Jonathan as co-founder and Director of the DMLL, seeks to challenge a number of assumptions surrounding, and open up new horizons for, higher education and networked media in the 21st century. Having worked in higher education for nearly 20 years, he has been instrumental in driving innovation within curricula design, envisioning next generation learning spaces and leading the implementation of cutting edge educational technology initiatives.

Jonathan has published four books, his latest NEWFOTOSCAPES was cited in Lens Culture’s best photo books of 2015.  More recently, he co-edited The ‘Disrupted’ Journal of Media Practice and Photomediations: An Open Book as part of Europeana Space, a grant funded by the European Union’s ICT Policy Support Programme.

Jonathan is Chair of Birmingham Open Media (BOM) UK, International Academic Board member for Photography Studies College, Melbourne, Australia and Trustee for The Photographers’ Gallery, London. He is a Visiting Professor at Bournemouth University’s Centre for Excellence in Media Practice (CEMP) and outgoing Chair of the Association for Photography in Higher Education (APHE). He was awarded a Direct Fellowship of Royal Photographic Society (RPS), a Fellowship of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) and the Education Leadership Award at the World Education Congress in Mumbai, India.

Sylvester leads research and applied innovation at the DMLL and he seeks to explore and exploit opportunities for external collaborations informed by the infusion of innovative practices within the DMLL and applied across the University and beyond.

As a Professor of Games Science, he forefronts the investigation into the application of playful and gameful approaches in teaching and learning practices at the University, which include game-based learning, serious games, gamification and playful learning. He co-founded the GameChangers – a Game Design Thinking initiative, which is currently being adopted and adapted in other countries, such as Malaysia. The circle of impact of current and previous work framed under the playful and gameful learning has expanded beyond the University Group into national and international domains and sectors.

Sylvester has a large portfolio of funded projects and publications. To date, he has successfully won projects with a total value of £19 million since 2010 from funders including FP7, H2020, Erasmus+, NEWTON, AHRC and HEFCE. He is currently coordinating and leading the Beaconing project funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme, HEFCE funded Mobile GameChangers and NEWTON CreativeCulture project. He is also leading DMLL’s contribution to the EU H2020 Crowd4Roads project and EU H2020 BOND project.

Sylvester currently has over 90 academic publications, including one edited book- Serious Games for Healthcare. He regularly delivers keynotes at national and international events. He has supervised doctorate students to completion and he has also externally examined doctorate candidates from other universities.

Alex is an Innovation Technologist, Multimedia Designer, and practiced-based researcher at Coventry University. His interests lie in the intersection of innovation, technology, and education, with an emphasis on the benefits of frugal education, rapid innovation practice, and game-based learning.

His work focuses on the exploration, development, and realisation of new learning and teaching practice. Working as a mentor to both staff and students, advising on university policy, innovation initiatives, and technology implementation.

His research focuses on Frugal Education; leveraging accessible and available resources, trailing edge-technologies, and innovative approaches to create engaging, sustainable, and scalable teaching and learning practice.

Alex has amassed over twenty years experience in the field of multimedia design, with a career spanning a multitude of disciplines, including web development, graphic design, journalism, photography, social media, brand development, and information technology.

During his five years at Coventry University, Alex has been instrumental in the development of some of the most successful initiatives to date within the DMLL. He developed the Lab’s first open course, co-founding the GameChangers initiative for game-based learning innovation; co-delivered the inaugural DMLL Add+Vantage module in Entrepreneurial Learning; and co-designed the L·E·A·R·N framework, LEGO initiative, and Coventry University SPRINT processes that have now become influential in the development of new innovative course design across the CU Group and beyond.

Having held a multitude of roles that required continuous knowledge and skill acquisition, I am passionate about the interplay between business and education. This juxtaposition inspires me to create engaging learning experiences that identify potential for career maximisation. I leverage the learning environment to create interactions that mimic real-world scenarios, whilst pushing participants to think in new ways and question current business paradigms. It is my desire that learners master metacognition through autodidactic endeavours that coalesce to ensure career resilience; facilitated by a work ethic that is both impactful and sustainable

As part of his role at the Lab, Daniel leads on a number of initiatives experimenting with the use of digital technologies for educational purposes. In particular, his work focuses on the promotion of web literacies, networked learning, digital pedagogy, open educational practices and the use of online media for internationalisation of the curriculum.

His portfolio of initiatives includes, for instance, projects empowering students and staff to take more ownership and control over the online presence while developing key digital skills (Coventry.Domains), student-led activities aiming to spread digital fluency among peers (Digital Leaders) or EU-funded projects helping academics adopt innovative educational practices (OpenMed, EduHack). Most recently, he has led on the creation of an Open Educational Resources (OER) Policy for Coventry University.

Daniel joined Coventry University in 2014 as Online International Learning Programme Manager, after completing his PhD at theOxford Internet Institute. Prior to coming to the UK, he worked at the International University of Andalusia – where he was one of the founders of its Digital Practices & Cultures Space-Network –, the University of Seville and ZEMOS98.

Before joining the Disruptive Media Learning Lab (DMLL), Mark spent over a decade working as a designer within the games industry. He has worked on several highly successful videogame console titles; including six of Codemasters Formula One series, which won a BAFTA for Best Sports Game in 2010. A specialist in the creation of new intellectual properties, user-interface and user-experience design, Mark joined the DMLL in May 2017 as a Research Assistant.

His current role involves the design of a gamification platform for the CROWD4ROADS Project, and Phoenix Interactive, an initiative designed to provide students with a simulated work environment, within which they can get taste of what it’s like to work within the creative industry. Other interests include archaeology, photography, astronomy, and playing with lightsabers.