Dra. Mary Thorpe
Open University, Reino Unido

Mary Thorpe is professor of Educational Technology in the Open University Institute of Educational Technology, where she was director from 1995 to 2003. During 2009 she was director of the OU Practice-Based Professional Learning Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning. http://www.open.ac.uk/pbpl/
She has extensive experience in course design and development. She is currently contributing to a new OU masters course H800 Technology-enhanced Learning: practices and debates; http://iet.open.ac.uk/courses/ode.cfm
Her research in the field of technology-enhanced learning has recently focused on:

• the effects of computer-mediated interaction
• social networking for the development of practice learning
• learners’ experiences of elearning in practice courses

Dra. Helen Lentell
University of Leicester, Reino Unido

Has worked in Distance Learning all her professional life. She became committed to DL – and its capability to make profound changes for both individuals and societies – as a part time tutor at The UK Open University.

She subsequently became a full time member of the UK OU staff – first as a staff tutor in social sciences and then as Assistant Director Regional Academic Services. On leaving the UK OU she held senior DL posts at the National Extension College, The Commonwealth of Learning, and The University of the South Pacific. She has also been a visiting scholar at Deakin University, Australia.

She took up her current post, Director of Distance Learning Development, at the University of Leicester in 2009. Helen’s particular interest is how distance learning can deliver on its promise – sustainable access to high quality education

Dr. Randy Garrison
University of Calgary, Canadá

Dr. D. Randy Garrison is the Director of the Teaching & Learning Centre and a professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Calgary. Dr. Garrison has published extensively on teaching and learning in adult, higher and distance education contexts.

He has authored or co-authored eight books and over 100 refereed articles/papers. His recent books are Blended Learning in Higher Education (2008); An Introduction to Distance Education: Understanding Teaching and Learning in a New Era (2010); and E-Learning in the 21st century (2nd Ed.) (in press).

He has also won several awards including the 2009 Sloan-C Award for Most Outstanding Achievement in Online Learning by an Individual.

Rick Shearer MA, MBA
Pennsylvania State University, Estados Unidos

Director World Campus Learning Design
Continuing & Distance Education/World Campus
The Pennsylvania State University

Dr. Shearer has been involved in the field of distance education for over 25 years. In his administrative and instructional design roles he has developed distance education courses for computer based instruction, educational television, traditional print correspondence courses, two-way interactive video, and the internet. Dr. Shearer has worked for both private and public institutions of higher education and has consulted on distance education projects with community colleges, and public school systems. His research interests include systems dynamic modeling of distance education processes, learner control in distance education, content/interaction analysis, and current policy issues surrounding accreditation and copyright law. Dr. Shearer has published several articles and book chapters on the field of distance education and presented at numerous conferences. His current book looks at the theoretical aspects of Transactional Distance and Dialogue in relation to the theory of transactional distance by Michael G. Moore.

Dr. Shearer currently serves on the editorial boards for the Distance Education Report and the New Zealand Journal of Distance Learning, and has been active with the UCEA Distance Learning Community of Practice for the past five years.

Nancy Law is Professor and Head of the Division of Information and Technology Studies in the Faculty of Education and the Director of the Centre for Information Technology in Education at the University of Hong Kong. Her research interests include international comparative studies of pedagogical innovations and information technology, models of ICT integration in schools and change leadership, computer supported collaborative learning and the use of expressive and exploratory computer-based learning environments.

She serves on a number of policy advisory boards/working groups related to ICT in education for the University of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong government and the Microsoft Partners in Learning project. Nancy has been a member of the International Steering Committee of the Second Information Technology in Education Study (SITES) conducted under the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) since 1997.

She has provided expert input to various IT in education related projects conducted by UNESCO, OECD and the European Commission, and is a member of the working groups for the International Project on Assessment and Teaching of 21st Century Skills. She serves on the Board of Directors of the International Society of the Learning Sciences, as well as on Editorial Boards of the International Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning and the International Journal of Web Based Communities.

Is a professor at the Complutense University of Madrid, Faculty of Education, in Psycho-pedagogy, Pedagogy, Teacher training, Master’s and Ph. D. degree courses. She is the coordinator of the Doctorate, Cnice-MEC and international Master courses.

Her lines of work include research and publications consolidated with projects on technological and educational support services to improve the accessibility of higher education for the disabled. She implements technological and didactic actions for accessible university teaching and is in charge of training professionals teaching pupils having special educational needs following the context of human rights. She also trains teachers within the framework of the European Space of Higher Education.

She has carried out research at the following universities: Harvard, Cambridge, Columbia, New York University and CSLULA California. She has experience in projects and development cooperation courses and has been a lecturer at International Congresses, Seminars, Summer Courses, etc.

Ph.D. Nicholas C. Burbules
University of Illinois, Estados Unidos

Nicholas C. Burbules, Gutgsell Professor in the Department of Educational Policy Studies at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, has published a number of essays on globalization and education, especially in relation to technology issues. He is the co-editor, with Carlos Torres, of Globalization and Education: Critical Perspectives (New York: Routledge, 2000), now being prepared for a revised second edition.

Burbules has held visiting professorships in Belgium, Brazil, Argentina, Australia, and New Zealand, and has given invited keynote addresses at conferences around the world.

His primary research focuses on philosophy of education; critical social and political theory; and technology issues in education. He has just been appointed the Director of the College of Education’s Ubiquitous Learning Institute.