Anne Forster is the Director of the
Innovation and Technology in Education Ventures (ITEV) Unit and Manager Special
Projects, in the Vice-Chancellor’s Office at the University of Sydney,
Australia. ITEV is a strategic development and investment initiative providing
business and project management expertise in the development of post-graduate
professional programs. ITEV works with the Pro-Vice-Chancellors of the Colleges
and the Deans of Faculties to identify growth opportunities and develop business
plans for flexible learning ventures using innovative technologies to reach new
national and global markets.
Before joining the
University
of
Sydney
in 2001, Anne was interim CEO of the
Canadian Telelearning Network of Centres of Excellence. She had previously been
Vice President of Learning for NextEd Ltd, an eLearning systems integrator and
infrastructure company, with education partners worldwide targeting emerging
Asian markets. As a consultant in her own company and
as a Senior Manager for KPMG, she has worked internationally on over thirty
research and development projects aimed at distance and internet based delivery
of education and training in all sectors and in both developed and developing
economies. She is currently assisting the
Commonwealth
of
Learning
in its strategic planning process as
consultant on open and distance learning in
Australia
and the Pacific Region.
Anne’s career has spanned both management and academic roles in the Higher
Education industry. She has had
academic positions with the
Institute
of
Educational Technology
at the UK Open University, RMIT and
the
University
of
South Australia
where she was a member of the academic
team that developed the world’s first professional qualification in distance
learning. She is author of a core module in the
University
of
Wisconsin
(
Madison
) professional qualification in
distance education. As Director of Educational Development at the
University
of
New South Wales
’ Australian Graduate School of
Management, she designed the learning system and managed the start-up of its
highly successful Executive MBA. Anne is an adjunct member of Faculty with the
Graduate School of Management and Technology,
University
of
Maryland
,
University College
,
USA
. Anne has a BA (UNSW), Dip Ed (N’cle),
MEd (
Sydney
) and is currently working on a
doctorate with a research focus on business models and business skills for high
growth post graduate courses.
Anne is the President of the Open
and Distance Learning Association of Australia.
