UC Irvine

Educational technologies often overlook the cultural values, everyday practices, and lived experiences of historically minoritized communities, including Latine families. As a result, they may fail to recognize the cultural strengths families bring to learning or create meaningful opportunities for caregiver-child engagement. This dissertation examines how educational technology designed using culturally sustaining principles can support family learning by centering the perspectives and experiences of Latine caregivers and children.Across three interconnected qualitative studies, the dissertation examines educational technology through the lenses of design, interaction, and interpretation. Study 1 investigates how Latina mothers envision educational technologies that reflect their cultural values, family practices, and priorities for family learning. Study 2 examines caregiver-child co-use of Bizumia: World of Play, a STEM-based educational application designed using culturally sustaining principles, focusing on how caregivers scaffold STEM reasoning and connect digital activities to everyday family practices. Study 3 examines how caregivers interpret children’s understanding and problem-solving and how those interpretations inform the support they provide during shared technology use.Findings demonstrate that culturally sustaining educational technology involves more than representing culture within digital content. Caregivers’ cultural values and priorities can shape which technologies are designed to support learning, while everyday family knowledge can serve as a resource for STEM learning during caregiver-child interaction. Findings further position caregivers as pedagogical partners who observe children’s learning, interpret their understanding, and respond with support. These processes inform the Ver–Pensar–Responder framework, which conceptualizes caregiver support as observing (Ver), interpreting (Pensar), and responding (Responder) to children’s learning. This dissertation demonstrates how families’ cultural strengths, everyday knowledge, and caregiver expertise can serve as meaningful resources for designing and supporting family learning with educational technology.