IAFOR > The European Conference on Language Learning (ECLL) > ECLL2020 > Speakers

Speakers

The European Conference on Language Learning 2020 (ECLL2020) is a multidisciplinary conference held concurrently with The European Conference on Education 2020 (ECE2020). Keynote, Featured and Spotlight Speakers will provide a variety of perspectives from different academic and professional backgrounds. Registration for either conference will allow participants to attend sessions in both.

This page provides information about presenters. For details of presentations and other programming, please visit the Programme page.

  • Kwame Akyeampong
    Kwame Akyeampong
    University of Sussex, UK
  • Jake Anders
    Jake Anders
    UCL Institute of Education, UK
  • Brian Beatty
    Brian Beatty
    San Francisco State University, United States
  • Anne Boddington
    Anne Boddington
    Kingston University, UK
  • Christine Callender
    Christine Callender
    UCL Institute of Education, United Kingdom
  • Tam Cane
    Tam Cane
    University of Sussex, UK
  • Joseph Haldane
    Joseph Haldane
    The International Academic Forum (IAFOR), Japan
  • Jo Van Herwegen
    Jo Van Herwegen
    UCL, UK
  • Charles B. Hodges
    Charles B. Hodges
    Georgia Southern University, United States
  • Tamsin Hinton-Smith
    Tamsin Hinton-Smith
    University of Sussex, UK
  • Woon Chia Liu
    Woon Chia Liu
    National Institute of Education (NIE), Singapore
  • Barbara Lockee
    Barbara Lockee
    Virginia Tech, USA
  • Farish A. Noor
    Farish A. Noor
    Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
  • Thanassis Rikakis
    Thanassis Rikakis
    Virginia Tech, USA
  • Andrea Samson
    Andrea Samson
    University of Fribourg & Swiss Distance University Institute, Switzerland
  • Krisna Uk
    Krisna Uk
    Association for Asian Studies (AAS), USA
  • Zachary Walker
    Zachary Walker
    University College London, UK
  • Li Wei
    Li Wei
    University College London, Institute of Education, UK
  • Keri Wong
    Keri Wong
    University College London, United-Kingdom

Previous Speakers

View details of speakers at past ECLL conferences via the links below.

ECLL2019ECLL2018ECLL2017
ECLL2016ECLL2015ECLL2014
ECLL2013
Kwame Akyeampong
University of Sussex, UK

Biography

Kwame Akyeampong is Professor of International Education and Development at the Centre for International Education (CIE), University of Sussex, UK. He has international research experience in educational evaluation and research and has worked on education and development research projects in a range of countries including Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Rwanda and Malawi. His research interests include education policy analysis, teacher governance, educational access and equity, impact evaluation studies in education, and employing quantitative and qualitative research methods. He also has experience managing large research education projects. He has consulted for the World Bank, DFID, and JICA on education evaluation projects and programmes. He was senior policy analyst with UNESCO, Paris, from 2011 to 2013. He is currently the co-chair of the Teacher Alliance for the Global Education and Skills Forum.

Panel Presentation (2020) | Inclusive Education: A Critical Dialogue on Marginalised Communities

Previous ECLL Presentations

Plenary Panel II (2017) | Education for Change: Addressing the Challenges of UN Sustainable Development Goal 4
Jake Anders
UCL Institute of Education, UK

Biography

Jake is Deputy Director of the UCL Centre for Education Policy and Equalising Opportunities, as well as Academic Head of Research in the Department of Learning and Leadership at UCL Institute of Education. His research focuses on understanding the causes and consequences of educational inequality and the evaluation of policies and programmes aiming to reduce it. Jake completed his first degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics at New College, University of Oxford, followed by a PhD in Economics of Education at UCL Institute of Education. He has also worked at the UK Parliament's House of Commons Education Select Committee as a Committee Specialist and the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, first as a Research Officer, before being promoted to Research Fellow.

Panel Presentation (2020) | The impact of COVID19 on Children and Young People Across the Globe
Brian Beatty
San Francisco State University, United States

Biography

Brian Beatty is Associate Professor of Instructional Technologies in the Department of Equity, Leadership Studies and Instructional Technologies at San Francisco State University (SFSU). Brian’s primary areas of interest and research include social interaction in online learning, flipped classroom implementation, and developing instructional design theory for Hybrid-Flexible learning environments. At SFSU, Dr Beatty pioneered the development and evaluation of the HyFlex course design model for blended learning environments, implementing a “student-directed-hybrid” approach to better support student learning.

Previously (2012-2020), Brian was Vice President for Academic Affairs Operations at San Francisco State University (SFSU), overseeing the Academic Technology unit and coordinating the use of technology in the academic programs across the university. He worked closely with IT professionals and leaders in other units to coordinate overall information technology strategic management at SFSU. Prior to 2012, Brian was Associate Professor and Chair of the Instructional Technologies department in the Graduate College of Education at SFSU. He received his PhD in Instructional Systems Technology from Indiana University Bloomington in 2002. Brian Beatty also holds several CA single-subject teaching credentials, an MA in Instructional Technologies from SF State and a BS in Electrical Engineering from Marquette University. Dr Beatty has more than 25 years’ experience as a classroom teacher, trainer, and instructional designer at schools, businesses, and the US Navy.

Keynote Presentation (2020) | Flexible Learning in Uncertain Times: The Hy-Flex Model in Response to COVID-19
Anne Boddington
Kingston University, UK

Biography

Anne Boddington is Professor of Design Innovation, Pro Vice Chancellor for Research, Business and Innovation at Kingston University in the UK and recently appointed as the Sub Panel Chair for Art & Design: History, Practice & Theory for the UK’s Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021. Professor Boddington has extensive experience of the leadership, management and evaluation of art and design education and art and design research in higher education across the UK and internationally. She is an experienced chair and has held trustee and governance roles across the creative and cultural sector including as trustee of the Design Council, an independent Governor, Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), an affiliate member of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), a member of the executive of the Council for Higher Education in Art & Design (CHEAD) and a member of the advisory board of the Arts & Humanities Research Council. She has an international reputation in creative education and research and has been a partner, a collaborator, a reviewer and evaluator for a wide range of international projects and reviews across Dofferemt nations in Europe, the Middle East, Southern and east Asia and North America.

Plenary Panel (2020) | Embracing Difference? Adaptive Lifelong Learning

Previous Presentations

Plenary Panel I (2017) | Think Like a System, Act Like an Entrepreneur
Christine Callender
UCL Institute of Education, United Kingdom

Biography

Christine is an Associate Professor in Education at the UCL Institute of Education (Department of Learning and Leadership). She is currently the Inclusion Lead for the Department of Learning and Leadership, Faculty Lead for the BME Awarding Gap Project at the Institute of Education and is the co-convenor of the Race and Leadership Special Interest Group of BELMAS. Christine's research focuses on the broad areas of race, teacher education, gender, intersectionality and leadership.

Panel Presentation: Inclusive Education: A Critical Dialogue on Marginalized Communities
Tam Cane
University of Sussex, UK

Biography

Dr Tam Cane is a lecturer and programme lead for BA Social Work in the Department of Social Work and Social Care at the University of Sussex. She studied assisted reproductive health of people living with HIV and the implications of HIV on adoption experiences. Dr Tam Cane's research interests centre on HIV prevention modalities linked to parenting choices that reduce HIV transmission. She is interested in the range of decision-making processes related to different methods of parenting choices made by people living with HIV. Dr Tam Cane has authored peer-reviewed articles on adoption experiences of people living with HIV, the role of HIV charitable workers in supporting reproductive, and her key-note paper on recognising the resilience of people with HIV adopting. She is a co-author on research looking at the utilisation of genetically-informed research designs that better understand family processes and child development and implications for adoption and foster-care focused intervention. She has recently contributed to research on developing skills, confidence and communication among key professionals supporting the educational progression of care experienced young people. Other areas of research include women's drinking and help-seeking behaviours. Since the brutal killing of George Floyd, Dr Cane has been invited to support reflective activities on anti-racist practices with front-line social workers. Dr Tam Cane holds a position on the editorial board for the International Journal of HIV/AIDS Prevention, Education and Behavioural Science. She is a peer reviewer for this journal as well as Adoption Quarterly and Greenwich Social Work Journal.

Panel Presentation (2020) | Inclusive Education: A Critical Dialogue on Marginalised Communities
Joseph Haldane
The International Academic Forum (IAFOR), Japan

Biography

Joseph Haldane is the Chairman and CEO of IAFOR. He is responsible for devising strategy, setting policies, forging institutional partnerships, implementing projects, and overseeing the organisation’s business and academic operations, including research, publications and events.

Dr Haldane holds a PhD from the University of London in 19th-century French Studies, and has had full-time faculty positions at the University of Paris XII Paris-Est Créteil (France), Sciences Po Paris (France), and Nagoya University of Commerce and Business (Japan), as well as visiting positions at the French Press Institute in the University of Paris II Panthéon-Assas (France), The School of Journalism at Sciences Po Paris (France), and the School of Journalism at Moscow State University (Russia).

Dr Haldane’s current research concentrates on post-war and contemporary politics and international affairs, and since 2015 he has been a Guest Professor at The Osaka School of International Public Policy (OSIPP) at Osaka University, where he teaches on the postgraduate Global Governance Course, and Co-Director of the OSIPP-IAFOR Research Centre, an interdisciplinary think tank situated within Osaka University.

A Member of the World Economic Forum’s Expert Network for Global Governance, Dr Haldane is also a Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Philology at the University of Belgrade (Serbia), a Visiting Professor at the School of Business at Doshisha University (Japan), and a Member of the International Advisory Council of the Department of Educational Foundations at the College of Education of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (USA).

From 2012 to 2014, Dr Haldane served as Treasurer of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan (Chubu Region) and he is currently a Trustee of the HOPE International Development Agency (Japan). He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society in 2012, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in 2015.

Panel Presentation (2020) | Embracing Difference? Adaptive Lifelong Learning
Panel Presentation (2020) | That's NOT Online Learning!: The Difference Between Emergency Remote Teaching and Online Learning
Jo Van Herwegen
UCL, UK

Biography

Dr Jo Van Herwegen is an associate professor in developmental psychology at UCL Institute of Education. Her research focuses on improving educational outcomes of children, especially those with special educational needs. She has examined mathematical abilities, language abilities, transitions and the impact and quality of Education, Health, and Care plans for a wide range of neurodevelopmental disorders. She is an associate editor for Research in Developmental Disabilities, and educational needs advisor for the Williams Syndrome Foundation.

Panel Presentation (2020) | The impact of COVID19 on Children and Young People Across the Globe

Previous ECLL Presentations

Keynote Presentation (2019) | Challenges and Solutions to Improving Educational Outcomes
Charles B. Hodges
Georgia Southern University, United States

Biography

Charles B. Hodges, PhD, is a Professor of Instructional Technology at Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, GA (USA). His research is focused on online teaching and learning, and teacher and learner self-efficacy related to online or technology rich learning environments. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the journal TechTrends and he has edited/co-edited two books: Self-efficacy in Instructional Technology Contexts (Springer, 2018) and Emerging Research, Practice, and Policy on Computational Thinking (Springer, 2017).

Charles earned a BS in Mathematics with a minor in Computer Science from Fairmont State University, a MS in Mathematics from West Virginia University, and a PhD from the Instructional Design and Technology program at Virginia Tech. He has served on the faculties of Concord University, Virginia Tech, and Georgia Southern University. He was added to the Fulbright Specialist Roster in February 2019.

Panel Presentation (2020) | That's NOT Online Learning!: The Difference Between Emergency Remote Teaching and Online Learning
Tamsin Hinton-Smith
University of Sussex, UK

Biography

Dr Tamsin Hinton-Smith is a Senior Lecturer in Higher Education at the University of Sussex, where she is also Co-Director of the Centre for Gender Studies. Tamsin will be Editor for a forthcoming issue of the IAFOR Journal of Education, on Inclusive Education, scheduled for 2021.

Tamsin has been an academic with particular interests around issues of inclusion/exclusions in education contexts, for 16 years. Her background is in sociology and gender studies. Tamsin has interests in compulsory, further, higher, adult and informal education contexts. Her research includes education participation experiences and inequalities relating to groups including people from Gypsy, Roma and Traveller backgrounds; lone and teenage parents; learners from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds and geographical areas; and young people who have grown up in the care system.

Tamsin’s approach is one of connecting research, practice and policy. She is Equality, Diversity and Inclusion lead within her academic School and also leads institutional academic professional development. Tamsin has provided parliamentary research and policy support and training in the UK and internationally, and training working with professionals including in Cambodia, Nigeria and Spain. Tamsin’s research and practice is underpinned by a central commitment to increasing equity and inclusivity through ongoing individual and collective reflective practice.

Her current research focuses on experiences of young people from GRT backgrounds during COVID-19 lockdown, expressed through art; and developing more inclusive higher education pedagogies in different disciplinary spaces.

Panel Presentation: Inclusive Education: A Critical Dialogue on Marginalized Communities
Woon Chia Liu
National Institute of Education (NIE), Singapore

Biography

Woon Chia Liu is an Associate Professor with the Psychology and Child & Human Development Academic Group at the National Institute of Education (NIE), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore. She is a founding member of NIE’s Motivation in Educational Research Laboratory (MERL), and the Immediate Past Dean of Teacher Education. During her deanship, she led and developed the NTU-NIE Teaching Scholars Programme, reviewed and enhanced the Bachelor of Arts (Education)/Science (Education) and the Postgraduate Diploma in Education programmes, and conceptualised and launched the IoT@NIE Learning Lab in collaboration with Info-communications Media Development Authority (IMDA), Singapore. In addition, she was a key member of the steering committee and a co-chair of the working committee that shaped the Singapore Teaching Practice model that makes explicit how effective teaching and learning is achieved in Singapore schools.

She was previously the Associate Dean of Practicum and School Partnerships (2009 to 2014) and the Sub-Dean of Diploma Programmes (2008 to 2009). From 2008 to 2009, she served as a co-chair of the Theory-Practice Task Force in NIE’s Programme Review and Enhancement (PRE) initiative, which culminated in NIE’s Teacher Education Model for the 21st Century (TE21). Thereafter, she was a co-chair of the Theory-Practice Core Team for the TE21 implementation steering group. She led her team in conceptualising and implementing the enhanced practicum model, with its use of professional focused conversations to deepen inquiry and strengthen theory-practice nexus, and the use of purposeful mentoring to help pre-service teachers improve their teaching competencies whilst developing their sense of teacher personhood. Furthermore, she was instrumental in advocating and shaping the Professional Practice and Inquiry portfolio in all pre-service programmes that allows pre-service teachers to aggregate and integrate their learning.

She is the Immediate Past President of the Educational Research Association of Singapore (ERAS), and represented Singapore in the World Education Research Association (WERA) Council. She was also the co-convener of the WERA-IRN (International Research Network) titled “Teacher education for the 21st century: Developing teachers who are thoughtful, reflective, and inquiring.”

Her research interests include motivation, teacher education, innovative pedagogy, e-portfolio and clinical practice.

Keynote Presentation (2020) | Creating a Motivating School: Considerations and Challenges
Barbara Lockee
Virginia Tech, USA

Biography

Barbara Lockee is a professor of Instructional Design and Technology in the School of Education at Virginia Tech. Since 1996, she has engaged in teaching and research related to instructional design and distance education, and has advised the research of more than three dozen doctoral students. Her scholarly inquiry is focused on mediated and online education and has been funded by various federal agencies, including the National Science Foundation, the US Department of Agriculture, and the US Agency for International Development, among others. She has also consulted for a variety of organisations, including the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the US Army Training and Doctrine Command and the USC Institute for Creative Technologies. Her recent co-authored book, Streamlined ID: A Practical Guide for Instructional Design, strives to make the design of learning solutions accessible and pragmatic for those who develop educational courses and programs in workplace contexts.

Dr Lockee is Past President of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology, an international professional organisation for educational technology researchers and practitioners. She earned her PhD in 1996 from Virginia Tech in Curriculum and Instruction (Instructional Technology), MA in 1991 from Appalachian State University in Curriculum and Instruction (Educational Media), and BA in 1986 from Appalachian State University in Communication Arts.

Panel Presentation (2020) | That's NOT Online Learning!: The Difference Between Emergency Remote Teaching and Online Learning
Keynote Panel Presentation (2020) | Flexible Learning in Uncertain Times: The Hy-Flex Model in Response to COVID-19

Previous ECLL Presentations

Keynote Presentation (2019) | Interaction in Online Learning: A Design Paradox
Farish A. Noor
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

Biography

Dr Farish A. Noor is Associate Professor at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) and also the School of History SoH, College of the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences COHASS, Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore. His main area of work has been Southeast Asian history, with a special focus on colonialism in Southeast Asia. His recent works include 'Data Collecting in Colonial Southeast Asia: Framing the Other' (Amsterdam University Press, 2020) and 'Before the Pivot: America's Encounters with Southeast Asia 1800-1900' (Amsterdam University Press, 2019).

Panel Presentation (2020) | Inclusive Education: A Critical Dialogue on Marginalised Communities
Thanassis Rikakis
Virginia Tech, USA

Biography

Thanassis Rikakis is professor of Bioengineering and of Performing Arts. His research spans systems design, arts and technology with a special focus on interactive neurorehabilitation, experiential media, adaptive learning and cyber-human intelligence. He is the founding chair of the Calhoun Honors Discovery Program and director of the Calhoun Center for Higher Education Innovation. These initiatives focus on adaptive, transdisciplinary learning and on advancing the interconnection of difference and excellence. They furthermore investigate life-long learning structures spanning K-12, higher education and industry. From 2015 until 2017 Thanassis served as executive vice president and provost at Virginia Tech. He led the development of transdisciplinary discovery communities (Destination Areas) and a new resource model (Partnership for an Incentive Based Budget). From 2012 to 2015 he served as vice provost for design arts and technology at Carnegie Mellon University where he founded the Integrative Design, Arts and Technology (IDEATE) network. He has also served as founding director of the School of Arts, Media and Engineering at Arizona State University and Associate Director for Research and Development of the Computer Music Center at Columbia University.

Plenary Panel (2020) | Embracing Difference? Adaptive Lifelong Learning

Previous ECLL Presentations

Keynote Presentation (2019) | Trandisciplinary Knowledge Ecosystems can Advance Interdependence and Agency
Andrea Samson
University of Fribourg & Swiss Distance University Institute, Switzerland

Biography

Andrea Samson is Associate Professor in Psychology and co-responsible for the French-speaking Masters program in Psychology at the Swiss Distance University Institute. She also has the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) Professorship at the Institute of Special Education, University of Fribourg. She is director of the chEERS Lab – a team of researchers interested in the study of socio-emotional processes in individuals with developmental disorders (e.g. autism spectrum disorder) and with intellectual disabilities (e.g. Williams Syndrome). Positive emotions (such as humor) and emotion regulation in relation to mental health play an important role in several research projects. The team is also interested in using board games as well as new technologies such as virtual reality for the assessment of emotional competences and for remediation training programs. Andrea Samson has studied and led research projects at various universities in Switzerland and abroad. She obtained her doctorate from the University of Fribourg and completed her post-doctorate at the University of Stanford (2010-2015). From 2015 to 2018, she received the Ambizione Fellowship from the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) at the Swiss Center for Affective Sciences (CISA), University of Geneva.

Panel Presentation (2020) | The impact of COVID19 on Children and Young People Across the Globe
Krisna Uk
Association for Asian Studies (AAS), USA

Biography

Krisna UK is the Association for Asian Studies (AAS) Senior Advisor to the Board of Directors, in charge of project development, outreach and strategic initiatives. Prior to joining the AAS, she was the Executive Director of the Center for Khmer Studies, designing and running programs focused on the history, politics and culture of Cambodia and neighbouring countries in Southeast Asia. Krisna studied at the University of California-Berkeley and holds a Masters degree in comparative literature from the University of Paris-Sorbonne and an MSc. in environmental change and management from Oxford. Her experience in Cambodia also includes overseeing landmine clearance programs and a period living in a remote village in the northeast of the country researching impacts of the Indochina War on ethnic minority communities. This formed the basis for her PhD in social anthropology at Cambridge University and subsequent book on the same topic.

Panel Presentation (2020) | Inclusive Education: A Critical Dialogue on Marginalised Communities
Zachary Walker
University College London, UK

Biography

Dr Zachary Walker is an academic, author, and speaker. In 2018, Zachary joined the University College London (UCL) Institute of Education (IOE) as an Associate Professor. At IOE, Zachary currently serves in the Department of Psychology and Human Development as the Programme Leader for Graduate Programs in Special Education and International Inclusive Leadership. Prior to joining IOE, Zachary was a faculty member at the National Institute of Education in Singapore from 2013-2018, where he served as a leader in Pedagogical Development and Innovation and on the 21st Century Teaching and Learning Framework taskforce. He was named a Think College Emerging Scholar (2012), as well as a Millennium Milestone Maker by the World Academy for the Future of Women (2015). He was awarded the John Cheung Social Media Award for Innovation in Teaching and Pedagogy (2015), and was nominated for the Wharton School Reimagine Education Awards (2016). Zachary's current work focuses on educational neuroscience, mobile technology, and leadership. He has delivered talks to education leaders and higher education faculty in North America, Central America, Europe, Africa, and Asia.

Keynote Presentation (2020) | The Future of People
Panel Presentation (2020) | Inclusive Education: A Critical Dialogue on Marginalised Communities

Previous ECLL Presentations

Keynote Presentation (2019) | Five Faces of this Generation
Panel Presentation (2019) | Education as a Route to Independence and Interdependence
Li Wei
University College London, Institute of Education, UK

Biography

Li Wei is Chair of Applied Linguistics at the UCL Institute of Education, University College London (UCL). His research interests are in the broad field of bilingualism and multilingualism. He is Principal Editor of the International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism and Applied Linguistics Review. His publications include Translanguaging: Bilingualism, Language and Education (with Ofelia Garcia), which won the 2015 British Association of Applied Linguistics Book Prize. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences, UK.

Keynote Presentation (2020) | Multi-Competence, Translanguaging and Multimodal Learning
Keri Wong
University College London, United-Kingdom

Biography

Keri is Assistant Professor of Psychology at University College London. Her research focuses on understanding the developmental causes of social (mis)trust and antisocial behaviour in children and adults in the community. She received her PhD in Social and Developmental Psychology from Newnham College and was the former Betty Behrens Research Fellow at Clare Hall, University of Cambridge.

Panel Presentation (2020) | The impact of COVID19 on Children and Young People Across the Globe