Professor Mike Wald

National Teaching Fellow 2010 Throughout his teaching career Professor Wald has improved learning for students through his excellence in teaching and his innovative creation, development and use of technology. He has helped change national policy, won many awards and achieved international recognition as a scholar and a champion for disabled students. Professor Wald advised and helped establish the disability services at Southampton and many other universities, directly benefitting the learning experiences of many thousands of students. When speech recognition technologies first became available, he identified their potential for enhancing learning for disabled and dyslexic students and worked closely with international colleagues to turn this potential into a reality. His most recent innovation, Synote, is being used by universities worldwide to transform learning for all students. A student at the University of Southampton commented: "Synote is the best system I have ever seen for assistive technology it is very useful for me to understand what the lecturer taught after class I hope all school majors could integrate this system, thanks". Professor Wald enjoys seeing others make use of the free technologies he has developed to enhance the learning of their students, and looks forward to developing further Synote and other technologies for the benefit of all students in HE. Academic colleagues in Europe and North America commented: "Professor Wald is a model academic worthy of our praise - he genuinely cares about teaching and learning, conducts world-class research, engages students in cutting edge learning opportunities, and collaborates broadly both within the academic community and beyond on educationally focused initiatives. "The systems he has envisioned, designed, and deployed are being used in many countries around the world. More importantly, they're providing real, tangible benefits for students. The ripple effect of his dedication to teaching excellence is profound and far-reaching. His approach and his insight make him a 'technology visionary', able to build strong bridges between the field of IT skills and those more closely related to educational issues and learning processes."