The Masters in Online Teaching and its constituent modules and microcredentials have been developed and are chaired by a team of experts from The Open University’s Institute of Educational Technology.
Dr Leigh-Anne Perryman, @laperryman, (she/her)
Leigh-Anne is Associate Director, Curriculum, at the Institute of Educational Technology (IET), leading the development of IET’s postgraduate curriculum, including the Masters in Online Teaching. Leigh-Anne has many years’ experience as an educator and has written for many Open University courses including HZVM882 Online teaching: evaluating and improving courses, HZVM883 Teacher development: embedding mental health in the curriculum, HZVM885 Online teaching: embedding social, race and gender-related equity, HG089 Teaching climate action: empower students to tackle the climate crisis, H880 Technology-enhanced learning: foundations and futures and H890 Research and scholarship in digital education. Her research expertise includes equitable online learning, the impact of open educational practices and open pedagogy on learning and educational equity, and gender equity in the global South. Leigh-Anne is particularly interested in the ways in which open educational practices can amplify education’s role in addressing the climate emergency. She is currently production chair for HZFM889 Teacher development: addressing the climate emergency.
Dr Maria Aristeidou, @aristeidoum, (she/her)
Maria is a lecturer in Technology Enhanced Learning at the Institute of Educational Technology (IET). She has written materials for HG089 Teaching climate action: empower students to tackle the climate crisis and H880 Technology-enhanced learning: foundations and futures. Maria’s research focuses on the design and evaluation of engaging learning technologies, and the improvement of the learning experience and outcomes of diverse student bodies. Her expertise also includes the design and evaluation of citizen science communities and tools that support people’s participation in biodiversity and sustainability research.
Claire Atkins
As Senior Curriculum and Accreditations Manager, Claire has oversight of the management and administration of all IET modules and qualifications from supporting through OU governance processes at conception to annual reporting and monitoring during presentation. Claire is the qualification manager for the MAOT and associated PG Cert OT and also manages the team who provide support to the academics in producing and presenting IET curriculum and associated offerings such as the Online Teaching Community of Practice.
Claire joined the IET Curriculum Team so as to play an active role in the provision of equitable online teaching and creative pedagogies, having previously worked in the OU Academic Quality and Standards Team managing the university’s annual and periodic review processes in line with the requirements of external regulatory bodies.
Dr Simon Ball, @simonjball, (he/they)
Simon is an associate lecturer on H880 Techology-enhanced learning: foundations and futures and H890 Research and scholarship in digital education, and a study advisor on HZVM884 Online teaching: accessibility and inclusive learning. He has written materials for HZVM884 and also for HZVM885 Online teaching: embedding social, race and gender-related equity and HZVM889 Online teaching: addressing the climate emergency. He has a PhD in Freshwater Ecology and many years’ experience researching, writing about and teaching inclusive and accessible online teaching and learning. He has written content for, and taught, several Open University courses on this topic, including Computing undergraduate modules and the popular free OpenLearn course Take Your Teaching Online. He is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
Dr Alex Bell
Alex is currently an associate lecturer on H880 Techology-enhanced learning: foundations and futures having also taught on the MA ODE since 2006. He has a PhD in Technology Enhanced Learning and eResearch from the Centre for Advanced Learning Technology (C-SALT) at Lancaster University. He has been researching digital learning spaces and online learning since 2009 and has project managed and participated in a number of learning innovation European projects. Alex’s current research focusses on online learning and also sustainability in relation to the 4th Industrial Revolution and supervises PhD, DProf and DBA students in these two areas. Alex also has a Masters in Online and Digital learning from the Institute of Educational Technology and a degree in Computer Systems from Cardiff University.
Dr Koula Charitonos, @ch_koula, (she/her) Koula is a Senior Lecturer in Learning + Technology at the Institute of Educational Technology (IET). She is chair of H880 Techology-enhanced learning: foundations and futures and HZVM885 Online teaching: embedding social, race and gender-related equity and has written materials for HZVM889 Teacher development: addressing the climate emergency. Koula is concerned with understanding aspects of human learning supported by technology in ways that contribute to projects of educational justice. To this end, Koula’s work focuses on the study of knowledge work in professional settings and on pedagogical practices across formal and informal settings, while maintaining a strong interest in education in crisis contexts. Koula’s work foregrounds that educational spaces and practices can be transformative and have capacity to help create more just futures.
Clare Choak. Clare aka cc is a lecturer and researcher at the OU and is the study advisor for HZVM885 Online teaching: embedding social, race and gender-related equity. She began her career as a journalist at the BBC. In academia she has focused on social justice issues, with a particular interest in the experiences of black communities. She has written and reviewed numerous modules via an intersectional lens.
Dr Tim Coughlan (@t1mc) (he/him)
Tim is a senior lecturer in the Institute of Educational Technology (IET) at the OU and chair of HZVM884 Online teaching: accessibility and inclusive learning. He chairs the Securing Greater Accessibility (SeGA) Coordination Group and plays a role in steering accessibility activities at the OU and beyond. His research is focused on the design and evaluation of systems that support inclusion, creativity and openness in learning. He leads projects funded by Microsoft and Jisc which are developing new technologies to support students with accessibility needs in higher education, and to communicate the barriers learners face.
Chris Edwards, @chrishedwards
Chris is a Senior Lecturer at the Institute of Educational Technology where he is also Staff Tutor, responsible for line managing IET’s associate lecturers. He is Cluster Board chair for IET’s postgraduate curriculum. Chris is an active researcher, involved in projects such as TeSLA and Every1.
Professor Rebecca Ferguson (@R3beccaF)
Rebecca is a global expert in learning at scale and was involved in the original design of the FutureLearn platform. She was production chair and a key module author for H890 Research and scholarship in digital education and was previously chair and a module author for H880 Technology-enhanced learning: foundations and futures. She is now an Emeritus Professor for the Institute of Educational Technology.
Dr Liz FitzGerald
Dr Liz FitzGerald is a Senior Lecturer in the Institute for Educational Technology at the Open University and a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. She is module chair for ‘HZVM882 Online teaching: evaluating and improving courses‘ and ‘HZVM883 Teacher development: embedding mental health in the curriculum’. She provides expertise in distance learning and teaching, and knowledge exchange and previously taught on the Masters (MA) in Online and Distance Education. She is also the EDIA (Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Accessibility) champion for IET and a Mental Health First Aider, providing initial support and guidance to staff experiencing mental health challenges. She also leads the OU Mental Health Network.
Dr Fereshte Goshtasbpour (@GFereshte)
Fereshte is a lecturer in online teaching at the Institute of Educational Technology, The Open University. She has contributed to the authoring and delivery of many online and blended courses at The Open University and other HEIs in the UK. Her teaching and research focuses on open and scaled educational contexts (specifically MOOCs). She is particularly interested in online educators and their practices to facilitate learning. This includes exploring educators’ contributions to online discussions, their facilitation strategies and their communications with learners. Fereshte is chair of (and a key author of) H890 Research and scholarship in digital education and is Staff Tutor line managing all of IET’s tutors.
Shaun Harley
Shaun is an associate lecturer on H880 Technology-enhanced learning: foundations and futures within the Institute of Educational Technology (IET). He also teaches several STEM, computer science modules. He has a PhD in Instructional Design and Technology which has served to guide his understanding and practice of online teaching and learning. He has extensive teaching experience within a range of levels – primary, secondary (French, English, Computing Science), including various university teaching positions in the United States, Saudi Arabia, and France. His particular interest is in supporting educators to develop their skills in the design and delivery of online teaching to ‘open up’ online learning resources for students at every level.
Terri Rees
Terri is an associate lecturer at the Institute of Educational Technology, where she teaches on H880 Technology-enhanced learning: foundations and futures and is a study advisor on HZVM882 Online teaching: evaluating and improving courses. Terri is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and holds a Postgraduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (PGCLTHE). Terri is a specialist in educational research and a consultant researcher.
Dr Irina Rets, @IrinaRets
Irina is a lecturer in Online Teaching at the Institute of Educational Technology (IET) and a Senior Research Fellow on the Every1 project. She has written course materials for HZVM889 Teacher development: addressing the climate emergency. Irina has extensive experience of designing, teaching and carrying out the assessment on undergraduate and graduate courses in applied linguistics and technology-enhanced learning in three different countries. With expertise in inclusive Artificial Intelligence (AI) and linguistics, Irina’s current research focuses on social justice and technology. Irina strongly believes that teaching and research on or with the use of educational technology needs to critically reflect on environmental and sustainability issues.
Dr Julia Sargent (@julia_sargent)
Julia is a senior lecturer at the Institute of Educational Technology (IET), supporting teaching and research in the curriculum. She also leads Applaud, which is the OU’s accredited scheme for awarding Fellowships of the Higher Education Academy with Advance HE, and has authored on several Open University courses. Her research interests include educational technology, pedagogical practices such as flipped learning and professional development.
Professor Rhona Sharpe
Rhona is an associate lecturer at the Institute of Educational Technology. Rhona contributes to the MAOT as a tutor (currently tutoring H890: Research and Scholarship in Digital Education), a course author, reviewer and mentor for new tutors. Rhona has also run learning design workshops with other IET colleagues. She is an experienced leader of educational development and digital education services, projects, policies and strategies in UK higher education institutions and a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Her contribution to designing, teaching and evaluating online courses was recognised with a National Teaching Teaching Fellowship. Rhona undertakes projects, consultancy, speaking engagements and builds partnerships with other universities and sector bodies nationally and internationally, specialising in AI and assessment, student partnerships, teacher CPD, digital literacy and learning design.
Professor Martin Weller (@mweller)
Martin is Professor of Educational Technology at The Open University. His interests are in digital scholarship, open education, OER and MOOCs. Martin is a respected global expert in educational technology and led the OU’s response to supporting the tertiary education sector to cope with Covid-19. He is the International Council for Distance Education (ICDE) Chair in OER, the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) Chair in OER and President of the Association for Learning Technology. Martin authored materials for H880 Technology-enhanced learning: foundations and futures and HZVM882 Online teaching: evaluating and improving courses. He has also authored and chaired many other Open University modules. He is now an Emeritus Professor of the Institute of Educational Technology.