Change Leader Award – Alumni

Welcome to the alumni pages of the Institutional Change Leader award. 

Following the successful completion of the first running of the course, we are proud to celebrate the achievements of the participants. The course has two alumni: (1) those who completed the Jisc-recognised module ‘Effective Practice as a Change Agent’ [the first module of the full course] and (2) those who completed the SEDA-accrediated Institutional Change Leader course. Below are profiles of some of the successful participants:

Alumni of the SEDA-accrediated Institutional Change Leader award:

Dr Sarah Hayes, Aston University
Dr Sarah Hayes, Aston University
Sarah Hayes is a Lecturer in the Centre for Learning Innovation and Professional Practice (CLIPP) at Aston University, and a Senior Fellow of the HEA. She has taught PG Cert, through to MEd during the last two years. Prior to this, Sarah taught Sociology, writing modules for undergraduates such as Technology & Social Theory and Tattoos, TV & Trends: Understanding Popular Culture and teaching Research Methods at all levels. Sarah’s PhD thesis: The Political Discourse and Material Practice of Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) was a Marxist-based analysis of UK policy discourse for TEL in Higher Education during the last 15 years, through corpus-based Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). It revealed a presupposition that technology alone has enhanced learning, where policy texts conceal the human labour involved. It recommended explicitly writing the actions of people back into policy, to acknowledge the humans involved. Sarah’s recent work is published in Open Review of Educational Research, Sage, Springer and Libri . Sarah recently completed a literature review for the QAA on MOOCs and the Quality Code which will be published in August 2015 and she is a member of the JISC Scaling Up Online Learning project.
Dr Catherine Hack, Ulster University
Dr Catherine Hack, Ulster University
Catherine Hack is a lecturer in the life and health sciences and a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. She has extensive experience of on-campus and distance learning teaching which has led to an understanding of the diverse needs, motivations and learning styles of students and the need for student- centred delivery to promote independent and life-long learning.
Theodora-Petra Negrea, University of BradfordMy name is Theodora and I am a student at the University of Bradford. During my first year at university, I was offered the chance to work on a change project and was successful in implementing it not only within the Faculty but within the University as a whole. I later used this experience in my CAN portfolio and was able to get the SEDA accreditation as a result. I am looking forward to continue working in change implementation.

Alumni of the Jisc-recognised module ‘Effective Practice as a Change Agent‘:

Megan Robertson, Aston University
Megan Robertson, Aston University
My passion is e-learning, and I am currently striving to bring an 'Aston Experience' to distance undergraduates, this being the precursor to the Degree Apprenticeship scheme announced earlier in the year.

My route to get to this position as an e-learning specialist started off with a degree in Botany, then a complete career-change to become a programmer in a software house. When this new-fangled Web thing came along, I embraced it early and after some freelance web development took a job at an FE college, South Cheshire College, as the webmaster. Spotting the potential to do more than say "we are here!" but to use it to support and enhance learning, I built an early 'teaching intranet' before going on to be ILT Champion at the City of Stoke-on-Trent Sixth Form College. A couple of short contracts and rather too much unemployment later I am now happy at Aston University.
Jane Chandler, University of PortsmouthI'm Associate Dean (Academic) in the University of Portsmouth Faculty of Creative and Cultural Industries. I am passionate about finding better ways of teaching HE students and improving the the courses they study.
Gordon McLeod, University of GlasgowI've worked in learning technology services for many years, most recently at Glasgow University Vet School, and lead on the use of Moodle, Mahara and other tools to enhance learning. As well as supporting staff and students I also convene the campus Information Services Committee, TELT Partnership (staff/student), and represent school and college on a range of other committees.
I have many years experience in managing eLearning development teams and developing web and multimedia resources and interactive tools, and have a passion for developing learning materials that are genuinely engaging. I chair MacHara (the Scottish Mahara User group), participate in online forums and am an enthusiastic twitter user (as @LearnTribe).
In my previous role I developed the technical capabilities of staff and students at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RSAMD) to use Moodle and Mahara effectively as part of an institutional curriculum review, and themed, structured and administered both platforms. I also lectured on the institutional PG Cert Learning & Teaching programme, and managed the development of Broadcast, the Conservatoire's social media digital platform.
Prior to joining RSAMD I was the Learning Innovation Officer with Skills Development Scotland and learndirect Scotland, managing the national Learning Bytes e-learning programme, and developing European and national partnership projects to address barriers to learning.