Dr. Helga Hambrock

Dr. Helga Hambrock is an Adjunct Professor of Educational Technology and Instructional Design for Masters and PhD students. She also works as a Senior Instructional Designer at the Concordia University in Chicago. She serves as chair for PhD committees as well as reviewer and external examiner for international universities. Her passion lies in the improvement of education by utilizing technologies and methodologies, with a specific focus on mobile and seamless learning. During the year of completing her PhD studies in South Africa in 2016, on the use of smartphones by students in and out of class, she moved to the USA and settled in Chicago. Over the past years her interest in global collaboration has grown to address common challenges and to find common solutions in the field of education. She joined the International Association for Mobile learning (IAmLearn) in 2016 and was on the EXCO as member at large for two years and as Vice President from 2018 to 2020. Dr. Hambrock initiated the first Global Research Project for IAmLearn in 2018 and subsequently the first book was published in 2020. Over the past years, she presented papers at numerous conferences, lead conference workshops and published articles and book chapters.  She also received several invitations to present at international conferences as keynote speaker. A book published by IGI where she contributed a chapter, was selected as part of a collection for eLearning resources for all USA schools. She received a Global Outreach Award for initiating Micro-learning training for Early Childhood Centre caregivers in Southern Africa in 2019. Her latest project is leading the publication of this e-book with researchers from 12 countries. Besides her passion to contribute to the improvement of education for the greater good she also enjoys spending time traveling and visiting her children and recent grandchild in South Africa and Ethiopia.

Dr. Frelét de Villiers

Dr. Frelét de Villiers is the Head of the Department and Academic Head at the Odeion School of Music, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa. She is the head of the methodology modules, lectures in piano, music pedagogy, arts management and is a supervisor for post-graduate students. She is a member of the Faculty of Humanities Research Committee, Interdisciplinary Centre for Digital Futures, Scientific Committee (Arts), the Ethics Committee (Humanities) and one of three TAU Fellowship members of the University of the Free State. Her field of expertise is piano technique, emphasising the whole-brain approach to music. Her passion is using technology in education and the music teaching situation. This led to developing a note learning app PianoBoost (available on Google Play). She was awarded the third prize for the most innovative project and was chosen as one of the 20 top entrepreneurs for the South African Swizz entrepreneurship programme. Currently, her interest lies in applying seamless learning teaching and learning. She has been a guest speaker at several national and international conferences. Her articles were published in accredited national and international journals, and she contributed book chapters to international publications. Acting as an external examiner for several theses, dissertations, practical examinations, and Eisteddfods is a satisfying part of her job.

Dr. Rob Power

Dr. Rob Power has been working in Education sector since 2001. His experience includes working as a Technology and Learning Resources, English Language Arts, and Social Studies teacher at the Intermediate / Secondary level in Newfoundland and Labrador. He has also worked as an Information Technology instructor and an Instructional Developer at the post-secondary level, both in Canada and abroad. He has also worked as an Instructional Development Consultant, and the Leader of the Online Learning team with the Fraser Health Authority in British Columbia, Canada. Dr. Power has been developing and teaching undergraduate and graduate-level Education courses for various Canadian universities since 2015, with a focus on Instructional Design and Development, Educational Technology Integration, Technology and the Curriculum, and Mobile Learning. Since 2013, Dr. Power has served in leading roles with the International Association for Mobile Learning (IAmLearn), and he has served as the Chair of the 12th World Conference on Mobile and Contextual Learning (mLearn 2013). He served as President of the Executive Committee of IAmLearn from 2017-2019. Dr. Power was elected to the Board of Directors of the Canadian Network for Innovation in Education (CNIE) in May 2022. He is also a founding member of the Pedagogy, Education and Technology Lab (PETL), and President of Power Learning Solutions.

Website

https://www.powerlearningsolutions.com/

Dr. Marguerite Koole

Dr. Marguerite Koole is an Associate Professor in Educational Technology and design for the College of Education, University of Saskatchewan. In 2013, Dr. Koole completed her PhD in E-Research and Technology-Enhanced Learning at Lancaster University UK. Her thesis is entitled “Identity Positioning of Doctoral Students in Networked Learning Environments”. She also holds a Master of Education in Distance Education (MEd) with a focus was on mobile learning. Dr. Koole has a BA in Modern Languages and has studied French, Spanish, German, Blackfoot, Cree, Latin, Mandarin, ancient Mayan hieroglyphics, and linguistics. She completed a college diploma in Multimedia Production with training in web development, audio, video, animation, 3D animation, marketing, and business. Through the years, Dr. Koole has been involved in teaching, instructional design, multimedia programming, content management, e-portfolios, and social software. She has designed interactive, online learning activities for various learning purposes and platforms—including print, web, and mobile devices.

Dr. Mohamed A. Ahmed

Dr. Mohamed Ahmed is a lifelong learner who has pursued instructional design to combine his love of education with his technical expertise. He has a Bachelor of Education in Educational Technology. Al-Azhar University, Egypt in 2005. Through that program, he gained experience in the developing the scenario and storyboard thought following the educational theories; and a Diploma in Computer Science Diploma from the faculty of Computer and information systems, Mansoura University in 2010 in technical editing, graphic design, video production, animation, and web/HTML development. Then Diploma in Education Technology at the University of Cape Town, where he learned more about learning design from a global view. In 2020, he obtained his PhD in Education Technology at the University of Damietta, Egypt, with focus on Learning Design and VR.

Mohamed has been involved in E-Learning for over 15 years; he initially did practical training in Instructional Design at the National E-Learning Center, Ministry of Higher Education, in Egypt. He has been working at the E-Learning Center, Mansoura University since 2007 as a Senior Instructional Designer and leader of the institution’s Instructional Design team until now. He is also a coordinator for the E-Learning Magazine (the first E-Learning Magazine in the Middle East), and he is the coordinator of e/merge Africa Arabic for the e/merge Africa network.

Willem Ellis

With a B.Proc law degree obtained in 1990 and a BA Masters degree in Governance and Political Transformation obtained in 2004, Willem Ellis has been involved in transformative processes in South Africa since 1994 – first with the National Peace Secretariat and then with the Free State Centre for Citizenship Education and Conflict Resolution. Currently he is based at the Centre for Gender and Africa Studies at the University of the Free State as a research fellow and is involved in teaching development and conflict related studies. He is further involved in empowering NGOs through enablement in social entrepreneurship and sound governance practices. He obtained a Certificate in Social Entrepreneurship from the GIBS Business school of the University of Pretoria in 2013. He also acts as a consultant, assisting various public, private and 3rd sector institutions with issues of conflict transformation and dialogue.

Dr. Rafidah Abd Karim

Dr. Rafidah Abd Karim is s senior lecturer at Academy of Language Studies, Universiti Teknologi MARA Tapah Campus, Perak, Malaysia. She received her PhD in TESL which specialized in Mobile Language Learning in Sultan Idris Education University, Malaysia. She serves an editorial board and she is also an active and reviewer for 10 numerous distinguished international journals.  She has published more than 60 publications mainly in digital mind mapping, mobile technology, educational technology, language learning, indigenous studies and multiple fields in both national and international journals, conference proceedings, written chapters and edited books published by various publishers. She gave about 30 invited talks in seminars, workshops, conference in national and international levels. She is also an inventor of multiple innovative products mainly in language learning and digital technologies, and she was awarded for more than 50 awards in national and international innovation competitions. She involves in two international research projects (mLearn Global Research Project) and (FKIP, Indonesia Open University) and three national research grant projects. She leads the national and Lestari SDG Triangle Grant research grant projects in indigenous studies funded by Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS) by Ministry of Higher Education and UiTM, Malaysia. Currently, she is a collaboration partner for the research project in digital literacy funded by Faculty of Education, UiTM, Malaysia.

Dr. Gülsün Kurubacak

Dr. Gülsün Kurubacak a senior professor in Distance Education at the College of Open Education of Anadolu University. Dr. Kurubacak earned her BA in educational planning and management from Ankara University, undertook graduate studies at Anadolu University, Turkey (MA. Educational Technology) and the University of Cincinnati, USA (Ed.D. Curriculum & Instruction), and also has worked a post-doctoral fellow at the College of Education at New Mexico State University, USA (2001-2002). Dr. Kurubacak earned her B.S. degree in Computer Engineering from the College of Informatics Technologies and Engineering of Hoca Ahmet Yesevi International Turk-Kazakhstani University in the year 2012-2013.  Dr. Kurubacak has over a thirty five year experience in focusing on the egalitarian and ecological aspects of distance education; finding new answers, viewpoints and explanations to online communication problems through critical pedagogy; and improving learner critical thinking skills through project-based online learning. Dr. Gülsün Kurubacak has abundance experience with R&D as well as Accreditation and Quality in open and distance learning at the College of Open Education.  Dr. Kurubacak has been the chef editor of AUAd (https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/auad), and one of the co-editors of TOJDE (https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/tojde) since 2015. Besides, she has been head of the association of AUDAK (http://audak.org – Open and Distance Education Programs Evaluation and Accreditation Association) since 2017.  Dr. Kurubacak continues to manage and provide pedagogical support for distance learning programs by focusing on transhumanism, transhuman, blockchain, risk intelligence, design based learning, strategic management and strategic management in Smart Open and Distance Learning (SODL). Dr.  Gülsün Kurubacak is the founder of @zamaninotesineyolculuk, @uzaktanegitimkocu and @kelebeketkisikocu scientific social responsibility projects, which continue to broadcast on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook, especially on Instagram.

Dr. Mohamed Osman El-Hussein

Dr. Mohamed Osman El-Hussein is currently an Assistant Professor with the Department of Instructional Media & Technology at Arab East College for Postgraduate Studies. In 2012, Dr. El-Hussein completed his doctoral studies with the Department of Information Technology, Faculty of Informatics and Design at Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Cape Town, The Republic of South Africa. Prior to that, he completed a Masters degree in Computer-Integrated Education (MEd, CIE) at Sudan University of Science and Technology (SUST), associated with the University of Pretoria (UP), with sponsorship from the International Institution of Capacity Building in Africa. Dr. El-Hussein obtained a Bachelor of Art Education at the Sudan University of Science & Technology in 1998.

Dr. El-Hussein’s postgraduate experience includes lecturing at both college and university levels. For the past several years he has been engaged in academic activities such as designing and developing e-learning curriculum for the Sudan University of Science and Technology in association with the Computer Centre. He is a supervisor and a co-supervisor of graduate and postgraduate Masters’ students of Computer Integrated Education, at the Sudan University of Science and Technology, Cape Peninsula University of Technology and the Arab East college for Postgraduate Studies as well as consultancy in learning design. Dr. El-Hussein’s passion for future research focuses on the integration of information and Communication Technology (ICT) with instructional and learning design aimed at allowing students, teachers and lecturers to work across

Dr. Ebba Ossiannilsson

Professor Dr. Ebba Ossiannilsson, Sweden, is an independent consultant, expert, influencer, and quality reviewer in the field of open, flexible, online and distance education. She is committed to promoting and improving open and online learning in the context of SDG4 and the futures of education. Ossiannilsson has more than 20 years of experience in her field. Ossiannilsson works with the European Commission, UNESCO OER Dynamic Coalition, ITCILO and with ICoBC (International Council on Badges and Credentials). She is a member of the board of ICDE (International Council for Open and Distance Education) and chair of the ICDE OER Advocacy Committee. She also serves ICDE in several other capacities, such as the ICDE Quality Network, and has been a research leader for the ICDE Global Overview of Quality Models Study and for ICDE Blended Learning. She works as an international quality assessor for ICDE and the European Association of Distance Teaching Universities (EADTU). She is a research associate for the Global Research Project on Seamless Learning and Open Education and Open Science. Ossiannilsson is Professor at Victoria University, Wellingotn, NZ. She previously worked for the Swedish Institute for Standardisation and for ISO. Previously, she served on the Executive Committee of the European Distance and e-learning Network (EDEN) and the European Continuing Education Network (EUCEN). Ossiannilsson has been awarded the titles of EDEN Fellow, EDEN Council of Fellows, EDEN DLE Senior Fellow, Open Education Europe Fellow, ICDE Global Advocacy Ambassador for OER, T4Ed Ambassador, and Open Education Champion SPARC Europe. She serves on the editorial boards of several academic journals and is regularly invited as a keynote speaker at conferences. She has published more than 200 articles in her areas of expertise. At the national level, she is vice president of the Swedish Association for Open, Flexible and Distance Education and is a member of MeetingPlace OER and the Job and Skills Coalition Sweden. She is also a researcher at NVL Digital Inclusion (Nordic Network for Adult Learning, funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers).

Dr. Ramesh Sharma

Dr. Ramesh Sharma is a faculty for Instructional Design and Chairperson of the Committee to facilitate adoption of MOOCs for SWAYAM MOOCs platform of the Government of India, at Dr B R Ambedkar University Delhi. Previously, he taught Educational Technology and Learning Resources at Wawasan Open University, Malaysia. He is an expert in open and distance and technology mediated learning and has served as a visiting Professor at Universidade do Estado da Bahia, UNEB, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, visiting Professor at University of Fiji, Fiji, Commonwealth of Learning as Director of the Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia, New Delhi, Regional Director of Indira Gandhi National Open University, India and Director of Distance Education at University of Guyana, Guyana, South America.

Dr. Sharma has been a member of Advisory Group on Human Resources Development for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). While at University of Guyana he also collaborated with UNDP for its Enhanced Public Trust, Security and Inclusion (EPTSI) project, Volunteer Service Overseas (VSO) and United Nations Volunteer (UNV) to develop suitable educational opportunities for communities and youth. Dr. Sharma is also the Editor of Asian Journal of Distance Education (launched in 2003) and has been associated with several other peer reviewed journals including SSCI / SCOPUS Journals as Reviewer, Editor and Editorial Advisory Board member in the field of Open and Distance Learning. An author/editor of several books and research papers on educational technology, educational multimedia and eLearning, Dr. Sharma is a practitioner promoting Open Educational Resources (OER). He has been a trainer and capacity builder in the field of educational technology, and has supervised doctoral research in the field. He has conducted workshops and evaluation activities for Indira Gandhi National Open University; Commonwealth of Learning, Canada; Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia, New Delhi; United Nations Conference on Trade and Commerce (UNCTAD), Geneva; and Aga Khan Foundation, amongst others.

Dr. Maria José Sousa

Dr. Maria José Sousa (PhD in Management) is a university professor with habilitation and a research fellow at ISCTE/Instituto Universitário de Lisboa, Portugal. Her research interests currently are public policies, information science, and innovation and management issues. She is a bestselling author of books on research methods, ICT, and people management and has co-authored over 100 articles and book chapters and published in several scientific journals (i.e., Journal of Business Research, Information Systems Frontiers, European Planning Studies, Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Computational and Mathematical Organization Theory, Future Generation Computer Systems, and others). She has also organized peer-reviewed international conferences and is a guest editor of several special issues from Elsevier and Springer publications. She has coordinated several European projects of innovation and is also an external expert of COST Association (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) and is former President of the ISO/TC 260–Human Resources Management, representing Portugal in the International Organization for Standardization.

Uwe Wollin

Uwe Wollin is a consultant at University College Absalon, Denmark. He is managing the development and implementation of Business Intelligence supporting quality of teaching, decision-making and strategic efforts. Since 1997 he has been working with technology aided teaching and learning in higher education in Scandinavia. From 2007 to 2015 he has been involved in several R&D projects including the planning and construction process of Southern Campus, University of Copenhagen, Denmark. Member of the executive board in the Opencast project developing an open-source video lecture capture, management and distribution system for academic institutions led by University of California, Berkeley. Member of the editorial board of “Learning and Media”, a Danish online, open-access and peer-reviewed journal publishing scientific articles on the use of IT and digital media for learning, teaching and skills development, and co-edited three issues of the journal. Member of the executive board in “LARM – Radio Culture and Auditory Resources Research Infrastructure” – a Danish digital archive and infrastructure with tools facilitating researchers to describe, search and interact about radio and auditory resources. Wollin was also a member of the Program Committee of the National Network for ICT-supported Learning under the Danish Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation as a representative of the University of Copenhagen.