Staff Profile

Vic Lally is Director of the Interdisciplinary Centre for Research and Teaching in STEM Education at the University. His main interest is human learning: its ‘design’, philosophy and ethics, as well as the cultural and political contexts of learning. He is particularly interested in collaborative learning as a way of supporting human creativity and development. He haa researched and co-developed many collaborative designs, including projects for the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC, UK) and Higher Education Funding Council (HEFCE, England). His research activities are in the fields of Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL), Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) and learning in three-dimensional and mobile environments.  He has written over 100 papers and articles, and been Director/co-director of 17 national and international projects, as well as editing/co-authoring 4 books. His current research interests are focused on:

• Innovative approaches to educational and social justice interventions using advanced technologies for learning
• Meeting economic and social needs with advanced learning technologies
• Developing communities for learning and social development  with advanced technologies
• Ethical aspects of technology enhanced learning
• Developing virtual environments to support and enhance psychological well-being
• Advanced research methodologies for investigating learning, communities,
• Strategic international and interdisciplinary working in Europe, China, Asia and Africa
• Working in a wide range of subject contexts including sciences, mathematics and applied computing

He has worked extensively in China and Europe, and was one of the first in Europe to research and develop institutional e-learning (see Banks et al.) His latest project, ‘Inter-Life’ (ESRC/EPSRC – 2008-2011 under the Technology Enhanced Learning Programme) is a key investigation of the learning of life transition skills by young people, using highly innovative three-dimensional online tools and environments, and a range of analytical techniques that I have researched and developed in an extensive  programme.

Selected Publications: 

Lally, V. Sharples, M, Bertram, N, Masters, M, Tracy, F 2012 (In press) Researching the Ethical Dimensions of Mobile, Ubiquitous, and Immersive Technology Enhanced Learning (MUITEL): a thematic review and dialogue.  Journal of Interactive Learning Environments (DOI:10.1080/10494820.2011.607829)

Lally, V., Sharples, M., Bertram, N., Masters, S., Norton, B., Tracy, F. (2010) Mobile, Ubiquitous and Immersive Technology Enhanced Learning: an ethical perspective. ESRC/EPSRC: London ISBN 978-0-85473-911-0

Lally, V., Sclater, M. (2010)  Inter-Life: Community, Identity and Transition through Creative Engagement.  European Conference on Educational Research, Network 16: ICT in Education and Training, Session 16 SES 03 B, ICT in Adult Education (Paper) [25 08 2010] ECER 2010 paper (html) available at: http://www.eera-ecer.eu/ecer-programmes/conference/ecer-2010/contribution/1723/?no_cache=1&cHash=2e9a1dc1cd.

Banks, S., Lally, V. and McConnell, D. (Eds.) (2002) Collaborative e-Learning in Higher Education: issues and perspectives. Sheffield: Sheffield University (SPIE)