Who we are

Dr Liz Falconer, E-Learning Development Unit Manager

Liz started her working life as an Environmental Health Officer in a local authority in Cheshire in 1978, moving on to private industry (British Oxygen) after 6 years of public sector practice in health and safety at work. In 1987 Liz joined University College Salford, later part of the University of Salford, lecturing in occupational safety and health. Her interest in distance and online learning developed as the designer and course director of the MSc in Occupational Safety and Health, a flexible, multi-mode programme that used Blackboard 5TM as the VLE platform. In 2001 Liz moved to the University of Bath as Director of the Centre for Distance Education, and then joined UWE in July 2003. She completed her MPhil at Manchester Polytechnic in 1992 and her PhD at Salford University in 2001.

Manuel Frutos-Perez, E-Learning Development Unit Deputy Manager

Manuel started his academic career teaching Spanish Culture at the Johannes Kepler University of Linz in Austria after completing his first degree in Spanish and German Philology at the University of Salamanca in Spain. He moved to London in 1997 where he held different academic posts teaching Spanish language and culture at several institutions (University of Greenwich, London Business School, Goldsmiths College, Open University and Tower Hamlets College). After completing his MA in Management of Language Learning at the University of Greenwich he went on to work as an E-learning Academic Consultant for the Open University of Catalonia (UOC) in Spain from 2000 until joining UWE in 2003. The UOC is Europe's first completely virtual university. Since his time in Linz he has always been interested in the use of ICT for teaching and learning and he has participated in the production of interactive CD-ROMs with the Open University and WIDA Software. He has also written and contributed to numerous textbooks and e-learning interactive materials.

Dr Olivia Billingham, E-Learning Research Fellow

Olivia joined the E-Learning Development Unit as an E-Learning Research Associate on the Research Observatory project in September 2005. Her main role is to develop content for the Research Observatory by designing learning objects or liaising with academic staff in order to transform existing teaching materials into learning object format. Olivia’s first degree and PhD are in the field of molecular biology and genetics. More recently Olivia has achieved a postgraduate qualification in Law. Throughout her varied academic and professional career, Olivia has developed a keen interest in the delivery of complex information in a format appropriate and comprehensible to the end user whether in a commercial or teaching context.

Mark Shand, E-learning Development Officer