Preston ed-tech guru scoops top national award

Chris, a Preston-based senior learning technologist has been awarded a major national award at a virtual ceremony for the work he has done on supporting the use of technology within the education sector - and is in the running to two more.

He has worked in the University of Central Lancashire's Technology Enabled Learning and Teaching (TELT) team and wider Learning and Information Services team for six years and received the National Impact Award for Further Education and Higher Education from the Microsoft Education community.

The accolade was in recognition of the for the work that Chris and the TELT team have done with the DigiLearn recognition programme for staff, which has raised digital capabilities among academics and encouraged them to embrace new and innovative approaches to teaching, learning and assessment.

He said: " It was a really nice surprise to receive the award, which is testament to the work of our wider support teams and academic community here at UCLan.

"We are re passionate about helping our staff and students get the most out of the technology available to us, and we also want to share our experiences with the wider sector."

UCLan’s DigiLearn sector community has grown considerably and is now a recognised hub for knowledge exchange and collaboration across the education sector.

Chris said: "In recent months we have clearly seen how vital technology has been to ensure teaching, learning and assessment have been able to continue. Our team have been there to help support colleagues and students in making a smooth transition to remote teaching, learning and working.”

He has also been shortlisted for two awards at this year’s annual Edufuturists Summit on July 10 : Edufuturist of the Year and Excellence in Staff Engagement and Training, with UCLan also shortlisted for University of the Year.

You can vote now in all three award categories: https://awards.edufuturists.com/vote