Teaching & Learning Conference 2024
Dr Tony Mays
Director: Director: Education at the Commonwealth of Learning in Vancouver
Dr Tony Mays is Director: Education at the Commonwealth of Learning in Vancouver. He completed his undergraduate studies in the United Kingdom and then started his career as a secondary school teacher in Malawi, in a school which supported both traditional full-time day scholars as well as non-traditional learners registered with the Malawi College of Distance Education. His interest in teaching and learning through both contact and distance education methods, as well as combinations thereof, continued throughout his subsequent career which increasingly focused on teacher development through distance education and then also about distance education.
Dr Mays will make a virtual keynote address titled: Rooting for Robots through Pragmatic Pedagogy. His presentation aligns with Sub-theme 2: Technology-Enhanced Teaching, Learning and Student Support in CODeL
A brief synopsis of Dr May’s address is a s follows:
Technology continues to evolve and is increasingly ubiquitous in our lives. We cannot isolate ourselves from it, so it is pragmatic to engage with it in ways that help us to teach and support students more efficiently and effectively. This presentation will reflect on engagement with technologies such as automated feedback, digital dashboards, MOOCs, digital OER and uses of generative artificial intelligence which are informed by pedagogy rather than dictated by the form of technology employed. It will explore both some things that have worked and some things that have not worked and will also explore ways in which we can make informed decisions about appropriate use of appropriate technology based on actual practice. The presentation will draw upon experience from across the Commonwealth, primarily in developing contexts, in both schooling and post-schooling provision.