Keynote speakers

José Bidarra

Universidade Aberta (UAb), Portugal

The legacy of remote emergency teaching and the way to innovative learning strategies

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought new challenges to higher education, demanding innovative strategies and the adaptation to a new reality. Furthermore, even though there are certain scientific areas where the transition has been rather satisfactory, in many education areas the challenges seek to persist. Thus, there is a need to identify both the solutions and limitations of the models currently in use, encompassing a diversity of cultural and educational perspectives.

The recent experience, when it comes to higher education, has been primarily in two domains. One dealing with innovation policy, and how to support higher education institutions and universities. And the other, connected with this one, is how to advance the digital transition of higher education. It’s very important to realize that creativity and innovativeness have provided the ability to deliver education in non-standard circumstances. Educational technologies and instructional design had a strong push, and we are going to see a continuation of hybrid learning in the near future.

Bio

José Bidarra has a PhD in Educational Communications from Universidade Aberta (the Portuguese Open University), where he is currently Associate Professor with Habilitation in the Department of Education and Distance Learning. For many years he was head of the Informatics, Physics and Technology Section (SIFT) and has been director of Master and PhD programs. He is also co-author of the virtual pedagogical model used at Universidade Aberta. His current research interests focus mainly on the application of multimedia and digital media in distance education, including ebooks, games and simulations. Many of his master and doctorate students are developing new methodologies to engage learners in valuable experiences with digital media. Most of the research is conducted at Universidade Aberta and at CIAC (Center for the Arts and Communication Research, University of Algarve); other research includes a Honorary Fellowship at the Games, Learning and Society research unit, University of Wisconsin – Madison (USA), and frequent collaborations with European universities and networks: TU Graz, OU-NL, OU-UK, EADTU, EMPOWER, SmartLearning DK.

Dona Sarkar

Director of Technology – Microsoft Accessibility

How to Delight 8 Billion Humans

Abstract

How many of you want to DOUBLE your profits next year?
What? No one. That’s too bad.
I kid. Of course you want to make more money and have more impact.
This will sound incredibly trite but the way to do that is to…delight more customers.
In this session, you’ll learn how to build products and services that will delight 8 billion humans, make a LOT more money and have a lot more impact.

Bio

Director of Tech – Microsoft Accessibility. Multi-published author (turns out fiction writing is really useful in software!). Owner of the fashion brand Prima Dona Studios. Dyslexic but Dealing. Fast Company’s 100 Most Productive People and Cosmopolitan Spain magazine’s Businessperson of the Year. Always ready to get on a plane.

Frode Eika Sandnes

Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway

Embracing or resisting responsive content

Abstract

Responsive content gives the users freedom to access content according to their personal preferences. Current technology, particularly on the web, provides many useful mechanisms that support responsiveness. Many content providers are eagerly embracing the concept of responsiveness. However, implementing responsiveness can also result in unforeseen problems for certain users. In this talk I will illustrate examples of some of the challenges that often emerge unintentionally with responsive implementations and how these can be avoided. I will also give concrete examples of how and why some providers of educational content resist responsiveness, and particularly how this can affect access for students with special needs.

Bio

Frode Eika Sandnes is a distinguished teaching fellow and full professor in the Department of Computer Science at Oslo Metropolitan University. He received a B.Sc. in computer science from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, and a Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Reading. His research interests include human computer interaction generally and accessibility specifically. Frode was instrumental in the establishment of the first master program in universal design in Norway. He is an editorial member of several journals including the Universal Access in Information Society. He has co-hosted several international conferences including NordiCHI. Sandnes is the Norwegian representative to the IFIP technical committee of human-computer interaction (TC13).