Managing Quality and Standards in Online Learning

Prof. Pete Boyd

Prof Pete Boyd is an education consultant and research mentor working with educators and practitioner researchers in schools, colleges and universities to support the development of research-informed practice.

He is emeritus professor in education at the University of Cumbria and visiting professor in academic development at Newman University.

For 12 years Pete was a teacher and head of department in secondary schools in the north of England and for three years worked in residential adventure education and field-study for primary and secondary school students. He became a teacher educator based in higher education and his primary field is teacher education, including initial education for beginning teachers as well as advanced professional education and professional development for experienced teachers.

As a teacher educator Pete contributed to teaching and learning development, including design and validation of an innovative part-time foundation degree programme for teaching assistants and a fully online part-time masters level programme for experienced teachers. He moved into academic development and led a programme for new academics on teaching, learning and assessment in higher education. His research at this time related to this academic development role and focused on academic induction and on assessment and feedback in higher education. Pete was the lead author of UK national guidelines for academic induction of new teacher educators based in higher education. The ‘Becoming Teacher Educator’ guidelines were published by the Higher Education Academy and won the BERA / Sage practitioner research prize in 2009

Dr. Richard Nelson

Richard is an experienced senior manager and instructional designer who enjoys supporting others to develop the best experience for their learners. His primary expertise is the people’s positive management of teams to create and develop technology to promote creative, innovative and engaging online learning. Richard oversees the scoping, design, production, project management, and publication of online courses for the University of Leeds and enjoys motivating others to experiment and take risks in using technology in education and training.

Richard has been teaching for over seventeen years and was awarded Senior Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy in 2014 for his influence on strategic developments in technology-enhanced learning at an organizational and regional level. For his EdD, Richard researched explored how teachers are negotiating with the blend of virtual and physical learning environments.

Dr. Rónán O’Beirne

Dr. Rónán O’Beirne is a visionary and highly motivated leader with a strong focus on learning and technology across diverse educational settings, Rónán is Head of IT and Library Services at Solent University, Southampton, UK, developing strategy and leading a team of 80 staff. He has substantial knowledge of professional support services, systems and processes in an academic and research environment, and a solid understanding of higher education policy and strategy, gained practically through varied leadership roles and developed through doctoral level research.Rónán is a passionate advocate of the role of technology in supporting all aspects of learning and research processes including blended learning. This is evidenced through implementation of a range of technology-based solutions, such as the deployment of Virtual Learning Environments and associated technologies.As an active professional, with longstanding programme coordination experience obtained on technology, multi-agency national and international projects, Rónán is a Chartered Fellow of the Institute of Librarians, Senior Fellow of Advance HE, Associate Fellow of the Leadership Foundation and a Registered Expert for the European Commission.

Dr. Carina Buckley

As the Instructional Design Manager at Solent University Carina is responsible for leading on the development and design of blended and online learning for the whole institution. Carina’s team are focused on the use of digital tools to support pedagogy, and their aim is to inspire colleagues in delivering excellent and engaging teaching. The major objective is to ensure that students have the best possible learning experience, through developing innovative practices that make best use of the available technology.Dr Carina has a PhD from the University of Southampton and a Postgraduate Certificate in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, as well as a Postgraduate Certificate in Blended Learning. She is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and has been the Chair of the Association for Learning Development in Higher Education for the past five years.

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