I am the University Director of Education at the University of Southampton , with cross university strategic responsibility for e-Learning and where I lead the Learning Societies Lab (LSL)  within the  School of Electronics and Computer Science (ECS) which is a "five star" research School in both Computer Science and Electronics, as well as having the maximum grades in teaching quality. I have the unique honour of having been promoted to professorial level twice, once for my contributions to Education, and later gaining a personal chair for research. I am a member of the JISC Learning and Teaching Committee (JLT).

I joined ECS in 1987 following four years of social work and seven years of school teaching. Early work with Wendy Hall in the area of video disc for educational purposes and archives led to ideas about Hypertext, and the early versions of the Microcosm open hypermedia system in 1989. I was a founder member of the Multimedia Research Group (MMRG) which became the Intelligence, Agents, Multimedia Group (IAM), and a founding director of Multicosm Ltd in 1994 - which became Active Navigation Ltd.

Following a period of 10 years or so working at the leading edge of Hypertext research, I have returned to my first research area of learning technology. I am interested in the ways in which technology can improve the learning experience, particularly in a research-led learning and teaching environment. My current areas of research focus on web and grid service architectures for distributed eLearning, and I have particular interests in assessment and learning design, and in social applications in e-learning: how e-learning can be improved when we understand that there is more than one learner. My current projects are listed here and publications listed here.

I am interested in potential PhD students in Technology Enhanced Learning, and in hearing from potential project collaborators.

I have taught on many courses, particularly Programming Principles, Multimedia Systems and and currently Advanced Hypertext Web Technologies and eLearning and Learning Technologies, as well as leading the large first year course on Personal and Professional Development. I have always believed innovation in teaching to be one of the most important features of a research-led University, and have had many responsibilities in this area. I am the University Director of Education responsible for e-Learning, and I chair the University's e-Learning Strategy Committee and I am a member of the University's Education Committee.  Between 1999 and 2003 I was Director of Learning and Teaching for the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science.

I live in Southampton with my partner and wife, Su White, and my other interests are surfing, campervanning, sailing, walking, bike riding, wine (I am convener of the University Wine Club) and music (Su and I organize an annual camp at the Glastonbury Festival).