Dr. Nellie Deutsch is a Canadian educator, who earned her doctorate from the University of Phoenix from the School of Advanced Studies. Her dissertation research focused on instructor experiences with technology in blended learning contexts in higher education around the world. Dr. Deutsch is the founder of Integrating Technology for Active Lifelong Learning (IT4ALL), a non-profit organization that provides professional development workshops for groups around the world on Moodle, e-portfolios, reflective practice, WebQuests, TESOL, ESOL, academic writing, Mahara, and other Web 2.0 tools for educators, generally in conjunction with different projects and initiatives. Dr. Deutsch is also the founder and current coordinator of the annual Connecting Online for Instruction and Learning, hosted online by http://it4all.org/ and supported by WiZiQ online learning platform. Dr. Deutsch has provided consultation on how to integrate Moodle and Elluminate learning environments for distance education at the Open University of Israel and worked as a consultant at http://wikieducator.org, supported by the Commonwealth of Learning (COL), Otago Polytechnic (New Zealand), and Athabasca Open University (Canada) in developing online courses and facilitation. She is also an educational consultant, mentor, instructional course designer, and online facilitator on how to integrate technology into the face-to-face and online classroom using Moodle, WebQuests, Professional Electronic Portfolios (PEP), Web 2.0 tools, social networks, and wikis. In addition, she is an accredited PAIRS (Practical Application of Intimate Relationship Skills) practitioner, conflict resolution practitioner, curriculum and instructional course designer and consultant, and mentor to educators around the world.
She has written two chapters in Adventures in Collaborative Authoring: Education for a Digital World 2.0 by Crown Publications, Victoria, BC. Canada. She has also written a chapter on a book that is forthcoming from Sage: Cases in Online Interview Research, edited by Janet Salmons, to be published in the fall of 2011.
Louise Adele Jakobsen is passionate about the potential a wide range of technologies have to enhance learning and support teaching, business, and life. Recent roles and responsibilities that have enhanced her knowledge, understanding, and application of a variety of tools include being the eLearning Curriculum Manager at a large Further Education (FE) College in the UK with responsibility for moving forward the eLearning agenda; supporting and encouraging staff to use Moodle in more interactive and engaging ways; and Learning and Development Manager at a private training organization where Moodle was used to support organizational and work-based development. Her enthusiasm is evident through the various training, sharing, and motivating strategies that are used. She has experience of working in FE, Higher Education, Adult and Community Learning, and Local Government delivering high class training to teachers, managers, care staff, and small and medium businesses. Louise has also developed resources and delivered training for and on behalf of national organizations including NIACE and THinK FE. She completed her MSc in Multimedia and eLearning with the University of Huddersfield (UK) in 2008. Her interests / experiences include: Teaching and Learning, Technology, eLearning Pedagogies, Effective use of VLEs (especially Moodle), Designing eLearning resources, Using Social Networking tools in Education, Staff Development / training, and Change Management.
Louise authored the chapter Embedding eLearning in Further Education, which was published in the book Applied eLearning and eTeaching in HE in 2008.
Alex Little is a director and co-founder of Digital Campus (http://digital-campus.org), a not-for-profit company specializing in ICT and educational technologies for emerging countries. Alex spent 18 months working with Voluntary Services Overseas at Mekelle University, Ethiopia, developing the University's eLearning capacities through a teacher training program alongside ICT infrastructure development. Currently based at Alcalá University, Spain, Alex continues to have a close involvement with Mekelle University.
Prior to moving to Mekelle, Alex spent eight years as a senior web developer and researcher for the Open University UK, focused on developing software tools and systems to support distance and online learners. With the OU Knowledge Media Institute, Alex integrated a range of social software tools into the OpenLearn platform.
Visit Alex's blog at http://alexlittle.net.