from University of Hawai'i at Manoa - Learning Design and Technology PhD student, civil servant, and published researcher presented  Exploring Computer Science Student Perceptions on Service Learning: Online and On-Campus Modality Comparative Study at AECT International 2025 and  ICSIT-ICETI 2025. Studying the impact of experiential service learning leadership, inclusive educational experiences, and socially responsible community building within underserved populations while evaluating underrepresented groups’ access to service learning through the lens of learning theories and instructional models highlighted the gravity of overcoming barriers to accessible higher education.

Participating in experiential learning first hand, Sarah volunteers as a Red Cross International Humanitarian Law instructor, Fire Safe Council Home Ignition Zone Assessor, and serves as a Job Steward through the SEIU Local 1000 Union at California’s Governor’s Office.This Fall, Sarah embarked upon her PhD in Education at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, leveraging her CSUMB Service Learning research experience to assist the University's Uehiro Academy for Philosophy and Ethics in Education to deliver train -the-trainer Public Planning curriculum to the Hawaiian K-12 teacher community of practice.

Newsletter Editor 

Chin-Hung Chang is an Associate Professor of Instruction in Chinese at Northwestern University. She is earning her doctorate at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign in Learning Design and Leadership in 2026. Her research focuses on leveraging technology to enhance language learning. Beyond academia, she is a big fan of kickboxing, a hobby that keeps her balanced and energized. 

Grad Student Representative

Kexin Amanda Zhang

Kexin Zhang is a PhD student in the Learning, Design, and Technology (LDT) program at the University of Georgia. Before joining the LDT program, she received her master’s degree in Applied Linguistics and her bachelor’s degree in Business English. Kexin is passionate about exploring ways to integrate emerging technologies, particularly artificial intelligence, into language education. Her research interests focus on fostering and leveraging English learners’ diverse linguistic and cultural identities in their academic expression. She values the unique ways multilingual learners use English to represent their cultural backgrounds and perspectives. Kexin also believes in the power of peer collaboration and is interested in how AI-supported learning environments can promote learners’ critical thinking, academic development, and stronger recognition of their own identities as English users.

ETR&D Representative

Zui Cheng

Shenzhen University

Jingru Lu is a doctoral student in the curriculum and instructional program at the University of Idaho. Prior to her PhD journey, she worked as a high school teacher in Shanghai, where she focused on integrating technology into teaching Chinese literature. Her research focuses on AI literacy development in teacher education. Currently, she is assisting with ID newsletter editing.

Dr. Deborah Cockerham, Clinical Assistant Professor in the University of North Texas Learning Technologies department, also serves as Director of the Learning Technologies Masters of Science Program. Through a three-dimensional research focus that integrates emerging technologies, socioemotional learning, and learning strategies, she aims to increase learning motivation, encourage critical thinking, and enrich equitable learning opportunities. Research interests include AI in education, neurodiverse populations, impact of sensory stimuli on learning, motivation, and human relationships with technology.

In previous work as a learning disabilities specialist, Dr. Cockerham taught children and adolescents with a wide range of learning, attentional, and social disabilities. She founded and directed the Research and Learning Center at the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History and continually works to build community and school relationships with higher education. Dr. Cockerham served as co-editor on the book Mind, Brain, and Technology and as lead editor on Reimagining Education: Studies and Stories for Effective Learning in an Evolving Digital Society.

Clare Baek is an Assistant Professor in the Learning Design and Technology Department at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. She earned her Ph.D. in Urban Education Policy from the University of Southern California. Her research examines how people make sense of and adopt new digital learning environments, and how these processes shape culturally relevant computing. Her work spans two complementary strands. The first focuses on the co-design and implementation of computational thinking curricula that support STEM learning through culturally sustaining approaches. In an NSF-funded project, she partnered with teachers across three Southern California districts to develop a computer science curriculum integrating data and environmental literacy. The second strand investigates how individual and societal factors shape learning experiences in emerging digital environments, with a particular focus on generative AI.