Biography
Dr Liz FitzGerald is a Senior Lecturer in the Institute for Educational Technology at the Open University and a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. She is the chair for the OU's Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice (PGCAP) and module chair for the microcredentials HZFM882 'Online Teaching: Evaluating and Improving Courses' and HZFM888 'Teacher Development: Using Scholarship to Improve Practice'. She was the founding Director of the LTI Scholarship Centre (LATIS) from 2018-2020. She provides expertise in distance learning and teaching and knowledge exchange and previously taught on the Masters (MA) in Online and Distance Education. She is also the EDI (Equality, Diversity and Inclusion) champion for IET.
She has extensive experience in educational technology, especially in the field of professional advancement and educational equity. She leads research and practice that harness her expertise in pedagogy and theory-based evaluative learning, to effect positive change in educators and the ways they teach others.
In the past, she has researched situated learning and sense-making in educational technology. This has included research into mobile and location-based learning; the role of technology in changing or maintaining professional practice; and how personalisation in TEL can contribute to effective learning and teaching.
She has a number of PhD and EdD students, and is an external examiner for both EdD and PhD.
She worked previously at the University of Nottingham, at the Learning Sciences Research Institute (LSRI); the Schools of Computer Science and Biology; and in the Graduate School. She is also a qualified secondary school teacher.
She welcomes invitations for keynote speakers and consultancy.
Her publications can be found in the 'Publications' tab of this page. Many of her presentations can be found on Slideshare and you can find her on Twitter as elara99.
Publications
2025
2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2007
2006
2005
2004
Media appearances
Podcast: Misconceptions about learning
Is intelligence fixed and predetermined by genes? Is fun a distraction that should just be used as a reward after learning? Learning styles aren’t really as effective as they appear to be and misconceptions are more difficult to overcome than you might think. In this podcast episode, PhD student Katherine Langford discusses four misconceptions about learning with interviews from Emily Dowdeswell from the RUMPUS research group and Dr Liz FitzGerald.
Research @ Graduate School, on Soundcloud | 23rd September 2021
Zuckerberg is ploughing billions into ‘personalised learning’ – why?
The Conversation | 9th December 2015
Awards
Best Paper Award (2006)
Best Paper Award at ICALT 2006 conference
Lord Dearing Award for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (2009)
Co-recipient, as part of the Graduate School Research Training Team, University of Nottingham. Awarded in 2009.
Theodore Holm Nelson Prize (2007)
Best paper award + $1000 prize money for Best Newcomer Paper at Hypertext 2007 Conference.
WISE Tech Innovation Award (2017)
Co-recipient as part of an all-female team, this award recognises outstanding contributions to gender balance in science, technology and engineering.
Projects
Research programmes
Expertise
Professional memberships
- Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy