ALT awards Honorary Life Membership to individuals whom ALT believes have made an outstanding and sustained contribution to the advancement of ALT's aims for the development of learning technology in a regional, national or international context through research, practice, policy-development, leadership, or a combination of these.
Current Honorary Life Members
2023 - Lorna Campbell
For almost three decades Lorna has been a champion of equitable higher education and an open education activist. Lorna ‘s lifelong commitment to and passion for equality and diversity clearly is evident in her work, yet Lorna tends not to push herself forward and celebrate – or even self-acknowledge – her many achievements. Lorna was one of the founder members of the ALT Scotland Special Interest Group. As well as supporting the community within Scotland, Lorna has worked tirelessly to promote open education across the Scottish education sector, notably through the development of the Open Scotland Declaration, which was a point of focus for the OER 2023 conference earlier this year in Inverness. Lorna also has been a keen supporter of the development and uptake of ALT’s Framework for Ethical Learning Technology. (FELT). Since her term as a Trustee ended in 2022, Lorna has continued to be an active member of the ALT community openly sharing her experiences and commitment to developing equitable access to education for all. Lorna contributed greatly to early JISC, SFC and HEFCE work around the creation and sharing of learning materials from early initiatives through to work on the UKOER programmes.
2020 - Teresa MacKinnon
Teresa has been active in promoting Open Education in ALT, acting as an Chair of the Open Education Special Interest Group with an influential international membership. Teresa has also been instrumental in promoting the Open Education Conference each year, championing community involvement and governance for members in the UK as well as across the world. Most recently, Teresa helped the Association build a new strategic relationship with a fellow professional body in Europe, EuroCall.
2019 - Frances Bell
Frances Bell has been active in promoting research and Open Education in ALT, acting as an Editor of Research in Learning Technology and a tireless peer reviewer for both research publications and conferences. Through these roles Frances contributed strongly to shaping ALT's values inlcluding engagement with community and lifelong learning
2018 - Linda Creanor
Linda Creanor is Emeritus Professor at Glasgow Caledonian University and was the Chair of the ALT Scotland Members Group, leading on advancing ALT’s aims across all sectors of Scottish education. Linda has been a Trustee, Vice Chair, Chair and President of ALT. Through these roles Linda provided leadership, strategy and oversight for the organisation during the early part of the organisation’s history and into its present work.
2017 - Josie Fraser
Josie Fraser is a member of the UK Government’s National Technology Team, based in the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, and Chair of the Board of Trustees for Wikimedia UK. She previously worked for Leicester City Council, on one of the UK’s largest and most accelerated school building programmes, and led on all aspects of technology for the programme. She also created the award-winning DigiLit Leicester project to support and develop staff digital literacy.
2016 - Chris Jones
Professor Chris Jones is Professor of Research in Educational Technology at Liverpool John Moores University. One of Chris’ main contributions in his extensive career has been developing the concept and practice of networked learning. Throughout his career Chris has maintained a close relationship with ALT. On returning to Liverpool in 2012 he helped to set up and then act as one of the coordinators for the ALT regional group in the north-west of England. Chris is also an active member of the editorial board of Research in Learning Technology.
2015 - Diana Laurillard
Professor Diana Laurillard is Chair of Learning with Digital Technology, London Knowledge Lab, UCL Institute of Education. She recognised right at the start of her career, working as a maths lecturer, the importance of Learning Technology, and went on to have significant impact on the sector. While on secondment to Government’s Education Department, she developed, with help from ALT, a cross-sector ‘e-learning strategy’, a world first. Diana served as Vice-Chair, Chair and then President of ALT for a three-year term, ending in 2015.
2012 - Seb Schmoller
Besides his significant contributions during a successful career in FE, as ALT Chief Executive (2003-12), Seb oversaw ALT's development from a higher education-focused body to a multi-sector organisation at the forefront of thinking in learning technology both nationally and internationally. Along the way he oversaw the creation of CMALT, ALT's highly respected professional accreditation scheme, and initiated the transition of ALT's peer-reviewed journal, Research in Leaning Technology, to an open access model.
2010 - David Hawkridge
After working at the American Institutes for Research in Palo Alto, California, David became founding Director of the Open University’s Institute of Educational Technology. While at the Open University he directed research and development, and led the creation of the OU’s international MA in Open (now Online) and Distance Education. He advised universities and governments in many countries on educational technology and distance education. David's research publications cross the disciplines of education, the psychology of learning, learning technologies and media.
Emeritus Honorary Life Members
2011 - Malcolm Read
As Executive Secretary to JISC from 1993, as a major influence in the creation of the Online Learning Taskforce, and through his influence in ensuring the intelligent funding of technology enhanced learning and open educational resources in UK HE and FE, Malcolm is generally acknowledged to have made an enormous contribution to the continued success and development of learning technology as a key component in the optimum provision of UK education.
2007 - Terry Mayes
An Emeritus Professor at Glasgow Caledonian University, Terry was Director of Research in the Institute for Computer-Based Learning at Heriot-Watt University from its formation in 1990. Before that he was Deputy Director of the Scottish Human-Computer Interaction Centre at Strathclyde University from 1986-1990. His early work with teaching machines was followed by 14 years as a lecturer in psychology at the University of Strathclyde. During the late 1990s he led collaborative projects funded through the UK Research Councils (both ESRC and EPSRC) involving research on the educational potential of vicarious learning. Terry has published widely on pedagogical aspects of learning technology, and is an ALT Ambassador
2004 - Keith Duckitt (RIP)
After pioneering IT roles in the private sector, Keith worked for the Further Education Funding Council (FEFC) and Learning and Skills Council (LSC) in the years before his retirement, and was an outstanding champion for learning technology.