Jie (Jennifer) Lu
University of Florida

Hi everyone, my name is Jie Lu but please feel free to call me Jennifer. I am a doctoral student majoring in Educational Technology and a learning designer in the Advanced Learning Technologies (ATL) Studio at the University of Florida (UF). My primary research interest includes design and development of innovative educational courseware and software. In the past, I co-designed and developed Diabetes Journey, a gamified mHealth program for improving Type 1 diabetes (T1D) self-management for adolescents through a learning experience approach. The project was funded by the National Institute of Health (NIH) and the program is currently in a randomized control trial. Currently I am involved in project PhoeNIX as a learning designer, helping develop an extended reality (XR) environment for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) that aims to raise awareness of stakeholders' needs and preferences.

My work also focuses on the evaluation of educational and learning technologies, especially on the concept of usability along three dimensions, the technological, pedagogical, and sociocultural dimensions. In the past year, led a small team that investigated usability research conducted in the field of Learning Design and Technology (LDT). We captured usability evaluation methods along with constructs each method tended to measure, and analyzed collected literature for limitations and implications. Our study identified "sore spots" regarding usability research in the field of LDT and bridged the research-to-practice gap. Apart from the research side, I am also passionate in teaching. I am an active teaching assistant (sole instructor) at UF for more than two years.

As a designer with experience in instructional design and learning experience design, I believe my background and research interests align with the mission of the D&D division. To this end, I would like to take this opportunity to nominate myself as a representative for the D&D division, continuously develop professional skills, and at my best help other colleagues who are already a designer or would love to become a future designer.

Thank you!