Wednesday, 11 March 2020: Prof. Dr. Ada Pellert, Rector of the University for Distance Learning Hagen

Prof. Dr. Ada Pellert has been the rector of Fernuniversität Hagen since March 2016, a chair of the cooperative platform for Digital Higher Education in Northrhine-Westphalia since September 2016 and a member of the German governments Digital Advisory Council since August 2018. From 2009 until 2015 she was the founding president of the German University for Continuous Professional Development in Berlin and at the same time professor for organisational development and educational management. From 2011 to 2016 she also was the president of the Carl Benz Academy in Bejing. Before this, she was a professor for research into continuous professional development and educational management at Donau-Universität Krems, where she was also Vice Rector for Teaching, Professional Development and Structural Planning from 2005-2008. From 1998 to 2005 she held an extraordinary professorship for Higher Education Research in the Faculty for Interdisciplinary Research and Professional Development at Klagenfurt University. From 1999 to 2003, she was Vice Rector for Teaching, Personnel Development and Promoting Women at the University of Graz. Her research expertise lies in educational management, higher education management, personnel development and organisational development. As an economist, she is also interested in international research on higher education and professional development, gender and diversity management and life-long learning.

Thursday, 12 March 2020: Dr. Joe Kim, Associate Professor - Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour at McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada

Joe Kim is an Associate Professor in Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour at McMaster University and is actively involved in the scholarship of teaching and learning.  He co-ordinates the innovative McMaster Introductory Psychology  program which combines traditional lectures with interactive online resources and small group tutorials. He directs the Education and Cognition Lab which aims to understand how cognitive principles such as attention, memory and learning can be applied to develop evidence-based interventions in education and training. Current research interests include: retrieval practice, interleaving, mind wandering, and exercise-learning interactions. He also organizes the annual McMaster Conference on Education & Cognition which brings together cognitive scientists, educators and policy makers to explore how cognitive science can be applied to educational policy and instructional design.