Deputy dean of teaching at Psychology and Educational Sciences Department at UOC. She is an associate professor of Educational Technology. She teaches courses in the Master in Education and ICT (e-learning).  

Researcher of the Edul@b research group (UOC). She has participated in numerous European projects like the recent H2020 CRISS selected for publication on the EU’s Innovation Radar platform (leading WP3) and H2020 EPICA (leading WP4)  recognized as a distinctive innovation being published in the EMPOWER Envisioning report of 2020 (4th Edition), but also in national research projects funded by the Ministry of education, currently e-Feedskills project. Her research focuses on eAssessment, ePortfolios, educational technologies, teaching professional development, including such topics as learning design methods and tools, emerging digital pedagogies, schools innovation, personalized learning, course and program design, and open education. 

Within the E-SLP project, she has coordinated and participated together with Marcelo Maina and Sandrine Albert in the development of the Compendium of good practices and the  Design guidelines for flexible and scalable SLPs. 

PhD in Educational Sciences at Basic Country University (UPV/EHU).

Postgraduate program in teaching Second Language Acquisition (University of Barcelona)

Slavi Stoyanov, PhD in instructional technology of the University of Twente, is currently with the faculty of Educational Sciences,  the department of Technology-Enhanced Learning Innovation of Open University of The Netherlands. His research interests include design for learning, individual differences in learning, and technology-enhanced learning. Slavi Stoyanov is a recognised expert in Group Concept Mapping research methodology. He contributed with papers to the first and second editions of  The Envisioning Report, namely: ‘Designing MOOC: a shared view on didactical principles’ and ‘Model-driven design for learning with learning analytics’.

PhD in Economic and Business Sciences from the Complutense University of Madrid (outstanding "cum laude"). Accredited as a Profesor Colaborador (ANECA) and Profesor Contratado Doctor (ACAP), he has been a professor at different universities since leaving the private company. Since 2000 he has worked at UNED, is currently coordinator of the subject Mathematics II (Business Degree), Game Theory (Postgraduate of Research in Economics) and directs three postgraduate courses in Lifelong Training. He is the author of articles in international journals, books on calculus, finance and stock exchange, has directed doctoral theses and has participated for twelve years in various teaching innovation projects funded by the European Commission.

Experience in Curriculum Development and Course Design

Lifelong Training postgraduate courses at UNED developed and designed by Alfonso Herrero de Egaña whom is or has been director and teacher in all of the below-mentioned postgraduate courses.

Master's Degree in Stock Markets and Financial Derivatives. Since year 2000 to present.

Master of Arts in Economics. Since year 2004 to present.

Master's degree in Business Valuation and Analysis. Course offered in alternate years since 2019.

Master’s degree in Financial Engineering. Course offered in alternate years since 2017

Course in Entrepreneurship. Course offered until 2018.

Contributions to Empower Activities:

- Organizational innovation & competitive enterprise university model. The Envisioning Report For Empowering Universities. 1 St edition 2017.
- The Entrepreneurial University. The Envisioning Report For Empowering Universities. 2 nd edition 2018

Inma is the Director of Postgraduate Research Studies in the Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies at the Open University in the United Kingdom. I am also a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy in the UK. I have over 30 years' experience teaching Modern Languages and Dance courses at higher education institutions in the USA, UK, and Spain. I have contributed to the development of face-to-face, blended, and distance learning programmes at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. I have extensive experience designing print, audio-visual and online materials for formal contexts, as well as Open Educational Resources for informal learners. I have also been leading teacher and supervisor training programmes to support the effective delivery of the curriculum via innovative learning environments. I have been involved in many scholarly and research projects, including the development of electronic portfolios for adults and an integrated approach to curriculum design to foster students employability.

Articles she contributed to:

- Alvarez, Inma., Fuertes Gutiérrez, Mara. and Bárkányi, Zsuzsanna. (2020) Supporting the teaching of pronunciation in the language curriculum. in Ubachs, George (ed.) The Envisioning Report for Empowering Universities (4th Edition). Maastricht, The Netherlands, European Association of Distance Teaching Universities, pp.12-14.

- Lindsay, Hilary. and Alvarez, Inma. (2019) A Framework for the development of Researching Professionals. in Ubachs, George (ed.) The Envisioning Report for Empowering Universities (3rd Edition). Maastricht, The Netherlands, European Association of Distance Teaching Universities, pp.35-37.

- Álvarez, Inma (2018). A learning-centred blended model for professional doctorates. In: Ubachs, George and Konings, Lizzie eds. The Envisioning Report for Empowering Universities. Maastricht, The Netherlands: European Association of Distance Teaching Universities, pp. 34–36.

Dr. Ellen Rusman is an Associate Professor at the faculty of Educational sciences – the faculty of education and research on learning, teaching, and technology of the Open University of the Netherlands. She is an expert in (seamless) learning design, networked learning, and technology-enhanced learning. From August 2019 till January 2020 she fulfilled the role of program leader (ad interim) of the Technology Enhanced Learning and Innovation (TELI) research group. She currently heads the group on Mobile & Seamless Learning design. A common thread in her work is connecting people and their experiences in different (learning) contexts through (mobile) technology, so that learning knowledge and skills becomes more meaningful, appropriate, fun, effective, and efficient. She has broad experience in acquiring, working on, and leading large national and international TELI design research projects. She won the Dutch national Best research and practice award 2019 with the Viewbrics-project, in which an (online) method to acquire complex skills supported by video-enhanced rubrics was developed and studied. She is a fellow of ICO and SIKS research schools in the Netherlands and has published extensively in international journals. She gained several awards and prices, both with her scientific work (e.g. best paper/presentation awards), as well with (research) project outcomes (e.g. European Language Label and Nuffic Orange Carpet Award with ELENA, a mobile game-based scenario for supporting early language learners). In her projects, Ellen loves to work closely with different stakeholders, e.g. teachers, learners (students, pupils), and employers. She highly values and balances both the scientific as well as the practical relevance of initiated projects.

Ellen contributed to the EMPOWER network both via the visionary report as well as through webinars in the thematic weeks:

- Rusman, E. (2020). Mobile and Seamless learning design: support of continuous learning processes in (higher) distance education. Webinar during the EMPOWER Blended and online education week, 7-9 April, 2020. Available online: https://www.slideshare.net/EADTU/seamless-learning-empower-by-ellen-rusman and https://empower-new.eadtu.eu/events/repository

- Rusman, E. (2018). Viewbrics: mirroring and mastering complex generic skills with video enhanced rubrics through a technology-enhanced formative assessment methodology. Webinar during the EMPOWER e-Assessment week. Available online: https://www.slideshare.net/EADTU/empower-eassessment-week-viewbrics and https://empower-new.eadtu.eu/events/repository

- Bidarra, J., & Rusman, E. (2017). Key Pedagogical and Technological Factors for Effective Blended Learning Design. In: G. Ubachs, L. Konings (2017). The Envisioning Report for Empowering Universities, EMPOWER/EADTU/Erasmus+. Heerlen: EADTU.

Since November 2019, Alessandra is Programme Manager at EADTU, where, among others, she manages the European Short Learning Programme (E-SLP) project.

She holds a PhD in Technology Enhanced Learning, and she tackled with her research two of the main problems of MOOCs: high users’ dropout rate and low level of users’ engagement. In doing so she used a gamified approach and referred to ‘Implementation Intention’ and ‘Sense of Community’ theories.

Within E-SLP she has contributed to define the concept of short learning programmes (SLPs); defining design guidelines for scalable SLPs and draw recommendations with regards to recognition of SLPs. She is currently working on connecting the concept of SLPs with microcredentials, and on a sustainability plan for the E-SLP project.

She has contributed to the EMPOWER Envisioning report of 2020 (4th Edition). 

She has organised several empowering events involving University staff from the National Association of Distance Education (NADE); Kaunas University of Technology (KTU); Katholiek Universiteit Leuven (KU Leuven) and AGH University of Science and Technology (AGH- UST). Furthermore a dedicated EMPOWER webinar week to SLPs where more than 11 experts contributed.

Dr Liz Marr is Pro-Vice-Chancellor: Students at The Open University. Her responsibilities include the student experience, student voice, student engagement and student satisfaction and she also has oversight of student employability, widening access and success, the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) and Quality Monitoring and Enhancement (QME). Liz has over thirty years of experience in teaching and learning in UK Higher Education with particular interest in lifelong learning and continuing education and their role in social justice and social mobility. She is passionate about opening opportunity for all who wish to participate in learning, both formally and informally. 

Päivi Kananen works as an International Coordinator at the Open University of the University of Jyväskylä, Finland. She has worked on the field of Continuous Professional Education and especially online continuous education more than sixteen years. Recently, she has developed several MOOCs in the field of education. At the moment, she develops an online short learning programme called Digitally Competent Educators. 

Earlier Päivi Kananen worked as the Programme Manager in the international online programme on the Institute of Educational Leadership, at the University of Jyväskylä. She developed and implemented the MBA programme on Educational Leadership at the Institute of educational leadership, on the basis of which the Master of Educational Management and Leadership online programme she led was constructed. 

She has sixteen years’ experience in online teaching using different online learning platforms, and in guiding students by using different web-based solutions. Päivi is actively involved in several EU funded projects in the field of continuous education and a member of several Steering groups in different EU projects. 

Päivi has contributed to these EMPOWER activities: 

• Researcher and author in a country report, case Finland in The Changing the Pedagogical Landscape 2018 
• EMPOWER Envisioning report (3rd Edition): Student Mobility Studying in a Virtual Mobility Context: An International Pilot in the Domain of Educational Science. Cathrin Vogel; Noëlle Diegel; FernUniversität of Hagen, Germany; Olga Firssova; Christian M. Stracke; Francis Brouns, the open University of the Netherlands, Netherlands; Päivi Kananen, University of Jyväskylä, Finland 
• EMPOWER Envisioning report (2nd Edition): Enhancing career practitioners’ competence in the use of ICT. Jaana Kettunen, Raimo Vuorinen, Jukka Lerkkanen, Päivi Kananen University of Jyväskylä, Finland 
• EMPOWER Short Learning Programmes webinar week in October 2020: Lessons Learned from the Pilot Digital Competent Educators (Eva Cendon and Magda Zarebski (FernUniversitet in Hagen), Aysun GÜNEŞ (Anadolu University), Päivi Kananen and Virpi Uotinen (University of Jyväskylä), Glória Bastos (Universidade Aberta) 

Doctor of Education

• Managerial skills, strategic planning of open university education, proven social and communicational competence.
• Designing and delivering career guidance and counselling services based on guidance needs.
• Research Associate in Florida State University, Center for the Study of Technology in Counseling and Career Development.
  
  

Membership

• The National Forum of Finnish Open Universities, chair
• EADTU EMPOWER chair for the Off-campus, online, open and flexible education expert pool
• EADTU Supervisory Board, member

 
Last publications

• Einarsdottir, S., Björnsdottir, M. D., & Lerkkanen., J. 2020. Cross-Cultural Validation of Asssessment instruments used in career counselling and guidance in Nordic countries. . In E. Haug, T. Hooley, J. Kettunen & R. Thomsen (Eds.), Career and career guidance in the Nordic countries. Career Development Series, 9. Leiden: Brill, 177–189 Sense. DOI: 10.1163/9789004428096_012
• Andreassen, D.H., Einarsdóttir, S., Lerkkanen, J., Thomsen, R., & Wikstrand, F. 2019. Diverse histories, common ground and a shared future: The education of career guidance and counselling professionals in the Nordic countries. International Journal for Educational and Vocational Guidance. 19, (1), 1–26

See Jukka's institutional webpage here 

Paz is a esearcher in philology and education projects: “European Short Learning Programmes”, “Data-Driven Learning (DLL) for the English writing competence improvement. Pilot experience in MOOC, bachelor degree and master degree”, and “Gamification and ubiquitous learning in Primary Education. Development of a map of teaching, learning and parental competences and resources "GAUBI”. Candidate for PhD Research Personnel Training Aid on the Languages MOOCs line of research: “A study about the use of MOOCs in foreign languages learning: framework, strengths and weaknesses”. Scientific contributions published in educational journal and conference proceedings in language learning and MOOCs language learning areas https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4095-7881   

Esteban is a professor of the Faculty of Education in the Department of Didactics and School Organization. PhD in Education with Extraordinary Doctorate Award. Vice Dean of Students Affairs, Internationalization and Social Education (2017-20). Director of the Master's Degree in Educational Inspection and Supervision at UNED; his priority lines of research are: Mobile-ubiquitous Learning, Digital Language and Open and Flexible Education, with more than 200 scientific contributions published on these topics (see Google Scholar, Scopus and Publons). Currently, he is the Project Coordinator of the Research Project entitled: "Gamification and ubiquitous learning in Primary Education. Development of a map of teaching, learning and parental competences and resources "GAUBI". (RTI2018-099764-B-100) (MICINN/FEDER) financed by FEDER (European Regional Development Fund) and Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities of Spain. Associate Editor of the British Journal of Educational Technology (JCR Q1). He has been invited as technical committee of more than 60 conferences around the Word (Japan, USA, Canada, Turkey, UK, Chile, Morocco, China, Italy, Puerto Rico, Czech Republic, France, etc.). 

Dr. Mehmet FIRAT is Associate Professor at Department of Distance Education and Deputy Head of Distance Education Department of Open Education Faculty at Anadolu University. Dr. Firat is GA member of European Distance Teaching Universities-EADTU. He has experiences in E-SLP and EMPOWER projects. He involved in many empower activities such as Innovative Student Support Solutions for Large Groups, Institutional support for prospective and new students in online and distance education, Innovative Distance Education Programs Recently Offered by Anadolu University for Providing Identical Needs of Different Target Groups. He is one of empower experts in the field of Student Support. Dr. Firat is still Deputy Director of Graduate School of Social Science at Anadolu University. His academic interest areas are open and distance learning, e-learning, learning management systems, educational technologies, learning analytics, educational hypermedia, lifelong learning, cyber behaviors, use of internet in education. He has over than 70 research articles published international journals.

Virpi Uotinen is working as an university teacher at the Open University of the University of Jyväskylä (JYUOpen), Finland. Her subjects of teaching are psychology (in which she has PhD) and gerontology. She has worked in the field of Continuous Professional Education almost two decades. During those years, the development and implementation of flexible modes of online education has been essential part of her work.  

In the field of international course collaboration, she has recent experience in coordinating and developing the online short learning programme called Digitally Competent Educators (DCE) within the European Short Learning Programme -project (E-SLP). Within this project, she has contributed to define the concept of short learning programmes (SLPs) that included definition of design guidelines for flexible and scalable SLPs.   

Her earlier work as a university lecturer of the Nordic Master’ Programme in Gerontology and as a coordinator of the Nordplus Gerontology Network, she has experience in curriculum development and ICT practices in higher education in the context of international co-operation. Planning and organising joint intensive courses in gerontology that combined e-learning and one week stay at the host university were part of her work. These positions provided a possibility to get an overview of variation of practices in higher education in Finland and in other Nordic countries. Her earlier career at JYU has comprised of various positions such as a research assistant, PhD student (PhD in psychology in year 2005), researcher, coordinator and education planner at University of Jyväskylä. 

Currently, she is working in the ONE Meeting project (years 2020 to 2022). Aim of this project is to enhance sustainability and green values in higher education institutions in EU area. This is done by encouraging project leaders to use more effective virtual tools in their multinational project collaboration.  

She has contributed to publications by E-SLP Project and the EMPOWER Envisioning Reports (4th and 5th Editions). Currently she is involved in a study focusing on factors explaining the dropout rate and low level of users’ engagement in online courses among psychology students at JYUOpen. 

Gema-Santos is the chair of the Knowledge Resources field of expertise from 2015. She joined EADTU with this new challenge in order to contribute with her expertise in knowledge resources from a double perspective: as a librarian and as a professor. Also to share experiences with other colleagues and to learn from them.

Gema-Santos Hermosa contributed to The EMPOWER Envisioning report:

• 1st Edition (2017) - pages 47-50
• 2nd Edition (2018) - pages 48-51
• 3rd Edition (2019) - pages 16-19
• 4th Edition (2020) - pages 15-17

She also contributed to the Knowledge Resources webinar (2016-2017) with the presentation: UOC Virtual Library Teaching Services and Learning Resources. And to the Knowledge Resources webinar (2016-2017) with the presentation: Knowledge Resources to be promoted for their use into the learning Community (Higher Education teachers and learners)

Both presentations can also be found on https://empower-new.eadtu.eu/events/repository 

Frederik Truyen (°1961) has a Phd in Philosophy (logic) and is professor at the Faculty of Arts, KU Leuven. He publishes on digitalization, photographic heritage and e-learning for the humanities. He is in charge of CS Digital. He is experienced in data modelling and metadata development for image databases in the cultural-historical field, and currently works on digital transformation issues in then GLAM/CHI sector. He is the president of Photoconsortium, an international membership organization for photographic archives. Truyen is treasurer of the Europeana Network Association and a member of DARIAH-VL.

He currently directs the programme of the Master in Digital Humanities. In the Cultural Studies Master Programme he teaches online publishing and digital cultural heritage. His main research focus is the digital transformation roadmap for cultural heritage institutions. He has been involved in setting up the e-learnign envoronment for KU Leuven and in the development of a MOOC strategy. 

In this presentation we will discuss how to use Zotero as a basic tool for organizing collaborative bibliographic research. We will shortly overview the basic functionality of Zotero and how it compares to commercial systems, and then zoom in on the functionalities that truly make it a social platform for bibliographic research. Working on shared bibliographies is an excellent way to shape the direction of a research endeavour, and helps forge a common understanding of the research field. But it is also an ideal tool to introduce students to the literature in a particular discipline. We will also highlight some other tools such as The Library Thing, which focuses on book publications. By Frederik Truyen (KU Leuven)

Website Zotero 

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The scope of this webinar to facilitate educators for building an online course using knowledge resources (KR) and activities. We will focus on tools that can be used for building such a course and tools for creating KR and add them in an online course. Moreover, viewers will have the opportunity to watch a live demonstration using a demo course created in the Open University of Cyprus eLearning Platform. By Christos Rodosthenous (Open University of Cyprus)

From a context-based learning, libraries can provide KR adapted to each learning context. On the other hand, from an adaptive teaching, where all learners are different but, however, most educational materials are the same for all, adaptive teaching technologies and KR should provide flexible study options to the students. Books chapters, articles, videos and other complementary material, available at the Library or that Library can search and provide, should let students to understand better the context they are studying and interacting with. At Open University of Catalonia (UOC) we are working hand-in-hand with teachers (meeting their needs and those of their students) in order to provide them tailored services and KR to contribute to the improvement of online learning. By Gema Santos-Hermosa (UOC)

Librarians at The Open University collaborate with module teams to embed skills activities, resources and live engagement sessions into the taught curriculum . This case study will outline the processes involved, review the outcomes, and examine the chain a changing environment. What happens when academics directly author their own learning content, or when Librarians are asked to provide support for MOOCs or commercial partnerships? By Cheryl Coveney (OUUK)

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Karen Kear is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Computing and Communications at the UK Open University, one of the world’s major distance learning institutions. As well as teaching Computing and IT, she is a leading researcher of online learning, and author of ‘Online and Social Networking Communities: a best practice guide for educators’, published by Routledge.

Karen has played a leading role in the EADTU’s E-xcellence initiatives for quality assurance and enhancement in e-learning. She co-authored two editions of the E-xcellence manual ‘Quality Assessment for E-learning: a Benchmarking Approach’ and has carried out E-xcellence reviews at universities across Europe. She is Chair of the EMPOWER field of expertise in Quality Assurance.

EMPOWER Envisioning report articles:

• Excellence in e-learning: the key challenges for universities, Karen Kear & Jon Rosewell, (2nd Edition pp. 20-22)
• Changing pedagogies: The Open Networking Lab, Jon Rosewell & Karen Kear, (3rd Edition pp. 39 – 41)

EMPOWER Webinars:

• From 10 years of E-xcellence quality reviews for e-learning, Karen Kear & Jon Rosewell, September 2018

Selection of activities: 

• Professor in IT and Law. 
• Former rector of the Open University of the Netherlands (2011-2019) 
• Former dean of the Law Facutly of VU University (2005-2011) 
• Former President of EADTU (2014-2018) 
• Former Member Executive Committee EADTU (2011-2020) 
• 2018- present Member of IEP (EAU) 
• 2019 – present Member of the supervisory Board University of applied Sciences Rotterdam 
• 2019 – present President Scientific Technology Board SURF 
• 2019- present Vice president sectorplan Social Sciences and Humanities 
• 2017-present Member of the supervisory board Koning Willem1 College 
• 2018-present Member Advisory board Universidade Aberta Portugal 
• 2013- 2018 Member Hochschulrat Fernuniversität Hagen (supervisory board) 
• 2011 – 2012 Member International Audit Committee the Hague Institute for International Law 
  
  

Audit activities: 

• 2019 Law School, university of Aruba (chair) 
• 2019 Lodz University of Technology 
• 2020 Thomas Bata University Ziln 
• 2008- present numerous test audits for Open University and VU university 

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Dr. Elif Toprak is an Associate Professor of Applied Communications at Open Education Faculty, Anadolu University, Turkey. She received her BSc, MSc and PhD degrees in the discipline of International Relations (IR), from Middle East Technical University (METU), Bilkent University and Uludağ University respectively. She teaches IR Theory, Globalization and International Distance Education, International Communication and Public Diplomacy courses. Her research interests are international cooperation and regimes, intercultural communication, transnational higher education, administration in open and distance education, quality assurance and accreditation in open and distance learning. She is a member of Quality Commission of Anadolu University and is a Board member of the national accreditation agency for distance education, Association for Evaluation and Accreditation of Open and Distance Education Programs (AUDAK).

She also contributed to the webinar week on Blended Learning in June 2019 with the presentation called: Why Diversity Matter in ODL? Case of Anadolu University

George Ubachs is Managing Director of EADTU, the European Association of Distance Teaching Universities. EADTU is Europe's institutional association of leading universities in online, open and flexible higher education, and is at the heart of the modernisation agenda of European universities. Growing from its eleven founding members in ten European nations, EADTU now has a membership of fifteen institutions and fourteen national associations across 25 nations. Its membership covers over 200 universities and around 3 million students. 

George Ubachs is responsible for the development and support of the EADTU network, policies and execution of its goals in online, open and flexible higher education. 

He is coordinator of international academic cooperation networks on networked curricula, virtual mobility and on business models for lifelong learning. He is further coordinator of the European MOOC Consortium (EMC), representing the Common Microcredential Framework (CMF) and the E-xcellence movement on quality assurance in online, open and flexible education. In this position, EADTU is leading the ICDE-UNESCO focal point for QA in online education for Europe. With the EMPOWERing universities network, EADTU represents some 80 experts that cover 12 specific fields of expertise related to online, open and flexible education. As coordinator of these networks he is working closely with the EUA, ENQA, ESU, ICDE and Unesco. 

Before joining EADTU in 2002, George Ubachs has been working on various European programmes in the public and private sector in the field of regional social economic developments and was coordinator of the European Network of E2C-Europe (Cities for Second Chance Schools). George Ubachs graduated at State University of Leiden and Erasmus University Rotterdam on Public Administration with specialization in European Integration. 

Christian Dalsgaard is Associate professor at Aarhus University. His area of research is online education, and his fields of expertise includes open and flexible education, OER and MOOCs, and blended education. 

He participated in the Online Education: Coronacrisis support webinar April 21st 2020.

My research focuses on advancing the understanding of socio-technical issues around the use of data and technology in education. I take a human-centred approach to investigating issues that arise when a technological innovation is operationalised in a complex educational system. My work has informed educational policy and strategy development in higher education, and the impact was acknowledged by the Association of Learning Technology (ALT) as the winner of the 2019 Best Research Project Award. I am a member of the EMBED project team (European Maturity model for Blended Education) and the lead educator of Making Blended Education Work (FutureLearn), which has provided professional development to thousands of learners around the world. I am currently an executive member at large of the Society for Learning Analytics Research (SoLAR). 

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Fred de Vries is a Digital Higher Education Expert

Fred has a long track-record in innovating Higher Education in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. 

He carved out his professional path at the Open University of the Netherlands, designing, researching and shaping innovations in Higher Education, with focus on adult learners, Technology Enhanced Learning, open and online education. He moved there from building the curriculum to R&D in European networks (EC) and policy and strategy for the institute and its network of distance learning universities in Europe (EADTU). 

Initially out of curiosity, he worked besides the academic projects as a change agent on designing and implementing innovative education systems in different countries for international NGO’s like the UNHCR and UNESCO. Recently Fred helped a corporate philanthropy spreading online higher education in the Arab world and internationally oriented universities in a network to reach out to marginalized youth and refugees in Africa and the Middle East with specially designed learning solutions including workplace learning, peer-support and mobile technology. 

Since the 4th quarter of 2020 Fred is leading the development of the new international strategy at the University of Twente (NL) with an outlook towards 2030.

Considering the scope of EMPOWER Fred can contribute in the following domains: International Education, Open & Flexible Education, OERs & MOOCs, Policy and Strategy development, Quality assurance, Blended Learning.

Together with Mark Brown Fred initiated the EOLLA 

Dr. Raimo Vuorinen works as Project manager at the Finnish Institute for Educational Research (FIER) at the University of Jyväskylä. His research interest is on evidence based lifelong guidance policy development and the use of ICT in guidance. In 2007-15 he was the Co-ordinator of the European Lifelong Guidance Policy Network, ELGPN. He is the Chair of Board of the International Centre for Career Development and Public Policies, ICCDPP and a member of the ETF Editorial Board. Dr. Vuorinen is also an Affiliate Professor with the Faculty of Education and the Centre for Labour Studies at the University of Malta.

Raimo has contributed to the EMPOWER Envisioning report (2nd Edition). 

This webinar invites participants to discuss and reflect on contemporary models and approaches to institutional leadership and strategy development in today’s rapidly changing digital era. It argues that leadership remains one of the major challenges facing higher education institutions seeking to harness the transformative potential of new technology-enhanced models of teaching and learning. A strong case is made for a more distributed understanding of leadership in fostering transformative change in complex organisational ecologies. After outlining and inviting feedback on a number of guiding principles emerging from contemporary literature on effective leadership in higher education, the webinar briefly describes three interesting case studies. Firstly, it illustrates based on the experience at Dublin City University (DCU) the importance of aligning the language we adopt with the outcomes we seek in attempting to foster new digitally enhanced models of teaching and learning. Secondly, building on this example, the crucial role of vision, stakeholder engagement and strategic alignment are discussed in the context of envisioning and shaping our own institutional futures. Lastly, the webinar describes the experience of the Empower Online Learning Leadership Academy (EOLLA) and some of the lessons learnt about developing strategic leadership for such uncertain times. Overall the objective of webinar is to share and critically reflect on different experiences of institutional leadership, as we grapple with the challenge of the modernisation of higher education in the European context. By Mark Brown (DCU)