Digital University

Convenor: Dr Lesley Gourlay, IOE University of London
Email: l.gourlay@ioe.ac.uk
Convenor: Dr Kelly Coate, National University of Ireland, Galway
Email: kelly.coate@nuigalway.ie

The Digital University

Network Convenors:

Dr Lesley Gourlay, Senior Lecturer (Department of Culture, Communication & Media) and Director (Academic Writing Centre), Institute of Education, University of London.

Dr Kelly Coate, Vice Dean (Graduate Studies, College of Arts, Social Sciences and Celtic Studies) and Lecturer in Higher Education (Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching) National University of Ireland, Galway

Both Lesley and Kelly are active researchers in this area with extensive networks. Lesley is currently leading a JISC-funded project at the IOE (100K) on Digital Literacies. The Irish Learning Technologies Association (ILTA) has already established links with us, and we are currently discussing with them a joint event in June 2012.

Network Outline

The purpose of this network is to bring together researchers and practitioners who are leading the debates about the impact of technologies on academic work. The intention is not to focus on 'elearning' as such but to explore a range of issues (both theoretical and practical) that arise through the impact of technological processes on social networks, research methodologies, identity formations, publications and theoretical developments.

At the SRHE 2012 conference we asked potential members of the Network to express an interest and suggest topics. These included:

methodologies for online research
digital literacies
virtuality and education
social networking for learning
staff development needs
e-citizenship
managing change around technologies

The Network is likely to appeal to members of the Association of Learning Technologists (ALT) with an interest in research and theory; members of the Staff and Educational Development Association (SEDA) which recently held a conference on technologies; members of the Society of College, National and University Libraries (SCONUL) interested in digital literacies, the JISC community, academics and research students interested in educational technologies; and academics and researchers interested in sociomaterial approaches to education.

We would also like to video and broadcast our events, in order that they can be available to our international and geographically distributed members.