The Innov8 Panel

The innov8 panel is made up of a mixture of young people, learners, educators and innovation experts.

Richard Smartt, Apps for Good

Richard Smartt leads the education department at CDI Europe, and is the instructional designer of Apps For Good, an award-wining programme that helps young people to build apps that solve problems they care about. In  2011 he was awarded the Hero Innovator award for Inclusion at the Learning Without Frontiers festival for his work with Apps For Good and in the arts. He is interested in how artistry and learning intersect, and has been a visiting tutor at National Youth Theatre, The Young Vic and the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award.

Professor Rosemary Luckin, London Knowledge Lab

Professor Rosemary Luckin is a Professor of Learner Centred Design at the London Knowledge Lab. Her research applies participatory methods to the development and evaluation of Technology for learning. It is interdisciplinary, calling upon education, psychology, artificial intelligence and HCI to investigate the relationship between people, their context, the concepts they are learning, and the resources at their disposal. Professor Luckin has a Bachelor degree in Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence and a PhD in Cognitive Science, both from the University of Sussex. Professor Luckin works closely with users and beneficiaries of research that have included various UK Government departments and the BBC. She has taught in a variety of educational sectors including schools, and Further and Higher Education.

Stephen Fahey, Pearson Learning

Stephen Fahey is the Learning Technologies Director for Pearson’s UK Schools and Colleges business. His role is to oversee the teams that develop digital products and services for the Schools, Colleges and Work-based Learning businesses. Products range from simple CD-ROM based content packages, through to online planning, and assessment for learning services. Stephen has worked in the business for 16 years, with a range of roles in publishing and product development.

Frank Boyd, Unexpected Media

Frank Boyd is the founder of Unexpected Media and was until recently the creative director of Crossover. He has been one UK’s new media pioneers since founding the Arts Technology Centre in 1989. He has worked as producer, funder and trainer on a series of innovative creative and economic development programmes in the arts, broadcast, and in education in the UK, Europe, the US and Australia. He established the European Multimedia Labs, the Digital Media Alliance and BAFTA’s Interactive Entertainment Awards before joining the BBC as Director of Creative Development where he directed a series of development labs for interactive television, broadband and cross-platform production.

Owen White, Pearson Learning

Owen White is Director of Digital Strategy & Innovation in Schools & Colleges business of Pearson UK.  Pearson is unusual among large companies in that it is commited to learning, hence the tagline “Always Learning”. In the digital sphere this translates into a commitment to support and learn from innovative digital initiatives. Owen’s group is currently developing and trialling a range of disruptive digital services; some may never make it out of their trials; some might provide the core of hugely successful future digital services. Owen has held a range of commercial and technology-related roles within Pearson over the last 8 years.  Prior to this Owen worked in a number of small digital education businesses, including a portable content business that he founded and successfully sold.

Matt Gould, Panel Chair

Matt Gould has spent the last 15 years as a producer and collaborative practitioner working where innovation and technology meet creativity and learning. Specializing in business development, digital strategy and CSR, in the last five years Matt has worked with IPC Media, Pearson, TwoFour Digital, Blast Theory, the Guardian and A New Direction. Matt is also a non-executive director of Circa Circa Ltd, an international games company and was previously Director of Learning for BAFTA winners Soda.

Innov8 Panel Young Advisers

The Innov8 panel has a group of young people who act as advisers. This group is made up of young people from a diverse range of backgrounds and experiences aged 14-24. The role of the group is to ensure that decisions made by the panel are informed by young people’s feelings about the future of learning and the use of technology.