SOFTWARE ENGINEERING. RESEARCHING. TEACHING

Yaw
Sampene Buadu

Ten years of building things people rely on, leading the teams behind them, and researching whether they actually deliver, taught me one thing: the hardest problems do not end with the code. I am an engineer who builds. A researcher who questions. A practitioner who connects the two.

01

Leadership (Technical & Management)

Healthcare. Flutter, Firebase, Google Play, Appstore

GRNMA Infonet

45,000 DAU

Mission-critical information platform serving Ghana’s registered nurses and midwives. Delivered on Google Play and Apple App Store, replacing paper-based distribution with real-time mobile access.

Education · Laravel & MySQL

Student Information Management System

65,000+ students

Comprehensive multi-university platform integrating course registration, examination management, biometric authentication, and a multi-bank payment gateway across five institutions in Ghana.

Identity · Cloud + Biometrics

Biometric Identity Platform

99.8% accuracy

Cloud-based biometric verification ecosystem integrating fingerprint and facial recognition, serving 50+ institutions with 20,000+ member identities and sub-second verification times.

Events · PHP & Redis

Event Ticketing Platform

20,000 capacity

End-to-end ticketing application enabling complete digital sell-out for a 20,000-capacity venue, integrating seat selection, payment processing, and digital ticket delivery.

Digital & Social

Community Growth

800,000+ followers

Built and managed social media platforms reaching a combined audience of 800,000+ followers across YouTube (300,000+ subscribers) and two Facebook communities through data-driven strategy.

01

Research

My doctoral research investigates the technical and social challenges of web conferencing technologies in synchronous online learning environments in higher education.

Using a mixed methods approach comprising qualitative interviews, observational studies, and technical analysis, I examine how technological affordances and constraints shape educational experiences, and how accessibility, user experience, and pedagogical effectiveness interact in virtual learning spaces.

My researcher-practitioner position is central to this work: over a decade of building large-scale educational platforms gives direct insight into the implementation challenges that theoretical frameworks alone cannot capture.

Investigating the Technical and Social Challenges of Web Conferencing for Synchronous Learning in Higher Education

Sampene Buadu, Y., Kear, K., & Donelan, H. — Proceedings of the International Conference on Networked Learning, 2024

DOI: 10.54337/nlc.v14i1.8043
  • Web Conferencing: Insights from a Study of Synchronous Online Learning in Higher Education

    2025 EdMedia + Innovate Learning Conference, Spain

  • Internet, Cameras and Classroom Connections

    2025 CALRG Conference, The Open University, United Kingdom

  • Web Conferencing: The Technical and Social Challenges

    2024 Networked Learning Conference, Malta

Research interests

Web conferencing Synchronous online learning Technology acceptance HCI in education AI-enhanced learning Digital accessibility Learner analytics LMS design
03

Teaching

Guest Lecturer

Royal Agricultural University, UK — 2024 to present

Delivering specialised Master’s-level instruction within the Agricultural Technology programme, bridging technology innovation with agricultural applications. Lectures integrate theoretical frameworks with practical implementation, emphasising technology acceptance, system design, and real-world deployment challenges.

  • Mobile Apps and Software for Improving Production Systems
  • Networking and Web Interfaces
  • Technology Acceptance (TAM / UTAUT applied to agricultural technology)

Research Presentations

The Open University — 2023 to present

Delivering research presentations to Associate Lecturers sharing PhD findings on online learning technologies, web conferencing challenges, and pedagogical implications for synchronous digital learning environments.

  • School of Computing and Communications seminar — March 2025
  • Guest presentations to Associate Lecturers on TM111 module — June 2025
  • Focus on practical implications for teaching practice in virtual environments

Technology Acceptance Model

TAM and UTAUT applied to educational technology deployment and adoption research

Community of Inquiry

CoI framework underpinning analysis of synchronous online learning environments

Mixed Methods Research

Combining qualitative interviews, observational studies, and technical analysis