Sakinah Ismael

Human Rights Lecturer

Sakinah A. Ismael is an educator, researcher and doctoral candidate whose work focuses on the pedagogical, ethical and cultural implications of artificial intelligence in education. She is a final-year Doctor of Education candidate at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign specializing in learning design and leadership, researching AI, graduate attributes and learner identity in technology-mediated environments, and she holds a master’s degree in education focused on globalization in education. With experience in the Gulf and internationally, she frames AI as a cognitive prosthesis, a learning partner that extends human thinking rather than replacing judgment, creativity or ethical responsibility. She has extensive experience designing AI-enabled and blended learning environments, particularly in academic communication, professional writing and reflective learning, with emphasis on AI literacy, assessment validity and academic integrity. She presents at international conferences and contributes to peer-reviewed research on human–AI collaboration in higher education, and she holds a Professional Certificate in Narrative Medicine from Columbia University.