My Background
I am Director of Technology at The Consultants-E, and lead tutor (MATALL) on the NILE / University of Chichester MA in Professional Development for Language Education. I have worked in education for the past thirty-two years and give seminars, workshops and teacher training courses for practising teachers all over the world and am also involved in materials development, for both print and online delivery.
I am a past coordinator of the IATEFL Learning Technologies Special Interest Group and also past editor of the SIG newsletter. In 2007 I was elected Honorary Secretary of IATEFL, and in 2011 I became the first Chair of the Electronic Committee (ElCom).
Since stepping down from IATEFL in the spring of 2013, I have volunteered as a trustee for the International House Trust in London, and also served on the Educational Writers’ Committee for the Society of Authors. I am currently a trustee for Volcano Theatre Company in Swansea – where I currently live.
Why Globe?
Why did you decide to become a Globe PLC mentor?
I’ve worked with Communities of Practice for over twenty years, and have been involved in setting them up for a variety of organisations, including the technical and consultant work here on Globe. I was lucky enough to spend three days working with Etienne Wenger a few years back, and this only confirmed to me that CoPs are an excellent way of encouraging large group development.
What can people expect from the Teaching & Learning with Technology PLC?
Since Covid appeared, the role of technology has been at the forefront of every aspect of education, and language teaching is no different. Apart from looking at EdTech in general, I’d like to hope we will be exploring how Covid has impacted on teaching and training, and what – if anything- we can take from what we have learned in the past year and a half back into our face-to-face, classroom teaching. Like it or not, EdTech is here to stay, and this is the place to figure out what that means.
Why would you encourage people to join Globe?
Globe not only functions as a CoP, but it also has a role as a ‘hothouse’ for new ideas, products and services, and it was this unique twist which initially interested me. I hope that we will all come together to explore new ways of educating – Globe can, and hopefully will, provide the space to do that.
