The Really Useful #EdTechBook, David Hopkins

David Hopkins

David HopkinsMy name is David Hopkins, and I am an experienced leader and manager of learning design and learning technology.

All views expressed here and in the posts are personal are not representative of my employer; past, present, or future.
Last updated: November, 2021.

Who am I?

  • Learning Technology and Instructional/Learning Design since 2007.
  • Fellow of the Higher Education Authority (FHEA) since 2011
  • Certified Member of the Association for Learning Technology (CMALT) since 2013
  • ALT Learning Technologist of the Year (Highly Commended), September 2014
  • Trustee for the learning charity, Learn Appeal, 2015 to 2019
  • ALT Learning Technologist of the Year (Community Award), December, 2020
  • Member of the Learning and Performance Institute (MLPI), 2021
  • Trustee for the Association for Learning Technology, 2022

From a short career in the UK oil & gas industry as a Petrophysicist/data manager (yes, really) I expanded my understanding and love of online and distance learning through a career as an internet consultant and a self-employed freelance designer. Working closely with connected and disparate online communities, utilising and implementing the best of the internet at the time, I found myself at Bournemouth University in 2007 connecting a global community of online, remote students.

There began my career in the UK HE sector: first as a learning technologist and then, more recently, as a respected leader and vocal supporter of learning design, learning technologists (and more titles too numerous to list here). I have written and self-published four books, and have received many industry awards in my journey to understand and master (if at all possible) this thing called ‘online learning’.

David Hopkins, BSc (Hons), PG Cert, FHEA, CMALT, MLPI

About this blog
I started this blog in October 2008 to order and publish my thoughts, and to engage with like-minded educators, facilitators, technicians, designers, etc who are interested in the same kind of things – namely eLearning, mLearning, Blackboard / VLE / LMS / CMS, technology in the classroom, Blended Learning, MOOCs, Online / Distance Learning, etc.

What is a Learning Technologist?
I believe the role of a Learning Technologist is evolving, and I have enjoyed the exploration of ‘what’ we are and ‘how’ we work. In 2009 I started writing about my thoughts on the role, and its evolution, and I have been vocal within the #EdTech community with this knowledge to widen the understanding and adoption throughout the UK HE sector. Here are the posts to date:

Why “Don’t Waste Your Time”?
When I was setting the blog up, one evening when I should have been doing something more domestic and meaningful, I wanted a domain and not just something like blogname.wordpress.com. I was doing some searches, based around my name, and was coming up blank. I thought I ought to stop wasting my time and get on with some work … hey presto, a name. www.dontwasteyourtime.co.uk.

Avatar / Photo
I use the avatar at the top of the page for most of my online activity, it’s just a form of anonymity but it’s also a graphic I quite like. It may not (or does it?) look anything like me but it’s served me proud on a variety of websites where I am easily recognised by it. I am also keen to say I am not hiding behind it (here is a real picture of me), but the avatar has become my ‘calling-card’ and ‘brand’, so to speak. I’ve written at length about my changing avatars.

Comments
Due to the volume of spam and other unrelated comments, I made the decision in 2018 to remove all commenting features from this blog. I continue to share each blog post on other platforms (Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.), so please connect with me there and we can still have that conversation.

Guest Posts & Adverts
I do not accept guest posts, nor do I use ghostwriters or accept payment for adverts or copy in old posts. Please don’t bother asking, I will not reply to your email.