Co-Creating a More Equitable Future of Digital Education with Michael Gallagher

For educators who feel that everything they love about teaching has been thrown away, this conversation offers insights to help navigate the current turmoil in higher education by learning how universities can co-design a more equitable future of digital education to continue to serve teachers, students, staff and the local community. 

Our guest today is Michael Gallagher, lecturer in Digital Education at the University of Edinburgh, co-programme director of the MSc in Digital Education and a member of the Centre of Research in Digital Education. Previously, Michael was an Assistant Professor at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in Seoul, Korea. 

Today he works on digital education projects in sub-Saharan Africa (Nigeria, Tanzania, and Uganda) and often collaborates with INGOs, including the World Bank’s Open Learning Campus and UN-Habitat. He currently works on Foundations for All, a Mastercard Foundation project exploring blended learning pathways for refugees into higher education in Uganda and Lebanon.

Michael was a researcher on the Near Future Teaching project, a project that explored how teaching at The University of Edinburgh unfolds over the coming decades, as technology, social trends, patterns of mobility, and new media continue to shift what it means to be at the university. 

Michael has been awarded The University of Edinburgh Principal's Medal for 2020 for his outstanding contribution to support the university during 2020. In this episode, you will learn how Michael helped his colleagues and students move their courses online by leveraging his experience teaching the online MSc in Digital Education years before the pandemic. 

Maria and Michael also unpack the role of mobile learning in creating a more inclusive education, especially for underserved and marginalized communities. They also share their thoughts and experience related to the pedagogy of simultaneity and serendipity in learning as they discover their shared passion for audio and natural sounds.

This is a rare conversation with a researcher and a teacher who wants to positively influence people’s view of what teaching can be, what teachers are and what role they serve in digital education.

 

Listen to this episode and explore:

Introducing Michael Gallagher and key highlights from today’s episode (1:20)

Michael’s desire to become a teacher and be involved in education (6:32)

Studying education, information science and digital education: an international, on-campus and online learning experience (8:20)

Michael’s current role at the University of Edinburgh in the UK and his thoughts on how digital education is empowering the teacher (12:54)

The Near Future Teaching project at the University of Edinburgh; the project's scope and lessons shared with other institutions (15:40)

Comparing the outcomes of the Near Future Teaching project with the higher education trends in the UK and beyond (19:43)

How higher education institutions can identify their probable new futures and co-create their preferred future using agency, and participation (22:05)

Resources and insights to help teachers navigate the current uncertainty in higher education individually and at their institutions (24:40)

How to anticipate the future of higher education by learning to interrogate the present through the lens of the future (28:05)

The Centre of Research in Digital Education: key areas of focus (30:55)

The importance of internet connectivity and mobile-first approach to enhance access to online learning in developed and emerging countries (33:38)

What Michael learned while supporting sub-Saharan Africa universities to teach online during the pandemic and how he leveraged this experience to help the University of Edinburgh (38:05)

Michael and Maria share their gratitude and appreciation for the impact of education in their lives and career