International
President Elect

Shamila Janakiraman
Purdue University - Download Profile/Vita


Brief Bio

Shamila Janakiraman is a post-doctoral researcher and faculty in the Learning Design and Technology (LDT) program at Purdue University. She earned her doctorate in Fall 2020 from the LDT program at Purdue University. She is a lifelong learner and passionate educator who believes that quality education should be accessible to everyone. At present she is working on creating a competency-based education model for computing education. Her research interests are in competency-based education, game-based learning, gamification, online teaching and learning, attitudinal learning, and education for sustainable development. Her dissertation research was focused on the use of game-based learning to change attitudes in environmental sustainability education. She loves to explore the use of emerging technologies like game-based learning, Virtual Reality, and Augmented Reality in facilitating attitudinal learning regarding socio-scientific topics. Shamila has been a member of the Professional Development committee of the AECT International division since 2020.

Candidate Statement

I’ve been a member of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) since 2016 when I started the Ph.D. program in LDT at Purdue University. I’ve never missed a chance to present at AECT and meet scholars from across the globe. Every year I contribute to the AECT in different ways such as reviewing proposals, volunteering as tech support, and being a panelist in discussions that impact student life. I was attracted to the international division as an international student and was always invited with beaming smiles and friendly talk when I attended the welcome sessions and visited the Jenny K. Johnson hospitality center.
I am passionate about serving the international division and to popularize it to larger populations of educators, students, and professionals not only from the United States but in other countries as well. I have been actively recruiting my students to the division and also share about it to scholars working in countries outside the United States. Some years back I started with attending presentations made by members of the Division and then I learned how to serve the Division. In 2020 I got the opportunity to join the Professional Development committee and was instantly attracted to its goals. Very soon we were organizing webinars on current topics of interest. In 2022 I became the co-coordinator of the committee. In October 2022 I offered a webinar on how to conduct a systematic literature review with another member that was well attended and immensely beneficial to scholars worldwide. Continuing the energy, we plan to offer two webinars in Spring 2023. We are actually moving from conducting 2 events a year to 4 events a year. This I believe will highlight our presence and contribution and in turn attract members to the division.

If I am elected to serve the international division as President-Elect, I would continue in the steps of my predecessors and continue doing the great things they did. While working on increasing the international division membership and optimizing communication strategies on social media, I would work to support international students, and promote research collaborations between academics and educational technology companies, and across geographical boundaries. One way to accomplish this is offering multiple online sessions on current research topics and emerging educational technologies, organizing competitions, and advertising actively on social media. This, I believe, would popularize the AECT International Division.

I end this statement with sincere thanks to the division members for trusting me and considering me for this position. If given the opportunity to serve as the President-Elect of the Division, I will serve with integrity and total commitment to uphold the international division’s mission.




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