Members

Dr. Martha Burkle

Edmonton, Canada

Dr. Burkle is the Development Collaborations Coordinator at the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta. She holds a PhD from the University of Sussex in the United Kingdom on Technology innovation and Higher Education. Her thesis is an analysis of the impact of Information Technologies for social and economic development. Currently, she is a member of SSHRC (Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council) and NSERC (Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council) Adjudication Committees, and a member of editorial boards for a number of scientific journals, including the Education & Training Emerald Journal, the International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, the Literacy Information and Computer Education Journal, the International Journal of e-Learning & Distance Education, and the Feminist Media Studies Journal. Her research interests lie in the area of faculty development for learning innovation, learning analytics, the use of technologies for social development, and the application of digital technologies (such as virtual reality) to support teaching and learning. She has done research on the use of ICTs for development in Ghana, Jamaica, Mexico, South Africa, and Brazil. Martha has taught a number of courses both face-to-face and online to undergraduate and postgraduate students in Canadian and other universities around the world.

Adão Carvalho

Evora, Portugal

Adão Carvalho is a professor and researcher at the Department of Economics of the University of Evora, Portugal. He is the Director of the Masters programme in Public Policy and Projects at the University of Evora. He has a background in Economics and received his Ph.D. in Science and Technology Policy Studies from the University of Sussex, UK, in 2002. His research focuses on innovation, science and technology policy, economics of knowledge, with recent focus on R&D expenditures and R&D policy.

Prof. Eva Cendon

Hagen, Germany

Prof. Cendon is an educational scientist involved in lifelong learning with focus on higher education in the German speaking and European contexts since more ten years. She acts as national and international expert for competency and learning outcome orientation, for teaching and learning in higher education, new roles of teachers and ways of implementing lifelong learning at universities. Eva has led many workshops with curriculum developers and university teachers on the implementation of learning outcomes in higher education. Since March 2018 Eva is head of the Department of University Continuing Education & Teaching and Learning, which focuses on concepts of university teaching and learning that integrate theory and practice, specifically within university continuing education. As head of the research team in a governmental funded German wide initiative “Aufstieg durch Bildung – offene Hochschulen“ (Advancement through Education: Open Universities) she currently accompanies more than 100 universities in Germany in developing new concepts and programs for lifelong learning, building up new forms of cooperation with companies and other actors outside the university. Her main expertise and research interest lies in linking academic and professional knowledge in university teaching and learning. Personal page

Prof. Josep Maria Duart Montoliu

Barcelona, Catalunya

Prof. Josep Maria Duart holds a PhD in Education from Ramon Llull University and an MBA from ESADE Business School. He has a degree in History and a teaching qualification from the University of Barcelona. He has taught at various levels of the school and university system, focusing on subjects in the field of teaching, school organization, and education and technology. A lecturer in the UOC’s Psychology and Educational Sciences department, he is responsible for the school organization and educational policies subjects on the Educational Psychology degree course, and the education in the information society area on the University’s PhD programme. As a researcher at the UOC’s Internet Interdisciplinary Institute (IN3), he leads the Information Technologies, Universities and Network Society (ITUNS) research group and the PIC Universities research project, which analyses the changes in the university system brought on by the use of ICT. He is also the Editor of International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, and has played an active role in the development of the UOC’s educational model and advised, in his role as an expert consultant on e-learning methodologies, a number of universities, especially in Latin America. http://www.uoc.edu/webs/jduart/EN/curriculum

Prof. Alec Gershberg

Philadelphia, USA

Dr. Gershberg is a specialist in social & education policy, public finance, economic analysis, political economy, education accountability & governance, and systems thinking. He is particularly interested in how governments design, adopt and implement policies and reform processes to improve education quality. He has worked in Latin America, East and South Asia, Eastern & Western Europe, North Africa & the Middle East, North America and Sub-Saharan Africa. At Penn he teaches courses in Systems Thinking in Comparative Education, Education and Social Policy in Latin America, Public Finance and Public Policy, and Urban Studies. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania's Regional Science Department. Prior to returning to Penn, he spent 25 years as a faculty member in the Public and Urban Policy Program at The New School – the last five years as Chair. He previously served as Special Advisor to the Provost for Faculty and Curricular Affairs, and he received the University Distinguished Teaching Award. The New School recently appointed him Professor Emeritus. He has been a frequent consultant to the World Bank, the U.K. Department for International Development, the Inter-American Development Bank, USAID, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, UNESCO, and The Urban Institute. He has been a Visiting Fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California and Visiting Professor at the Stanford University School of Education, the Open University of Catalunya (UOC), and El Colégio de Mexico. Most recently, Dr. Gershberg was chosen to lead a five-year research project on the political economy of education reform for the RISE program working with country research teams in Vietnam, India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Tanzania, Nigeria and Ethiopia. He has been Senior Education Economist at the World Bank and Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. He spent the 2010-2011 academic year in Barcelona at the UOC’s Internet Interdisciplinary Institute (IN3), where he is currently a Research Associate in e-learning—work he continues as a founding member of the University of the Future Network. Profile

Prof. Sarah Guri-Rosenblit

The Open University, Israel

Prof. Sarah Guri-Rosenblit is professor of education at the Open University of Israel. Until October 2019 she served as Vice-President for Academic Affairs. She got her PhD from Stanford University in 1984 in education and political science. Her areas of expertise are focused on comparative research of higher education systems, distance education and e-learning. She published books and dozens of articles in these fields. She has been a member of many international forums and organizations (UNESCO Forum for Higher Education, Research and Knowledge, Fulbright New Century Scholars, Rockefeller Foundation, Bologna Experts, European Science Foundation, European Distance and E-Learning Network), and she is currently a member of the University of the Future Network. Her full CV and a list of publications, keynotes and conference presentations can be found at: http://www.openu.ac.il/Personal_sites/sarah-guri-rosenblit/

Dr. Carina Lion

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Dr. Lion is Professor of Education and Technologies at the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina. She holds a degree in Education and is a specialist in teachers’ education.

Prof Mpine Makoe

Pretoria, South Africa

Prof Mpine Makoe is the Head of the Institute for Open Distance Learning at the University of South Africa (UNISA). She is also the director of African Council for Distance Education (ACDE) responsible for coordinating the continental distance education database. Mpine has also facilitated the development of ODL related policies in different universities across the continent. She has published extensively in the area of educational technology focusing on mobile learning, staff development, quality assurance and policy formulation in ODeL. Mpine has authored numerous journal articles, book chapters and reports as well as presenting keynote addresses at conferences. She is a founding member of the Global Doctoral Consortium for the International Council for Distance Education (ICDE). She holds a PhD and an MSc in Educational Technology from the Open University, UK, an MA in Journalism from the University of Michigan and BA in Communication and English (cum laude) from Hope College in Michigan. She has received numerous awards and she is currently the president of the National Association of Distance Online Education in South Africa (NADEOSA).

Dr. Andrea Mangiatordi

Milan, Italy

Dr. Mangiatordi is an Assistant Professor at the University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy. His research focuses on Accessibility in the areas of Online Communication and of Educational Content Design, with a specific interest in the sustainability of the application of Universal Design frameworks in educational contexts. He has been involved in the OLPC/CEIBAL project in Uruguay, where he conducted his doctoral research on the topic of computer mediated social inclusion for children with disabilities. He is currently focused on enhancing the accessibility of web environments and of electronic publishing. In 2016 he also founded a tech startup to facilitate the transfer of his research results on a larger scale.

Prof. Alan Tait

United Kingdom

Alan Tait is Professor of Distance Education and Development at the Open University UK, and has a long record of practice, publication and the support of professional development in distance and e-learning.  He was Pro-Vice Chancellor (Academic) at the Open University UK from 2007-2012, and was formerly Dean of the Faculty of Education and Language Studies.  He was Editor in Chief of the European Journal of Distance and E Learning (EURODL) 2005-2013, was from 1989-1998 Editor of Open Learning, was President of the European Distance and E-Learning Network (EDEN) from 2007-2010, and is Co-Director of the Cambridge International Conference on Open and Distance Learning. Alan is the founding Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Learning for Development, to be produced from the Commonwealth of Learning for the first time at the end of 2013. He is Visiting Professor at Aarhus University, Denmark, a senior member of St Edmunds College, University of Cambridge, and a Visiting Fellow of the Centre for Distance Education at the University of London. In 2012 Alan was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Moscow State University for Economics, Statistics and Informatics. He has worked widely in developing countries, and for international organisations such as UNESCO, the European Commission, the Commonwealth of Learning, and the International Extension College.

Airina Volungevičienė

Assoc. prof. dr. Airina Volungevičienė, Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania She is the President of EDEN – European Distance and e-Learning Network, Director of Innovative Studies Institute, associate professor in Education, research leader and senior researcher in Global grant research and the chair of the Board of LieDM association. Airina has been working among leading researchers, methodology specialists and education policy makers in the area of technology enhanced learning (TEL) development in Europe and Lithuania since 1997. Having established the national network for distance and e-learning in the country, then Lithuanian Distance and e-Learning association (2010), she continued introducing many innovations in different education organizations from school, VET, adult learning and higher education sectors in Europe. She is involved in EDEN Governance since 2009, as the Board member, Vice President for Research (2016 – 2019) and the President (2016 – 2019). Collaboration with UNESCO IITE in application of technologies in education, OER development, as well as UNESCO IBE for Collaborative Master study program of „Curriculum development“ allows mainstreaming of expert knowledge and the development of open professional collaboration of teachers and academia on global level. She published more than 30 papers on TEL, virtual mobility and OERs, as well as 5 research studies and 2 monographs. Bio, projects and publications ORCID Researchgate

Dorothée Schulte, M. A.

Hagen, Germany

Dorothée Schulte is research associate at the Institute of Education and Media Research/Chair University Continuing Education & Teaching and Learning at the FernUniversität in Hagen (University of Hagen). She is experienced in building up cross-institutional collaboration and communication and dissemination of project and research results. Her background is in marketing and corporate communication in an international business company expanded by academic degrees in media studies and lifelong learning. Her research interests and activities are related to future-oriented research approaches connected to teaching and learning in higher education and university lifelong learning. As member of the research team in the governmental funded German wide initiative “Aufstieg durch Bildung – offene Hochschulen“ (Advancement through Education: Open Universities) she currently accompanies more than 100 universities in Germany in developing new concepts and programs for lifelong learning. Profile

Denise Vaillant

Denise Vaillant is Academic Director of the Institute of Education at Universidad ORT Uruguay, one of the largest universities in the country. She is also the Coordinator of the Technical Committee of the Regional Program for the Development of the Teaching Profession in Latin America and the Caribbean (PREDALC), which offers a window on the world of learning and teaching and a forum in which to discuss how we can improve teacher education and teaching activities in general. Denise Vaillant is a university professor of postgraduate studies, consultant to several international organizations and author of numerous articles and books on the subject of public policies, the teaching profession and educational change. She has been invited to give lectures at many top world universities and has been responsible for a series of research projects on educational policies and the teaching profession. She has helped ministries of education across Latin America to implement more effective teacher policies and educational reforms. She has also worked with several university boards, focusing on ways for teacher education and professional development to integrate new and innovative approaches to teaching and learning. She has coordinated several teacher education programs in Uruguay and other Latin American countries. She has a Ph.D. in Education from the University of Québec in Montreal, Canada, and an M.A. in Educational Planning and Management from the University of Geneva, Switzerland ( http://www.denisevaillant.com)

Dr. Martha Cleveland-Innes

Athabasca, Canada

Professor and Program Director, Master of Education Program, Athabasca University. Martha has received awards for her work on the student experience in online environments and is a multiple research grant recipient and grant adjudicator with the Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. In 2019 she received an Honorary Doctorate from Mid-Sweden University and the Leadership Award from the Canadian Network for Innovation in Education. Past awards include the Craig Cunningham Memorial Award for Teaching Excellence (2011) and the President’s Award for Research and Scholarly Excellence from Athabasca University (2009). She was Guest Professor (2011-2014) and Visiting Researcher (2015-2018) at The Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden. She is co-editor of the book Introduction to Distance education: Understanding Teaching and Learning in a New Era, 2nd edition with R. Garrison, published by Routledge 2021. She is the author of the books The Guide to Blended Learning (2018). She has held major research grants supporting research on the technology-enabled student experience.

Prof. Leonardo Menegola

Milan, Italy

Leonardo Menegola serves as a contract professor of Media Education. Techniques and methods, at the Department of Human Sciences for Education at the University of Milano-Bicocca. After graduating with honors in Philosophy at the University of Pavia, with a thesis in Anthropology of Education drawing on fieldwork in Peru, he received a PhD in Cultural Anthropology at the University of Milano-Bicocca, studying the role of non-verbal and sensorial mediators in the interactions and relations between therapists and patients in settings of care. He subsequently widened his interests, by focusing on the ways in which technology can be used as a mediator in order to impact the efficacy and the experience of education between teachers and students. He is currently studying how the dimensions of wellbeing and efficacy can intersect with one another through the use of technology and the media in the development of inclusive educational processes. He carried out ethnographic fieldwork in several contexts, both in education and care, as an independent researcher.

Romeela Mohee

Republic of Mauritius

Prof Romeela Mohee is currently the Higher Education Commissioner of Mauritius, whereby she is responsible for regulating all public and private universities in Mauritius. She holds an engineering degree in Energy and Environment from a Grande Ecole d’Ingenieurs, the Institut National des Sciences Appliquées de Lyon, France, (under a French Scholarship) and a PhD from the University of Mauritius. Romeela has 25 years of academic experience as a Professor and Head of Department in the field of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, as well as Dean of the Faculty of Engineering from 2009 to 2012. She has also held the position of Vice Chancellor of the University of Mauritius. She has worked at the Commonwealth of Learning from 2017 to 2020 as an Education Specialist and has assisted many Commonwealth member states in their development of higher education policies and strategies. She expertly guided governments and institutions on e-learning for sustainable development, quality assurance and employability. She also developed an employability readiness model for Higher Education Institutions in the Commonwealth. She has published over 75 international research and conference papers, edited 2 books, 4 book chapters, and has supervised to date more than 50 undergraduate and 30 masters and doctoral students. She has carried out more than 20 major consultancy projects in the field of environmental science and engineering. Professor Mohee has received a number of awards and recognitions including the winner of the African Union best woman scientist award for Science Technology and Innovation in 2009.

Ann Hill

University of Minnesota

Dr. Ann Hill Duin, Professor of Writing Studies and Graduate-Professional Distinguished Teaching Professor at the University of Minnesota USA where her technical and professional communication research and teaching focus on technical augmentation, digital literacy, analytics, collaboration, and workplace writing futures. In 2021 she received both the 2021 Ronald S. Blicq Award for Distinction in Technical Communication from the IEEE Professional Communication Society and the 2021 J. R. Gould Award for Excellence in Teaching from the Society for Technical Communication. She is in her 37th year as a professor, with 15 of these serving in higher education administrative roles including Vice Provost and Associate Vice President for Information Technology. Her commitment to shared leadership has resulted in collective vision and action: a virtual university, a new college, business intelligence/academic analytics initiatives, UMN's first graduate-level online course, inter-institutional partnerships, international exchanges, a technical communication advisory board, and innovative curricula. Dr. Duin has a deep affection for students, a “students first” principle, and a “make it work” attitude. She is a strong proponent of connectivist theory and the importance of guiding students in the development of their professional research networks (PRN), helping them to identify the people, resources, and networks of strategic importance as they advance their professional careers. She is most committed to fostering the future of the university, as preparing scholars and practitioners to investigate and plan for the social, digital literacy, and civic implications arising from emerging technologies is imperative.