Biography
Darina M. Slattery, PhD, MSc, BBS, is an Associate Professor at the University of Limerick (UL), where she teaches modules (courses) on e-learning, instructional design, and technical communication. Since 2022, she has been serving as the Academic Change and Engagement Lead for the UL VLE/ LMS Implementation Project (Brightspace). In 2021, she served as the Project Lead for the first phase of UL VLE/ LMS Review.She is the Immediate Past President of the IEEE Professional Communication Society (ProComm), having served two years as President (2021-2022) and two years as Vice President (2019-2020). From 2016-2022, she served two terms as an elected member of the ProComm Board of Governors. Darina was a member of the conference planning teams for the IEEE Professional Communication (ProComm) Conferences in Madison, USA (2017) and Toronto, Canada (2018); she served as board liaison for Aachen, Germany (2019); she facilitated two virtual conferences (2020 and 2021); and she facilitated local logistics for Limerick (2022). In 2024, she will serve as Program Co-Chair for ProComm. In July 2023, Darina was awarded the Emily K. Schlesinger Award for Outstanding Service to the IEEE Professional Communication Society.
In 2019, Darina won the UL Award for Excellence in the Provision of Pedagogic Support, for the digital learning supports she designed and developed for UL colleagues, including the Developing UL Online (or DUO) programme, TEL workshops, and suite of online resources, as well as the one-to-one mentoring she offers colleagues.
In 2019, Darina won the Frank R. Smith Outstanding Journal Article Award for an article she co-authored with Aileen Cudmore in the STC's 'Technical Communication' journal (volume 66, issue 4). The article was titled 'An Analysis of Physical and Rhetorical Characteristics of Videos Used to Promote Technology Projects, on the Kickstarter Crowdfunding Platform'.
Darina is an Alumna of the Institute for Emerging Leadership in Online Learning (IELOL) professional development programme (2019), which was jointly developed by the University of Central Florida and the Online Learning Consortium. She is also an Alumna of the Leadership & Innovation programme (2021) from MIT Professional Education.
Darina has published her research in international refereed journals and conference proceedings. She is a reviewer for several international journals, including the British Journal of Educational Technology, IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, IEEE Transactions on Education, Computers & Education, Computers and Composition, and Communication Design Quarterly. Her current research projects are concerned with the professional development of blended/ online teachers, learning analytics, online learning/ e-learning, and virtual teams.
Darina currently serves on a number of school, faculty, and university committees. Previously, she served as Subject/ Discipline Head of Technical Communication and Instructional Design at UL and Director (Chair) for the MA in Technical Communication and E-Learning and Graduate Certificate in Technical Writing programmes at UL. She has also worked as a private consultant in Technology-Enhanced Learning in further and higher education.
Research Interests
* Technology-Enhanced Learning/ E-Learning* Online Collaboration
* Virtual Teams
* Continuing Professional Development for Online Teachers
* Learning Analytics
* Content Analysis
* Instructional Design
* Information Design/Architecture
* Technical Communication
* Digital Literacies for Higher Education
To-date, I have supervised the completion of over 100 MA dissertations/ projects and co-supervised the completion of one PhD thesis. I am currently co-supervising one PhD in the area of student engagement in blended and online learning.
Current and Past Projects
* Curriculum Development and Exchange Structure for European TEL Teaching (2023 to present): I am collaborating with colleagues from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Heidelberg University of Education, the Open University of the Netherlands, University College London, among others, to develop a white paper on Technology-Enhanced Learning (TEL) education, a model for student and staff exchange, and other collaborative efforts.
* Technology Adoption and the Professional Development Needs of Blended and Fully Online Teachers (2014 to present): Since 2014, I have been facilitating professional development workshops for staff who need to learn how to teach online or simply wish to use technology more in their on-campus teaching. In 2021, I was seconded to work as the Project Lead for the first phase of the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) review at the University of Limerick. Activities included undertaking a literature review, benchmarking against other Higher Education Institutions, working with VLE (LMS) platform vendors and service providers, and consulting with the campus community about their VLE needs. Since October 2022, I have been serving as the Academic Change and Engagement Lead for the VLE project, leading to the full adoption of Brightspace across the institution in September 2023. I am currently working on a number of publications arising from these activities.
* Collaborative Online International Learning/ International Virtual Teams (2006 to present)
Since early 2023, I have been collaborating with Dr. Bård Ketil Engen and Dr. Tonje Hilde Giæver (OsloMET, Norway) and Dr. Yvonne Cleary (University of Limerick) on a Collaborative Online Online International Learning (COIL) project. Students from both institutions collaborate in the OpenSimulator virtual platform to develop joint products.
From 2006 to 2019, I was one of a team of researchers investigating communication strategies, leadership roles, and technology use in student virtual teams. Collaborators: Dr. Madelyn Flammia (University of Central Florida), Dr. Patricia Minacori (Université Paris-Diderot 7), and Dr. Yvonne Cleary (University of Limerick).
* Learning Analytics and Content Analysis (2016 to 2020): I use Sakai analytics and qualitative content analysis to evaluate student engagement among on-campus and online students. I have also collaborated on a project to examine Google analytics for YouTube instructional videos. Collaborators: Dr. Michael O'Brien and Dr. John Walsh (University of Limerick).
* E-Learning and Blended Mobility (2015 to 2018): I led the e-learning and blended mobility work package of the EUCERMAT (EUropean CERamics MATerials) Erasmus+ Strategic Partnership. My activities include delivering e-learning training to academic staff in five EU institutions (the Université de Limoges, France; the Technische Universität Darmstadt, Germany; the AGH University of Science and Technology, Poland; the Universidade de Aveiro, Portugal; and the University of Limerick), researching best practice in online delivery, coordinating blended mobility activities, and facilitating the online delivery of teaching units, with a view to developing a blended mobility/ online Joint Masters programme in Advanced Ceramics. Click here for further details: http://www.eucermat.eu/
*MIDAS-NET (Multimedia Information Demonstration And Support Network) (1998 to 1999)
My role: MIDAS-NET Ireland representative (for BTiS).
Background: BTiS was the coordinator of the INFO2000 MIDAS-NET in Ireland. INFO2000 was a programme of the European Commission (5th Framework), which promoted multimedia content in the information society. The MIDAS-NET network was established to collect and disseminate information and raise awareness about multimedia.
*MLIS (MultiLingual Information Society) (1998 to 1999)
My role: MLIS Ireland Project Officer (for BTiS). In this role, I developed resources, undertook research, attended conferences, and presented findings at national and international workshops.
Background: MLIS was a programme of the European Commission (DG XIII/E), which promoted linguistic diversity in the emerging information society. It comprised actions relating to language infrastructure development and the use of language technologies and resources in business and the wider community.
Professional Activities
Award
- 2023 - Emily K. Schlesinger Award for Outstanding Service to the IEEE Professional Communication Society
- 2019 - UL Teaching Excellence Award (Excellence in the Provision of Pedagogic Support to Blended and Fully Online Teachers)
- 2019 - Frank R. Smith Outstanding Journal Article Award
Education
- 2021 Massachusetts Institute of Technology - Professional Education Certificate in Leadership & Innovation
- 2019 Online Learning Consortium/ University of Central Florida - Certificate of Completion, Institute for Emerging Leadership in Online Learning (IELOL)
- 2012 University of Limerick - PhD
- 1999 University of Limerick - M.Sc. in Software Localisation
- 1997 University of Limerick - B.Business Studies with French
- 1995 Chambre de Commerce et d'Industrie de Paris - Certificat Pratique de Francais Commercial et Economique
Employment
- 2003 University of Limerick - Junior Lecturer/ Lecturer/ Senior Lecturer/ Associate Professor (E-Learning, Instructional Design, and Technical Communication)
- 2000 University of Limerick - Junior Lecturer (Software Localisation)
Association
- Senior Member, IEEE (2022 to present)
- Affiliate Member, Affiliate Member, Localisation Research Centre (1998 to present)
- Member, Member, Association for Learning Technology (2014 to present)
- Board of Governors, Elected Member, Board of Governors, IEEE Professional Communication Society (2016-2022)
- Region 8 Representative for the IEEE Professional Communication Society (Europe, Middle East and Africa), Region 8 Representative for the IEEE Professional Communication Society (Europe, Middle East and Africa) (2017-2018)
- Member, Member, European Distance and E-Learning Network (EDEN) (2018-2022)
- Vice President, Vice President, IEEE Professional Communication Society (2019-2020)
- Member, Member, Research Data Alliance (Dec 2018 to present)
- Professional Member, Professional Member, Online Learning Consortium (Oct 2019-Oct 2020)
- Member, Member, IEEE Education Society (2020 to present)
- President, President, IEEE Professional Communication Society (2021-2022)
- Immediate Past President, Immediate Past President, IEEE Professional Communication Society (2023 to present)
- Member, Member, IEEE (2009-present)
Language
- French
- German
- Irish
Committee
- Executive Committee, School of English, Irish, and Communication (2016 to 2020),
- Faculty Representative, Academic Programme Review Committee (APRC) (2015-2018),
- Chair, Teaching and Learning Committee, School of Culture and Communication (2015 to 2016),
- Member, MA in Technical Communication and E-Learning Course Board (2010 to present),
- Member, Graduate Certificate in Technical Writing Course Board (2003 to present),
- IEEE ProComm 2017 Conference Commiteee,
- IEEE ProComm 2018 Conference Commiteee,
- Chair, AHSS E-Learning Committee/ Digital Learning Forum (2018 to 2021),
- Member, Learning Technologists Forum (2018 to present),
- AC Rep, Working Group for Institutional Feedback Mechanisms (March 2022 to present),
- Faculty Representative, Academic Council (Jan 2022-June 2023),
- VLE Transformation Group (October 2022 to present),
- VLE Project Team (January 2021 to present),
Outreach
- In 2011, I supervised MA students as they collated and developed resources for the Ennis 2020 Hub Plan (UL Practicum). They also developed the website (http://www.ennis2020.ie/index.html) to communicate the plan to the people of Ennis and the surrounding areas.
Consultancy
- SOLAS - Technology-enhanced learning (TEL) consultant to SOLAS, the further education and training authority.
Research Collaborators
- Gilles Trolliard - Funding Award - Université de Limoges -France
- Madelyn Flammia - Joint Publication - University of Central Florida -USA
- Patricia Minacori - Joint Publication - Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 -France
- Kirk St. Amant - Joint Publication - Louisiana Tech University -USA
- Laura Patterson - Joint Publication - University of British Columbia -Canada
- Bård Ketil Engen - Joint Publication -Norway -OsloMet University
- Tonje Hilde Giæver - Joint Publication -Norway -OsloMet University
- Mikhail Fominykh - International Collaboration Type - Norwegian University of Science & Technology -Norway
- Marco Kalz - International Collaboration Type - Heidelberg University -Germany
- Armin Weinberger - International Collaboration Type - Saarland University -Germany
- Tobias Ley -Austria -University of Continuing Education Krems