Dr Tony Bates
Research Chair in e-Learning, The Open University of Catalonia
Organizational and cultural challenges and opportunities in international online learning
Tony Bates is President and CEO of Tony Bates Associates Ltd, a private company specializing in consultancy and training in the planning and management of e-learning and distance education. He is part-time Research Chair in e-Learning at the Open University of Catalonia in Barcelona, Spain, and part-time Cisco Chair in e-Learning at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology. He is also on the Academic Advisory Board of the Volkswagen Auto Uni, based in Germany.
He was Director of Distance Education and Technology in the Continuing Studies Division of the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada from 1995 to 2003. He was also Research Team Leader of MAPLE, the Centre for Research into Managing and Planning Learning Environments in Education at UBC.
From 1990 to 1995, he was Executive Director, Research, Strategic Planning, and Information Technology at the Open Learning Agency of British Columbia. Prior to that, he was Professor of Educational Media Research at the British Open University, where he worked for 20 years as one of the founding members of staff.
He is the author of eight books, including 'Managing Technological Change: Strategies for College and Universities Leaders', and (with Gary Poole) 'Effective Teaching with Technology in Higher Education'. His latest book is ‘Technology, e-Learning and Distance Education’, published in April 2005. His research groups at the UKOU, OLA and UBC published over 350 papers in the area of distance education and the use of technology for teaching. He is on the editorial board of six journals specializing in distance education and educational technology.
He has worked as a consultant in over 30 countries. Clients include the World Bank, OECD, UNESCO, national ministries of education, and several U.S. state higher education commissions.
He has a Ph.D. in educational administration from the University of London, England. He has been awarded the degree of Doctor Honoris Causa by the Open University of Portugal in 1995, Doctor of Letters, Honoris Causa, from Laurentian University, Canada, in 2001, Doctor Honoris Causa from Athabasca University, in June 2004, and Doctor of Social Sciences from the Open University of Hong Kong in 2005.
