Association for Learning Technology
Welcome to our community
Board of Trustees
The Board of Trustees is responsible for the overall governance of ALT. Below are brief biographies of each member of the committee. In ALT's Constitution the Board of Trustees is also referred to as Central Executive Committee.
Chair
Helen has recently been appointed Provost and Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of Chester. As Pro Vice-Chancellor for Education, Professor O’Sullivan was previously responsible for taking strategic leadership for all aspects of education at Keele. She joined Keele on 1 st January 2018 and before that was Associate Pro Vice-Chancellor for Online Learning at the University of Liverpool.Helen is a member of the Advance HE Board and is Co-Convener of Advance HE’s PVC Network. Other external activities include membership of UUK International’s Transnational Education Advisory Board and of JISC’s Horizon Group.
Trustee
Peter Bryant is Associate Dean (Education) and Professor of Business Education at the University of Sydney Business School (Australia). He leads the educational strategy of the Business School and is the project sponsor of critical initiatives in co-design, digital storytelling, crowdsourcing, connected learning at scale and leadership for good. His research interests include pedagogical change, digital pedagogy and future of education. He is the Director of the Disruptive Innovations in Business Education Research Group. He is an active blogger and tweets @peterbryantHE.
Honorary Treasurer
Shonagh Douglas is an Accounting and Finance Lecturer at the Robert Gordon University. She has a number of years’ experience in delivering online courses and has a particular interest in the use of learning technology to create interactive online resources and improve the virtual student learning experience. Shonagh is a Chartered Accountant - she previously trained and worked as an auditor with KPMG and continues to be a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland. Shonagh has completed a PhD which focused on understanding the development of non-technical skills of trainee accountants.
Trustee
Sharon is the national coordinator of the N-TUTORR programme, an innovative collaboration to transform learning across the technological university sector in Ireland. She works with 7 HEIs in the technological sector on a programme designed to transform learning, teaching and assessment by focussing on transforming the student experience and developing the capabilities of all staff, to address a sustainable pedagogical and learning environment, informed by the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Sharon is on secondment from her role as Assistant Director at the Centre for Excellent in Learning and Teaching at the University of Galway, where she led a team of learning technologists.
Trustee
David is the UK Director of Content Services for LearningMate. He joined LearningMate in the summer of 2023, bringing over 17 years of experience in learning technology and higher education to the business, where he is responsible for being the critical bridge between technology solutions and university partners. As the lead on aspects of partner transformation, digital strategy, technical and pedagogical implementation, and content-orientated partnerships, David joined LearningMate at a crucial time of development and growth for the business. David developed his career in HE and learning technology from his background in data management and internet technologies; he remains an advocate of the appropriate and considered use of technology to support and enhance learning. David is an active and social member of ALT, he obtained his CMALT in 2013, and has been a vocal supporter of CMALT and an assessor on many successful CMALT portfolios from across the membership.
Trustee
Natalie Lafferty is Head of the Centre for Technology and Innovation in Learning at the University of Dundee. She leads a team that designs and delivers digital educational services across the University supporting the academic community in their use of the VLE, educational video, online assessment, WordPress and with the development of courses including MOOCs. Together with the team she provides guidance on learning design, content development and pedagogic approaches. She also works on strategy and policy developments at the University. Natalie has particular interests in open education, in working with students as partners and as co-creators of learning and interdisciplinary approaches to learning. She is the co-organiser of PressED an annual Twitter conference on WordPress in education, research and pedagogy. Natalie blogs at natalie-lafferty.net
Vice-Chair
Keith Smyth is Dean of Learning and Teaching and Professor of Pedagogy at the University of the Highlands and Islands, where he leads the directorate responsible for learning and teaching strategy, professional development and recognition, academic standards and enhancement, curriculum innovation, and educational scholarship. Keith has particular interests in co-creative pedagogies and curriculum models, open education and scholarship, and digital educational strategy and policy. Keith developed the openly licensed 3E Framework for technology-enhanced learning which has been used extensively across FE and HE, and has been actively involved as a trustee and volunteer for several third sector education organisations and initiatives. Keith blogs (sporadically) at www.3eeducation.org.
President
David White is the Head of Digital Education and Academic Practice at University of the Arts London. He has worked at the intersection of teaching, research and digital for over 20 years. David is best known for the Digital Visitors and Residents idea which provides a framework to understand what motivates online engagement in different forms. He is a keen advocate for Open Educational Practices and a well-known thinker in digital and open online education.
Trustee
Puiyin is the Innovation & Scholarship Manager at the Queen Mary Academy, Queen Mary University of London. She is also a PhD researcher at Lancaster University, her work explores the interplay between pedagogies and technology for learning and professional development. With nearly 20 years experience in higher education, she is connected to colleagues in the UK and internationally. Importantly, as a person from the Global Majority, she empathises with her peers from the Global Majority and other underrepresented groups. Puiyin runs a successful monthly webinar series - #TELresearchers (also #HEresearchers) that introduces TEL and HE researchers from around the world to the HE and research community.