Associate Professor Tangi Steen 

Koula Bouras
Senior Academic Services Officer: +618 83020802

I am a Polynesian woman from the Kingdom of Tonga (aka The Friendly Islands) in the South Pacific. I hold the position of Associate Head of School: Teaching and Learning (T&L), David Unaipon College of Education and Research (DUCIER), Division of Education, Arts and Social Sciences. I teach and co-ordinate a number of courses, provide mentoring for staff in T&L areas, supervise postgraduate students and lead some research projects. I volunteer as a radio broadcaster for the Tongan Community Radio of SA Inc within the Adelaide's full-time ethnic radio station 5EBI 103.1FM. I am the President of the National Ethnic and Multicultural Broadcasters' Council (NEMBC), the peak advocacy body for ethnic and multicultural community broadcasters.

My academic interest is in the area of Information Technology (IT) and its application in T&L as well as in research and research education. My PhD research explores the problem solving strategies that students use when they encounter difficulties in learning and using IT. These strategies not only depend on students' level of IT competencies but also on a number of social and cultural factors which influence their learning.

I consider myself a social commentator on issues relating specifically to Tongan (and other Pacific Islander) diasporas in Australia. I am interested in the social constructions of Tongans as a minority group not only by themselves, but by the Australian (NZ and USA) mainstream media. Issues relating to their level of participation in the social, political and economic processes of their adopted country, and the impacts these have on their lives and their Tongan cultural practices, are of utmost interest to me as a Tongan academic and social researcher.

Associate Head of School: Teaching and Learning - David Unaipon College of Indigenous Education and Research, University of South Australia

T&L Project 2010: Developing a database of teaching and learning strategies and resources to support and enhance the delivery of DUCIER's service teaching courses.

T&L Project 2009: Developing a teaching and learning model for students’ collaborative work in wikis.

T&L Project 2008: Evaluation of existing web-based marking tools that assess group work.

T&L Project 2007: Students' perception of the online discussion board as an asessment tool.

• Information Technology education on a cross-cultural basis. Social diffusion of technology. Social and cultural impacts of technology on world's Indigenous cultures.
• Research Methods. Quantitative and qualitative analysis.
• Contemporary and cross-cultural issues in Higher Education especially those related to Indigenous Australians and other minority groups.

Tonga Research Association http://tongaresearchassociation.wordpress.com/

The Australian and New Zealand Comparative and International Education Society (ANZCIES)http://www.anzcies.org/

B.Sc (Mathematical Sciences) - Adelaide University 1981

Graduate Diploma (System Analysis) - University of South Australia 1991

Graduate Diploma Teaching (Adults and Further Education) - University of South Australia 1992

Masters of Education (Information Technology) - Deakin University 1995

Doctor of Philosophy (Computer Education) - University of South Australia 2003

• Use of IT (Information Technology) in teaching and learning in higher education.
• Study of technological systems of traditional societies, in particular gendered technologies.
• Representations of Tongan diasporas in print, electronic and social media.
• Community radio broadcasting and its role in preservation and maintenance of culture and language of the Tongan diaspora.

Book & Book Chapter:

Steen, T & Drescher, N. (2011) Eds. Tonga - Land, Sea and People, Tonga Research Association, Nuku'alofa, Tonga.

Steen T (2011). 'Questioning Technology: Way Forward for a More Informed Tongan Technological Community' in Steen & Drescher (2011) Eds. Tonga - Land, Sea and People, Tonga Research Association, Nuku'alofa, Tonga.

Steen, T (2007). 'Creating a culturally safe space for Tongans in Adelaide: The Gap Project.' in Wood-Ellem, E (ed). Tonga and Tongans heritage and identity. BPA Group, Melbourne.

Steen, T; Degenhart, H; Degenhart, B & Orkina, A (eds) (2005) Keeping cultures alive - 30th anniversary of multi-cultural radio in South Australia. AL Printer, Adelaide.

Steen, T (2001) 'Tangi Steen, a migrant in Australia', In Oster, S. Cardinal Points Mapping Adelaide's diversity - people, places, points of view. Wakefield Press, Adelaide.

PhD Thesis and MA Dissertation:

Steen, T (2003) Students' adjustment to using IT in their university studies. Doctoral thesis lodged at the University of South Australia. Unpublished manuscript.

Steen, T (2000) Impacts of Information Technology (IT) on Indigenous Australian small businesses: Does IT mean ET (Education and Training)? Unpublished Masters research thesis.

Journal Article:

Lushington, K, Cook, J, Steen, T, Wyld, F & Snowden, C. (2009) 'The Book of Beyond: Designing PODcasts to Provide Spoken-Word Health Information for the Oral Culture of Remote Australian Aboriginal Communities' in The International Journal of the Book, CG Publisher at http://ijb.cgpublisher.com/product/pub.27/prod.279

Steen, T; Sparrow, S; Baker, J; Gollan, S. (June 2007). Socio-spatial issue and the Indigenous Australian culture: Factors which influence Indigenous peoples' use of space within western institutional setting. Journal of Australian Indigenous Issues. Indigenous Researchers Forum Special Edition. Vol 10, (2) pg 13-25.

Article above also appears in Gunstone, G (ed) 2008. History, Politics and Knowledge: Essays in Australian Studies, pp77-94. North Melbourne, VIC: Australian Scholarly Publishing Pty Ltd.

Steen, T (1997) A comparative study of Indigenous groups in Australia, Canada, USA and minority groups in USA: issues of concern in Indigenous languages and computer literacy In Kaurna Higher Education Journal Issue 6 August 1997.

Steen, T (1997) What does the literature say about computer literacy and Indigenous Australians' Languages? In The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education vol.25 no.2 Sept/Oct 1997. Article can also be accessed at http://www.atsis.uq.edu.au/ajie/contents/25_2.html

Conference and Workshop:

Steen, T (2008) Students’ use of the discussion board (DB) in online learning. Paper presented at the 4th International Conference on Technology, Knowledge & Society, Northeastern University, 18-20th Jan, Boston MA.

Steen, T (2007). Questioning technology: Way forward for a more technologically informed Tongan society. Conference paper delivered at the 12th Tonga Research Conference July 11-14th, Nuku'alofa, Tonga.

Steen, T (2007). Creating an indigenous space within higher education in South Australia: What does it mean in terms of curriculum design and teaching practice? A paper presented at the 13th conference of the World Council of Comparative Education Societies, 3-7th Sept, Sarajevo.

Steen, T (2003) Digital Delivery Network (DDN) and its place in community radio. A workshop conducted in the 2003 South Australian Community Broadcasting Association's Conference, Nuriootpa, Adelaide.

Steen, T (2002) The role of women in community radio: A Tongan and newly emerging communities' perspective. A paper presented at the 2002 National Ethnic and Multicultural Broadcasting Council (NEMBC), Adelaide. Steen, T (2003) Linking communities and sports. A paper presented at the 'Sharing through Recreation - Workshop' run by the Multicultural Communities Council of SA (MCCSA), 25th Nov, 2003.

Steen, T (2002) Digital divide in Australia: An exacerbation of old inequities in the new. July, 2002. A paper presented at the Digital Divide Doctoral Conference at the School of Information, University of Michingan, Ann Arbor Campus.

Steen, T. (2000) The Indigenous Online Network (ION). Presentation of the features of the ION website at the Aboriginal and Islander Education Conference, Perth.

I am able to provide media comment in the following areas of expertise:

Discipline: Information Technology

• Information Technology education
• Information Technology and Indigenous cultures
• Ethnic and Multicultural Community Broadcasting
• Tongan Diasporas in Australia