Leeds Beckett University - City Campus,
Woodhouse Lane,
LS1 3HE
Leeds Met academics named as National Teaching Fellows
The new appointments to the National Teaching Fellowship Scheme (NTFS) are Simon Thomson, Head of e-Learning, and Professor Malcolm Todd, Head of the University's School of Social, Psychological and Communication Sciences.
Professor Susan Price, Vice Chancellor of Leeds Metropolitan University, commented: "We are delighted that Simon Thomson and Professor Malcolm Todd have been recognised by this prestigious national scheme. At Leeds Metropolitan University we are dedicated to excellence in research, teaching and learning and these new awards reflect and celebrate this."
Simon Thomson is the Head of e-Learning, where he works with a team of learning and teaching experts supporting staff in the effective use of the university's classroom technologies, virtual learning environment and e-portfolio system, as well as mobile technology use on and off campus.
In 2009, Simon led on a project to establish an open educational resource repository (OER) at Leeds Metropolitan University and release 3,600 hours of learning materials. This project has had significant impact in shaping the learning strategy at the University. Through their sustainable model, staff and students continue to benefit from the use of OER in learning and teaching.
Simon is an Apple Distinguished Educator and Mentor in recognition of his work embedding portable technologies into the learning and teaching experience and is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
Professor Malcolm Todd has been extensively involved with transnational education and has developed strong partnership relationships with higher education institutions in Hong Kong, the Netherlands and the USA.
Having a wide range of teaching experience, at both undergraduate and postgraduate level, Malcolm has largely taught in the areas of the sociology of work, the sociology of protest movements, social research methods, family studies, and applied sociology and social policy.
He has published widely on learning and teaching matters in the social sciences, especially around the themes of learner autonomy, work-based learning and the teaching of race and ethnicity.
The National Teaching Fellowship Scheme was established in 2000 and recognises, rewards, and celebrates individuals who are judged to make an outstanding impact on the student learning experience. Funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW), and the Department for Employment and Learning in Northern Ireland (DELNI), each year up to 55 awards of £10,000 are made to recognise individual excellence.