Kelly Stewart

Kelly gained an MSc from the University of Huddersfield in 2016 in Technology Enhanced Learning. She is already a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and currently working towards Senior Fellowship. She is a member of the Association for Learning Technology and an active member of UCLan’s DigiLearn community.

Kelly is experienced in both Further Education (FE) and Higher Education (HE), teaching on a range of subjects including Digital Learning Design, Teacher Training Qualifications (PGCE, CertEd), Early Years Professional Practice, Teaching Assistants and Business Studies. Her industrial experience includes working at the BBC, the Awarding Body for the Built Environment (ABBE), the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), KPMG and the Whitbread Hotel Group.

Kelly has extensive direct experience and a proven track record of development and roll out, at pace, of technology enabled learning materials to a wide variety of clients, including internal, external, project based, collaborative and whole organisation audiences. An example of this is where Kelly successfully led and managed a JISC project to create Interactive Learning Resources (ILR) that was uploaded to a national database to disseminate the resources nationally. This involved working with a new team with a completely unfamiliar department which enabled her to utilise her excellent interpersonal skills to win the hearts and minds of the staff. Kelly monitored and kept the project on track with an overall focus on the pedagogical values and delivered a high-quality product on time and to budget.

Throughout Kelly’s career there is a lifelong passion that has been continuously updated with a particular focus on developments of technology and education. The use of technology does not negate the need for teachers/lecturers and assessors. Moreover, learning technologies and e-learning materials can enhance learning, teaching and assessment. Although the latest research suggests that developing student digital skills has become more student centred, it is also vital that staff are adequately trained and understand how to utilise technology effectively.

In previous roles Kelly has led staff development sessions to prepare for Ofsted Inspections. On four occasions, Kelly has been part of the team that facilitated and enabled smooth completion of Ofsted inspection visits of Initial Teacher Education course provision (through the University of Huddersfield) and of FE adult course provision at Accrington & Rossendale College. Kelly has been observed four times by Ofsted all under different inspection regimes, which has allowed her to confidently disseminate her experience to colleagues to enable and encourage best practice. As a result of being observed for the College’s most recent teaching and learning observation by Ofsted, the Head of Quality and Vice Principal of the College praised Kelly for her management of the programmes, innovative teaching methods, clear systems and procedures.

Kelly shares the UCLan’s mission of creating a positive change in students, staff, business partners and wider communities to enable them to develop their full potential. This mission is met by providing excellent higher education, innovation and research which she is enthusiastic to embed into the role.