In 2022 I embarked on a new role at Heriot-Watt University as an Assistant Professor for Digital Pedagogies and Curriculum Design in the Learning and Teaching Academy. This is global university with campuses in the UK, United Arab Emirates and Malaysia. My leadership roles include Deputy Programme Director for the PGCertT programme, Deputy Course Lead on Exploring Learning Spaces, curriculum design workshop institutional lead and Global Digital Pedagogies Reading Group lead. I have two key stems to my work: digital pedagogies and course design however, beyond this I provide teaching and learning support across other courses on the PGCertTL, as well as through department events and projects.
Previous to this I was a Digital Education and Enhancement Consultant in the Office for Digital Learning, at Ulster University, where I led on digital accessibility and creative approaches to engaging students in online spaces.
My professional journey has involved a Pharmacology degree from the University of Edinburgh, a Masters in Computer Based Learning from Queen’s and a Diploma from the University of Edinburgh in Digital Education. I am a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and proud CMALT holder and lead assessor. My education journey continues with a PhD focusing on Reflective Practice in Medical Education, at the University of Edinburgh starting out in autumn 2018.
I am co-chair of the Association for Learning Technology (ALT) Northern Ireland Group, which has been fostering a new community of practice across the country for the last few years.
I have been working in edtech for nearly twenty years and I am mainly found to be encouraging colleagues into giving online presence more attention – bringing the human to the digital and criticality viewing technology*. Design and usability are also on my priority list, along with trying to squeeze some creativity into our busy lives, for example through being a LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® facilitator. Outside medicine, I am on open education practitioner and online communities such as #clmooc, #ds106 and #FemEdTech provide a backdrop of fun for my professional work.
You can find me most days on Twitter and Mastodon at @slowtech2000. My Orcid ID is: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8608-4801
* This turned out to be a particularly relevant special interest during the move to remote teaching during the Covid-19 pandemic.
What an awesome looking program in digital education. The trial of Open Ed is really great. Thanks for a sharing!
“I am mainly found to be nagging anyone who will listen into giving online presence more attention – bringing the human to the digital.”
Me too.