Helen Bilton joins Online Courses team as Academic Partner
Tuesday, 17 September 2019
Professor Helen Bilton, Institute of Education, has joined the Online Courses team within the Centre for Quality Support and Development in the new role of Academic Partner (0.3). Working in partnership with Nicky McGirr (Online Courses Programme Manager), Helen will help to champion online courses, provide academic advice and guidance, evaluate impact and assist with dissemination and profile-raising.
Helen said: "I was so happy to get the role. I have always valued the power of online courses, having seen the impact of the Open University for changing lives. I feel Reading has created some fantastic courses already, on a range of very important subjects. This method of delivery means that anyone can learn and develop regardless of where or who they are".
Helen recently led on the creation of two new online courses for primary and secondary school workers to provide a range of learning activities and guided discussions over four weeks to help teaching assistants, who play an important role in the classroom to work with children more effectively.
Vicki Holmes (Head of TEL) said: "The whole team is delighted. Helen’s enthusiasm, experience and ideas will be a wonderful addition to this important area of activity".
The Online Courses team is currently celebrating reaching its one millionth enrolment across its on its online courses programme after launching its first MOOC, Begin Programming, in October 2013.