Keynote speakers 

Josep A. Planell is President of the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) Spain, since April 2013. The UOC was founded in 1994 and is one of the world’s pioneer fully online universities. Planell was president of the Centro Internacional de Desarrollo (CINDA). He was director of the Center of Research for Biomedical Engineering (CREB) at the UPC from its creation in 1997 until 2006, and during that time was also director of the Center of Reference in Bioengineering of Catalonia (CREBEC) from April 2003 until December 2005. That same month saw the creation of the Institute of Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC), of which Planell was the director until April 2013, when he took office as president of the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya. In 2013 he was presented with the George Winter Award from the European Society for Biomaterials, becoming the first scientist from Spain ever to receive it.

Michael Gaebel is the director of the Higher Education Policy Unit, EUA (European University Association) which focuses on issues related to higher education learning and teaching, including the Bologna Process, lifelong learning, e-learning and MOOCs, internationalisation and global dialogue. When he first joined the organisation in 2006, he was in charge of developing EUA’s international strategy and global exchange and cooperation. Before joining EUA, Michael worked for more than a decade in higher education cooperation and development in the Middle East, the former Soviet Union and Asia. From 2002 to 2006, he was the European Co-Director of the ASEAN-EU University Network Programme (AUNP) in Bangkok.

Diana Laurillard is Professor of Learning with Digital Technologies at the UCL Knowledge Lab, leading externally-funded research projects. This work relates closely to her roles as Pro Director for Open Mode learning, and as founding member of the Planning Board for the cross-institutional Centre for Educational Neuroscience (IOE, Birkbeck, UCL). Previous roles include: Head of the e-Learning Strategy Unit at the Department for Education and Skills, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for learning technologies and teaching at The Open University, Visiting Committee on IT at Harvard University and previously worked on the Technology Enhanced Language Learning programme. Current roles include: Royal Society Working Group on Educational Neuroscience, Boards of the Observatory for Borderless HE, Supervisory Council for Fern Universität in Hagen, Governing Board of the UNESCO Institute for IT in Education.

Willem van Valkenburg is working in educational technology since 2000. Currently he is member of the leadership of TU Delft Extension School and managing the production and delivery of all open, online and blended courses of the university. Willem is also Vice-President of the Board of Directors of the Open Education Consortium.

He actively blogs on www.e-learn.nl on education and technology and is a regular speaker at conferences around the world.

Esther Huertas, PhD, received her qualification as Agronomist Engineer from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia and her B.S. (Food Science and Technology) and M.S. (Environmental Sciences) degrees from the University of Barcelona. She has also received her Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Barcelona. In her first appointment, she served as a researcher at the University of Barcelona and followed her professional activity as an assistant professor at the University of Barcelona for three years. She began to collaborate with AQU Catalunya as a student expert at TEEP II project, and in 2006 she got a position at the Agency. She is currently the Chair of ENQA’s working group on e-learning and the work package leader of quality assurance in online higher education in TeSLA project. Previously, she has been involved in virtual programme evaluation at the Open University of Catalunya.

Catherine Mongenet is president of FUN-MOOC since 2015, the French National MOOC organisation. In addition, Catherine Mongenet is professor in Computer Science. From 2009 to 2012, she has been vice-president of the University of Strasbourg in charge of the digital strategy. In May 2013, she was appointed Policy Officer at the French Ministry of Higher Education in charge of the project “France Université Numérique”. The aim of this national project is to support the French universities to develop online education and promote innovative teaching and learning methods using digital and online tools. She was responsible for the development of one major project is this agenda: the FUN MOOC platform, launched in October 2013 and dedicated to French and Francophone universities and their international academic partners.

Liz Marr has worked in UK Higher Education for almost 30 years, as a lecturer for 20 years and more latterly as part of the senior management of the Open University UK. She has oversight of the University’s access curriculum and Open Programme, the MA online and distance education (MAODE), Academic Professional Development, the development of research and scholarship in the areas of widening access and inclusion and overall responsibility for the University’s UK and international validation partnerships, including private and alternative providers. She is managing editor of the international journal Widening Participation and Lifelong Learning and an editorial board member of Learning and Teaching in the International Social Sciences.

Christian Dalsgaard is Associate Professor

at the Centre for Teaching Development and Digital Media at the Aarhus University.

Christian Dalsgaard's area of research lies within the field of online education, and his research is primarily concerned with the study of learning potentials of the internet. Especially, his research is focused on open-ended learning resources and learning environments which support self-governed activities of students. His research includes studies of personal learning environments, ubiquitous learning, open education and MOOCs.

Monika Skadborg is a member of the Executive Committee of the European Students’ Union. She has a background in the National Union of Students in Denmark (DSF) and the Technical University of Denmark (Polyteknisk Forening). She is an expert on Student Centered Learning and has experience developing policies on the dos and don’ts of e-learning.