Philip Smith

Biography

I moved into front-end website development for an internet solutions provider at a time when companies were not really interested in domain names such as www.tea.co.uk! After gaining much web-based knowledge and experience I joined a graphic design and marketing company and successfully developed their internet department as the web was taking off and companies were beginning to realise the benefits of having an online presence.

After a successful period in the private sector I moved into the world of Education and joined St Martin’s College as a Client/Server programmer. I was based in the Faculty of Education and primarily worked on a project called CLEO (Cumbria and Lancashire Education Online) which was a project for teacher training students, pupils and their parents. Part of my work was designing interactive resources and developing a content management system to hold the developed resources. With the rise of the virtual learning environment (VLE) I was involved in launching the very first online distance learning course through Blackboard back in 2002. Since then I have continued to use my programming and solutions finding skills to develop various Blackboard plugin tools (apps) that add extra functionality to our Blackboard system.

I have since worked in a number of departments chiefly focusing on online learning technology. I provide consultancy on all aspects of Blackboard from structuring learning content to finding assessment and feedback solutions. I also have experience in designing and delivering TEL (Technology Enhanced Learning) workshops and demonstrations and guidance of TEL tools to staff.