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Professional Profile
Christina Preston advocates the application of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as a catalyst for enriching teaching and learning (www.mirandanet.org.uk). She has fifteen years experience of teaching in school in English, Drama and Information Technology, followed by four years as an English and Information and Communications technology advisor in Croydon LA and ILLEC. From 1992 she has been an associate researcher and lecturer at the Institute of Education, University of London: from 2002 at the Centre for Work-Based Learning for Education Professionals (WLE). Other research and lecturing associateships include Bath Spa University, Brunel University and the Czech Technical University in Prague. Key successes have been the development of innovative multimodal research methodologies for Becta with Professor Marilyn Leask, new designs for Masters modules and their multimodal accreditation as well as the development of new modes of knowledge sharing within the profession in communities of practice.
The MirandaNet Fellowship (www.mirandanet.org.uk), an international professional organisation for teachers, teacher educators and researchers established in 1992, is frequently a partner in these associateship projects with universities because Christina is the Founder and Chair. She is also a co-director of the MirandaNet Academy at Bath Spa University and Chair of Trustees of World Ecitizens charity (www.worldecitizens.net), a project for students, established by the MirandaNet Fellows in 2002 after the events of 9/11 in New York. Other partners in research projects have included Becta, the TDA, the DCSF and the EU, as well as international universities and governments. MirandaNet partner companies who support ICT research, development, dissemination and CPD projects in schools. These companies include: 2Simple, Apple, Microsoft, Isis, Inspiration, Promethean, Oracle, Serco, Steljes and Tribal. Research and mentoring teams of MirandaNet practitioners have worked in Bulgaria, China, Chile, Czech Republic, Friesland, Norway, Mexico and South Africa.
Christina’s professional memberships include the British Computer Society, the Society of Authors, the National Association of Advisers in Computers and Education (NAACE) and Information Technology Teachers in Education (ITTE). She is on the judging panel of the annual BETT exhibition education awards organised by Becta and The British Education Suppliers Association (BESA). She has won three international awards for her innovative continuing professional programmes designed for teachers in Europe promoting action research and collaboration across national boundaries.
Christina's skills and awards include:
- Strategic international leadership in CPD research, programme design and evaluation
- leading in innovation in the fields of research methodology, practice-based learning, continuing professional development, multimodal literacy, digital technologies in teaching and learning and building communities of practice;
- innovating in the design of practice-based CPD programmes for teachers using digital technologies including establishing multimodal assessment at Masters level in three universities and in China, South Africa and Mexico;
- designing, developing, maintaining and researching a web-based collaborative knowledge creation and publication environment for policy makers, researchers, teacher educators, senior managers and teachers. Teachers are also encouraged to publish and influence policy;
- facilitating the international creation and dissemination of knowledge between teachers in informal CPD exchanges using a themed MirandaMod version of an unconference.
- project and financial management of large, medium and small research projects
- Trnkova Medal from the Czech Technical University Prague for support in building democratic strategies for ICT teacher education (2002 - Prague)
- Humanitarian Award from the World Academic Council for the enrichment of community opportunities for Bulgarian teachers and women returnees by creating Anglo-Bulgarian exchange opportunities face-to-face and online (2000 - Paris)
- European Union of Women Humanitarian Achievement Award for creating an Anglo-Czech online alliance working on democratic participation (1998 - London)
Main professional interests
- Building e-communities of practice
- Building e-communities of practice
- Innovative models for Continuing Professional Development in digital technologies
- Research and practice in the use of IWBs in classrooms, multimodal mapping in assessment and interactive technologies like vodcasts and podcasts, blogs, wikis, forums etc.
- International citizenship between schools and communities
- Evaluation of International Projects
- Industry and Education Partnership
Contact at MirandaNet to discuss any other aspect of this CV.
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