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Dr Venetia Brown

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Professional biography

Since 2012, my career in Higher Education has involved teaching English for Academic Purposes, Business English, research skills, and project-based classes to undergraduate and postgraduate students at Middlesex University and Kingston University. In 2015, I had the opportunity to teach English and ICT at the first women's university in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. I also worked as a Digital Literacy Coordinator at Richmond, The American University in London. My passion for blended learning and educational technologies inspired me to pursue a PhD in Technology Enhanced Learning in 2018. I have explored the impact of educational interventions on student engagement and teaching practices, providing valuable insights into practical strategies and program design. Currently, I am a Postdoctoral Researcher in Mixed Methods based at the Knowledge Media Institute, where I am involved in a UKRI-funded project exploring the intersection of Artificial Intelligence and justice, specifically how AI impacts, and will continue to impact, power relationships. In this role, I lead a qualitative study examining the pedagogical components of ethics and fairness in AI from a non-normative, intersectional lens with an interest in how AI researchers, who are often underrepresented in the literature, learn about and apply ethical principles and how researchers conceptualise the impacts of AI on culture and society. See here for more information: https://shiftingpower.kmi.open.ac.uk/

Other appointments:

2023 - Present: Academic Lead for the annual KMi Summer Scholarship for Black Students https://kmi.open.ac.uk/scholarship/ 

2022 - 2022: Research Assistant on the HERoS Horizons 2020 project, where I worked on instructional design, video scripting and e-resources for the project's MOOC  https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/health-emergency-response-to-a-pandemic-an-integrated-social-science-perspective

2022 - 2022: Education Consultant for The Centre for STEM Pedagogy, where I evaluated the online training programmes to coordinate a Badged Open Course for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning in STEM https://www.open.edu/openlearn/science-maths-technology/scholarship-teaching-and-learning-stem/content-section-overview?active-tab=description-tab

Research interests

My research interests include artificial intelligence in education (AIED), artificial intelligence for qualitative research, stakeholder participation and artificial intelligence for social good (AI4SG), technologies for STEM learning and online pedagogical practices. 

Current PhD Topic for Studentship 2024

Public Perceptions of Artificial Intelligence in Low- and Middle-Income Countries 

Public perception of AI, its risks and benefits, is continuously shaped by media representations, research literature and influential figures from wealthier, more industrialised nations. As more low and middle-income countries continue to be impacted by economic, political and technological global systems and embrace AI, we need to understand the specific impacts implicit in real-life applications in different regions of the world. Who are the users and beneficiaries of AI? What are the causal impacts and effectiveness of AI for Social Good (AI4SG) programs, and can trust and fairness be integrated to involve communities that are not usually represented? This PhD will evaluate AI-related programs or interventions and explore methods to consult and engage the general public. The project aims to understand the missing perspectives of AI workers and identify critical issues and concerns of stakeholders and the general public. Studentship Vacancies | Knowledge Media Institute | The Open University

Closing date: 5th February 2024. 

Publications

Teaching roles and communication strategies in interactive web broadcasts for practical lab and field work at a distance (2023)
Brown, Venetia; Collins, Trevor and Braithwaite, N St.J
Frontiers in Education, 8, Article 1198169


A Qualitative Study on Cultural Hegemony and the Impacts of AI (2024)
Brown, Venetia; Larasati, Retno; Third, Aisling and Farrell, Tracie
In : AAAI/ACM Conference on AI, Ethics, and Society (21-23 Oct 2024, San Jose, CA, USA) ((In press))


The Role of Web Broadcasts to Develop Online Learning Communities in STEM: a multiple case study (2021-01-28)
Brown, Venetia; Collins, Trevor and Braithwaite, Nicholas
In : Advance HE STEM Conference 2021: Rethinking STEM Higher Education (28 Jan 2021, Virtual)


The Role of Web Broadcasts to Develop Online Learning Communities in STEM Modules (2020-07-02)
Brown, Venetia; Collins, Trevor and Braithwaite, Nicholas
In : Horizons in STEM Higher Education Conference: Making Connections, Innovating and Sharing Pedagogy (1-2 Jul 2020, University of Nottingham – virtual)


Exploring the use of labcasts to support associate lecturers (2020-04-30)
Brown, Venetia; Cayless, Alan and Jarvis, Jo
In : 9th eSTEeM Annual Conference: Informing Student Success - From Scholarship to Practice (29-30 Apr 2020, Virtual)


Examining interaction within STEM Web Broadcasts (2018-04-25)
Brown, Venetia; Collins, Trevor and Braithwaite, Nick
In : 7th eSTEeM Annual Conference: STEM Futures - Delivering Excellence Through Scholarship (25-26 Apr 2018, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK)