Professor Craig Mahoney BEd MA PhD TTC CPsychol FBASES

Craig Mahoney is Chief Executive of the Higher Education Academy, the UK body working in partnership with institutions, academic staff, funding bodies and governments to enhance the quality of the student learning experience for students studying for a Higher Education award.

Prior to joining the Higher Education Academy in 2010, Craig was Deputy Vice-Chancellor at Northumbria University. A Professor of Applied Psychology he is a graduate in Chemistry and Maths from the Tasmanian College of Advanced Education (now the University of Tasmania); holds a Masters degree from Birmingham University and a Doctor of Philosophy (Psychology) from The Queen’s University of Belfast.

Craig has a strong interest in differentiated learning, including student-centred individualised learning environments and has served as a reviewer for the Quality Assurance Agency. He is an advocate of e-Learning and the use of technology to create positive blended learning environments. He has published widely in the areas of children’s fitness, health, sport, exercise, performance and education, and been entered in the four UK Research Assessment Exercises

Professor Mahoney has been an outspoken advocate of Internationalisation including globalisation, professional development, staff and student exchange and international partnership development in teaching, research and enterprise. He has supported several volunteer programmes across the sector and was the executive sponsor of an award winning Community Action Programme in Newcastle, a joint project between the Student Union and the University. Craig is also an Ambassador for the Volunteering England campaigns.

Professor Mahoney is a Chartered Psychologist with the British Psychological Society and is a past Chair of the British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences (BASES). With an international reputation as a sports psychologist, Craig has worked with an extensive range of performers at World, Olympic and Commonwealth level and is an adviser to UEFA and FIFA on psychology in officiating.

Professor Mark Stiles, Head of Learning Development & Innovation

Mark Stiles is Professor of Technology Supported Learning at Staffordshire University where he is Head of Learning Development and Innovation.

Mark leads a team which has corporate responsibility for Technology Supported Learning and carries out research and development work in its strategic, policy, pedagogic and technical aspects. Mark has been working in these areas for many years, and has led numerous JISC and other projects. The current main focuses of Mark’s own work are on strategy, policy, and organizational change issues associated with TSL and the use of technology to innovate curriculum design and development. Mark is Chair of the JISC-CETIS Board, and represents the JISC and UK HE as a member of the Board of Directors of the IMS Global Learning Consortium.

Unless recent changes at JISC he was Deputy Chair of JISC’s Learning and Teaching Committee. He is a regular speaker and has published widely in the "eLearning" field.

Lilian Austin, Educational Designer, La Trobe University

Lilian Austin has worked for the past 12 years in blended learning design in the Australian higher education and vocational education sectors. Currently she is an educational designer in the Faculty of Education at Latrobe University in Victoria, Australia. In the past few years her focus has been on implementing the adoption of PebblePad throughout the faculty on 5 campuses. This has involved significant curriculum design focus as well as development of an extensive range of learning activities and assessments using PebblePad. She has supported upwards of 50 staff to re-design their subjects and courses to include the concept of a personal learning space.

Lilian also has extensive experience in the effective use of ICTs in teaching and learning and has been involved in developing the teaching skills and knowledge base of academic teaching staff and has initiated a range of professional development, online and instructional design initiatives. She has also been an instructional designer on large scale e-learning resource development projects for the Australian education sector. Lilian has a background in teaching, in both English as a Second Language, and workplace learning.

Lyn Doolan, Educational Designer, La Trobe University

Lyn Doolan has worked as an ESL teacher and resource developer in the adult and young adult education sector for the past 15 years before moving into an educational designer role at the Faculty of Education at La Trobe University in Victoria, Australia.

The past two years has seen a strong growth in the uptake of the Personal Learning Space PebblePad across the Faculty. Lyn has had a lead role in supporting the Faculty’s large regional campus in Bendigo including the School of Education and Centre for Outdoor and Environmental Education.

Lyn has worked closely with academic staff to re-design a range of authentic learning activities across multiple discipline areas. For example PebblePad has been used to introduce and support pre-service teachers engaging with Indigenous Education issues to outdoor and environmental education students documenting and reflecting on an 18 day wilderness walk.

In addition to implementing PebblePad, Lyn is skilled at creating innovative educational resources for higher education degree subjects.