Abstract

Building technology infrastructure and exhorting faculty to use it is an inadequate response to the need for change in universities. Universities need to apply a range of strategies to support the use of learning technologies. This requires re-allocation of resources, professional development and training for faculty, increased technical support, new methods of teaching, and above all a change in the culture of the institution. As well as outlining the necessary strategies, the presentation also discusses the impact of technology on the core values of a public university. This presentation will look at using technology to help meet strategic goals for an academic department or a whole institution, and the requirements needed to make technology cost-effective and sustainable.

Biography:

Tony Bates is President and CEO of Tony Bates Associates Ltd, a private company specializing in consultancy and training in the planning and management of e-learning and distance education. He also holds a part-time position responsible for developing a program of research into e-learning at the Open University of Catalonia in Barcelona, Spain. He is also on the Academic Advisory Board of the Volkswagen Auto Uni, based in Germany.

He was Director of Distance Education and Technology in the Continuing Studies Division of the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada from 1995 to 2003. He was also Research Team Leader of MAPLE, the Centre for Research into Managing and Planning Learning Environments in Education at UBC.

From 1990 to 1995, he was Executive Director, Research, Strategic Planning, and Information Technology at the Open Learning Agency of British Columbia. Prior to that, he was Professor of Educational Media Research at the British Open University, where he worked for 20 years as one of the founding members of staff.

He is the author of eight books, including 'Managing Technological Change: Strategies for College and Universities Leaders', and (with Gary Poole) 'Effective Teaching with Technology in Higher Education', both published by Jossey-Bass. His research groups at the UKOU, OLA and UBC published over 350 papers in the area of distance education and the use of technology for teaching. He is on the editorial board of six journals specializing in distance education and educational technology.

He has worked as a consultant in over 30 countries. Clients include the World Bank, OECD, national ministries of education, and several U.S. state higher education commissions.

He has a Ph.D. in educational administration from the University of London, England. He was awarded the degree of Doctor Honoris Causa by the Open University of Portugal in 1995, Doctor of Letters, Honoris Causa, from Laurentian University, Canada, in 2001, and Doctor Honoris Causa from Athabasca University, in June 2004.