Research Projects

At our core, we believe in harnessing the power of technology to create a world where every individual, regardless of ability or circumstance, has equal access and opportunity. Through rigorous research, innovative projects, and a passion for social impact, we strive to break down barriers in the digital landscape. Below we have a description of current and past research projects.

Please check out our Google Scholar for additional research articles from this lab.

Current Research Projects

Technology-use in the Black Church

We seek to understand how members of the Black Church engage with technology. While it’s estimated that more than 20% of churches in America identify as predominantly African American, very little computing research investigates the diversity of African American churchgoers and church leaders’ use of technology to engage with church activities. This study aims to provide insights into the use of technology in the Black church and the decision-making processes that influence the adoption of electronic engagement with church activities.

Papers:

  • Thompson, G., Otoo, N., Smith, A. D., & Ogbonnaya-Ogburu, I. F. (accepted to CSCW 2026). Technology Use in the Black Church: Perspectives of Black Church Leaders.
  • Smith, A. N., Otoo, N., Beach, R., Eaves, J., Jennings, K., Lyons, G. W., Thompson, D., O’Leary, T. K., McCall, T., & Ogbonnaya-Ogburu, I. F. (2026, April). Digital religion in the lives of Black Christian young adults and implications for techno-spiritual design. In Proceedings of the Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2026)

Posters:

  • Thompson, G., Otoo, N., Fisher, J. C., Sibi, I., Smith, A. D. R., & Ogbonnaya-Ogburu, I. F. (2024). Technology Use in the Black Church: Perspectives of Black Church Leaders Preliminary Findings. Poster session presented at the meeting of CSCW ’24: The 27th ACM Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing. doi: 10.1145/3678884.3681855

Digital Literacy Intervention to Assist Returning Citizens with their Job Search

We seek to understand how formerly incarcerated individuals or returning citizens search for jobs, what level of digital literacy skills they have in general and with respect to job search, and what digital literacy pedagogy is useful for returning citizens. Writing a resume, searching for new knowledge or skills using the internet, researching a company, and addressing your online brand are digital literacy skills that are important when acquiring a job. Overall, while researchers have been able to describe the challenges of the re-entry process, none have sought to understand the connection between returning citizens digital literacy skills and their job search. We will provide digital literacy training to several returning citizens using action research based on our findings in our previous research project that interviewed returning citizens surrounding their use of technology and their job search.

Papers:

  • Ogbonnaya-Ogburu, I. F., Sanders, E., Alexander-Bey, J., Harrington, B., Wood, M., Dillahunt, T. R., & Toyama, K. (2025, July). Designing Digital Tools to Support Online Job Search for Returning Citizens. In Proceedings of the ACM SIGCAS/SIGCHI Conference on Computing and Sustainable Societies (pp. 339-353).
  • Ogbonnaya-Ogburu, I. F., Toyama, K., & Dillahunt, T. R. (2019, May). Towards an Effective Digital Literacy Intervention to Assist Returning Citizens with Job Search. In Proceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1-12)

Posters:

  • Ogbonnaya-Ogburu, I. F., & Israni, A. (2024). Supporting the Digital Aspects of Reentry for Formerly Incarcerated Individuals. Poster session presented at the meeting of  CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI). HI, Honolulu. doi: 10.1145/3613905.3650908
  • Ogbonnaya-Ogburu, I. F., Toyama, K., Dillahunt, T.(2018, October). Returning Citizens’ Job Search and Technology Use: Preliminary Findings. In Companion of the 2018 ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing (pp. 365-368). ACM.

Rural Computer Science Education

There are not enough computer science teachers in rural areas, which means that students in rural schools do not have access to adequate computer science education. This lack of preparation affects their ability to succeed in introductory computer science courses in college. To address this challenge, we aim to develop a computer science curriculum that is relevant to rural communities. Our study will explore the perspectives of rural students and teachers on identity and culture, and we will also create technical tools that are culturally relevant.

Past Research Projects

Critical Race Theory for HCI

We introduce critical race theory and adapt it for HCI to lay a theoretical basis for race-conscious efforts, both in research and within our community. Building on the theory’s original tenets, we argue that racism is pervasive in everyday socio-technical systems; that the HCI community is prone to “interest convergence,” where concessions to inclusion require benefits to those in power; and that the neoliberal underpinnings of the technology industry itself propagate racism. Critical race theory uses storytelling as a means to upend deep-seated assumptions, and we relate several personal stories to highlight ongoing problems of race in HCI.

  • Ogbonnaya-Ogburu, I. F., Smith, A. D., To, A., Toyama, K (2020, April). Critical Race Theory for HCI. In Proceedings of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1-16).