My research interests lie at the crossroads of education, development, and technology with a focus on understanding the best approaches that contribute to the well-being of people, especially marginalized individuals with little access to information and knowledge, who live in rural areas, are low literate learners, and speak numerous languages. My main approach to development has been in the area of informal education. I am a co-founder of the program called Scientific Animations Without Borders (SAWBO), which has a mission to bring information and knowledge to the most impoverished communities and individuals in the world in their own languages.
My core research questions are (a) what are the gaps in knowledge that impoverish people, and (b) how can education help to address these challenges? Using comparative, qualitative, and quantitative data methods, I conduct analyses on learning gains for groups of people across several African countries, especially concentrating on the local knowledge that low-literate learners have, including around sustainable agriculture practices. My research contribution to the area of information and communication technology (ICT) for low literate learners has involved the use of short animations, translated into local languages, along with measuring the impact that these animations have on the lives of marginalized groups, especially women and youth.