Dr. Hamilton-Taylor is the developer of SKA, the Support Kit for Animation.    His research interests include e-learning design and evaluation, multimedia, user interface design, computer science education, instructional simulation and educational game design.   He was a Consultant/Evaluator for the UNDP/Government of Jamaica Computer-Assisted Instruction in Secondary Schools Pilot Project, the first comprehensive project of its type in Jamaica.   On that project, he was responsible for teacher training and student evaluation, selection of hardware and software for Mathematics, General Science and English Language, and laboratory design.

Dr. Hamilton-Taylor is exploring the use of cultural paradigms in e-Learning, which we believe can motivate interest in various subjects, and give a sense of realism to subject material. To this end, Dr. Hamilton-Taylor and his team are currently developing systems that facilitate construction of subject content with cultural aspects by students and instructors.  For example, Dr. Hamilton-Taylor designed a role-playing simulation of the Maroon Wars to help students understand the situations faced by the Maroons and the impact of decisions by leadership (Hamilton-Taylor, 1991).  He is currently leading a study which compares the types of programmes students create using foreign characters versus local, Jamaican characters. 

Dr. Hamilton-Taylor is experienced in designing instructional software for the early childhood cohort.  He has taught introductory software design and associated concepts from the university level to the preparatory school level using simple, yet powerful animation programming languages and libraries. Graphical programming environments can motivate learners and also gives them the opportunity to construct culturally expressive animated programs.

Dr. Hamilton-Taylor does collaborative research with a number of researchers at University of Georgia and Georgia Tech in computer science, human-computer interaction, e-learning, and visual psychology. He maintains contacts with researchers at other institutions in computer science, education, etc. who can contribute as resource persons, as needed. Of particular note are Professor Robert Maribe Branch, Head of the Department of Instructional Technology at the Univ. of Georgia and Professor Joyce King, the Benjamin E. Mays Endowed Chair of Urban Teaching, Learning and Leadership at Georgia State University, who does research in global learning. Dr. Hamilton-Taylor is also in the process of forming a network of local academic and artistic talent that can contribute to e-learning development.

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