Dr Amanda Jefferies

National Teaching Fellow 2011 Dr Amanda Jefferies has worked at the University of Hertfordshire since 1991. Embracing a conversational approach to learning and teaching, she has also actively researched into e-learning and its pedagogy and was appointed as a University Teaching Fellow in 2001. Reflecting on changing practice, she has successfully sought to apply lessons learnt throughout her own teaching and researching. Two of her former students comment: "Amanda's excellent teaching gave me the skills and confidence to run my own IT consultancy" and "I always looked forward to your lectures, they were well presented, fun, interesting and full of discussion." Amanda's interest in technology-enhanced learning developed alongside changing web technologies and she was foremost in researching the impact of her University's managed learning environment (MLE) on the changing experience for academics and students. An early adopter of a blended learning approach in her teaching, Amanda was always keen to help colleagues benefit from the opportunities afforded by the MLE, as a local champion. A key player in the University of Hertfordshire's HEFCE Centre for Excellence, the Blended Learning Unit (BLU) from 2005-2010, Amanda led its scholarship and evaluation work. The Director of BLU wrote: "Amanda has a passion for learning and teaching and for understanding the students' learning experiences and works tirelessly to use this knowledge to enhance student learning and to effect positive change in teaching practice." From 2007 to 2009 Amanda was Project Director for Student Reflections On Lifelong e-Learning (STROLL). This project, partly funded by JISC for their Learners' Experiences programme, researched students' changing uses of learning technologies through their own video and audio diaries. She has been actively involved in presenting her research into student experiences of learning across the UK and internationally and in encouraging colleagues, through her work for the JISC Experts Group, as well as for ALT-C and other conferences. An NTF colleague writes: "Amanda's passion and continued quest for excellence in learning and teaching at local, national and international levels has been an inspiration to me."