Board of Trustees

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.

Matt Cornock is Head of Online Learning at the University of Leeds, with 20 years experience in digital education in both higher education and professional development settings. He specialises in learning design and the use of learning technologies to support lifelong learning, open education and online learning at scale. Matt is a Senior CMALT holder and long-standing assessor, supporting the development of colleagues across the sector. He is a regular conference contributor and writes about learning design and digital education at mattcornock.co.uk.

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

Natalie Lafferty is Head of Representation and Policy at UCISA and the former Head of the Centre for Technology and Innovation in Learning at the University of Dundee. Natalie has worked in higher education for 25 years and over 20 years of experience in digital education. Long standing interests include medical education, open education, working with students as partners and as co-creators of learning and interdisciplinary approaches to learning. More recently she has been involved in projects focusing on AI and education for sustainable development. Natalie blogs very intermittently at natalie-lafferty.net

President

David White is Dean of Academic Practice (online) 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 Senior Advisor (Digital Pedagogy & Practice) at Buckinghamshire New University, where she leads the institution's strategic development of digital pedagogy and digital education, as well as the Digital Education team. 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 HE and a keen interest in bringing people together, she is connected to colleagues in the UK and internationally. Importantly, as a person from the Global Majority, she empathises with her peers from underrepresented groups. Puiyin leads a multi award winning researchers community - #TELresearchers & #Heresearchers that connects educational researchers at different career stages, from around the world.