KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
Martin Hall
Vice-Chancellor, University of Salford
Professor Martin Hall is a historical archaeologist and strategic leader. He joined the University of Salford in April 2009 as VC Designate, before taking up his role as VC on 1 August, 2009. Salford University, he says, offers an exceptional learning environment for students, with strong opportunities in research, innovation, enterprise and employer and community engagement. He wants the University to play a key role in re-connecting with local communities and creating economic and social value and believes that intense local engagement -social responsiveness – leads to academic excellence and international recognition.
He joined Salford from the University of Cape Town where he was Deputy Vice-Chancellor for six years. He has a career that has spanned both political change and transformation in South Africa and new directions in archaeology over the past four decades. He has written extensively on South African history, culture and higher education policy. Born in Guildford, Professor Hall holds dual British and South African citizenship. He moved to South Africa in 1974 after undertaking undergraduate and post-graduate studies in archaeology at the University of Cambridge.
Diana Laurillard
Professor of Learning, London Knowledge Lab, Institute of Education
Diana Laurillard is Professor of Learning with Digital Technologies at the London Knowledge Lab, Institute of Education, leading externally-funded research projects on (i) developing a learning design support environment for teachers, and (ii) developing software interventions for learners with low numeracy and dyscalculia. This work relates closely to her roles as Pro Director for Open Mode learning, and as a founder member of the Planning Board for the cross-institutional Centre for Educational Neuroscience (IOE, Birkbeck, UCL).
Previous roles include: Head of the e-Learning Strategy Unit at the Department for Education and Skills, where she developed the first cross-sector e-learning strategy on ‘Harnessing Technology’; Pro-Vice-Chancellor for learning technologies and teaching at The Open University, Visiting Committee on IT at Harvard University. Current roles include: Royal Society Working Group on Educational Neuroscience, Boards of the Observatory for Borderless HE, Supervisory Council for Fern Universität in Hagen, Governing Board of the UNESCO Institute for IT in Education. She has given many international keynote addresses, published in many academic journals and books, and her book Rethinking University Teaching: A conversational framework for the effective use of learning technologies (2002, RoutledgeFalmer) is one of the most widely cited in the field.
Bob Strunz
Chief Technical Architect, NDLR
Bob Strunz is the Chief Technical Architect of the Irish National Digital Learning Resources service where he has oversight of its daily operations and is also on the NDLR board. In his role as Technology Advisor to the Vice-President Academic at the University of Limerick in Ireland, Bob has the responsibility of advising the Executive of the institution on changes and challenges in technology. With a background in electronic and software engineering Bob completed his Master of Engineering degree in 1989 and following this, continued to work at the University of Limerick in various roles which became increasingly focused on the role of technology in the learning environment and also in the overall management of the institution. In 2005 he completed a PhD in Education at the University of Hull entitled “Strategy, Micropolitics and Technology : A case study of technology implementation at an Irish University.”
Bob's research interests include technology use in the University, repositories and social media and astronomy. He is also on the Board of the Birr Educational Trust and technical advisor to the Birr Scientific and Heritage Foundation on the restoration, operation and maintenance of the Great Telescope at Birr, “The Leviathan of Parsonstown”. In his spare time, Bob is a SCUBA instructor and an enthusiastic sailor, he builds working model steam engines and likes to surf in the Atlantic with his ten-year old son, he sometimes dreams of doing another PhD but then he wakes up and gets the surfboard out!
OER11 QUICK ENQUIRY
Call us on: 01908 653848