NAVIGATING THE FUTURE OF LEARNING
"I wouldn’t be where I am now without Learnovate”.
Founder and CEO, Wise Salmon
Siobhan Ryan
“How AI is going to be used for adaptive learning, getting into the immersive learning, what's going on there in simulations and VR, and then also to hear from thought leaders”.
Head of Instructional Design, iheed
Maeve Daly
“Learnovation excels at helping people identify complicated problems and form solutions that can help us in the long run”.
Research & Technology Lead, Hibernia College
John Lenehan
“In all honesty, Learnovation is one of the best conferences I have attended in a while. As an academic who goes to a lot of education and other conferences, it has been a very engaging and compelling day. I have learned a ton from other organisations and I’ve made a ton of connections. It’s been a really fabulous experience”.
Senior Measurement & Learning Lead, OER Project, Gates Ventures
Rachel Phillips
Learnovation 2024 Speakers
Dr. Mary Kelly
Academic Dean, Hibernia College
Mary is the senior academic leader of Hibernia College and has overall responsibility for the development and implementation of the College’s academic strategy. Her research interests include literacy, early childhood education, educational leadership and teacher education.
Nessa McEniff
Centre Director, Learnovate
Nessa is the Centre Director at Learnovate, leading our talented, passionate and innovative team to undertake industry-led research across the areas of primary education, post-primary education, 3rd level and corporate learning.
Richard Culatta
CEO, International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE)
Richard Culatta is the CEO of the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) and ASCD. Prior to holding this position, he was the Chief Innovation Officer for the state of Rhode Island and was appointed by President Obama as the Director of the Office of Educational Technology for the U.S. Department of Education.
Dr. Ann Devitt
Head of the School of Education, Trinity College Dublin
Dr Ann Devitt is Associate Professor of Language Education at the School of Education. She is the Academic Director of The Learnovate Centre and has extensive research experience in both academia and industry.
Dr. Nigel Paine
Global Thought Leader and ex-CLO of the BBC
With over 25 years of experience in corporate learning, Nigel is a regular speaker, writer and broadcaster on the topics of development, technology and leadership.
Prof. Mairéad Pratschke
Professor and Chair in Digital Education, University of Manchester. Research Fellow and Advisory Board member, USA’s National AI Institute for Adult Learning and Online Education (AI-ALOE)
Professor Mairéad Pratscke has been working at the forefront of digital innovation in education for 25 years. She led the Faculty of Humanities working group on AI and Assessment and sits on the University’s AI Strategy committee.
Elliott Masie
Chair, MASIE Learning Foundation & MASIE Productions
Elliott Masie is a provocative, engaging, and entertaining researcher, educator, analyst, and speaker – focused on the changing world of the workplace, learning, and technology.
Nell Watson
President, European Responsible AI Office
Eleanor ‘Nell’ Watson, a trailblazer in emerging technologies such as machine vision and A.I. ethics, dedicates her work to protecting human rights and infusing ethics, safety, and values that elevate the human spirit into technologies like Artificial Intelligence.
Christopher Mathews
Global Education Team Strategy and Partnership Lead, Amazon Web Services
Christopher is the strategy and partnership lead for the global education team and the former global head for primary and secondary education at Amazon Web Services. He is dedicated to helping edtech companies and educational institutions drive large-scale transformation, ensuring equitable and engaging learning experiences for all students.
Dave Farrelly
Head of Membership Services, Learnovate
Dave is a dynamic and accomplished business and technology leader with over 25 years’ experience in gaming, education and software development environments.
Piero Tintori
CEO, Terminalfour
Piero Tintori is the CEO and founder of Terminalfour and BetterExaminations. He founded Terminalfour in 1997 and they now work with over 250 universities and collleges around the world.
Peter Fagerström
Founder and Executive Chairman, Educraftor
Peter Fagerström is the visionary founder and Executive Chairman of Educraftor, a leading education innovation consultancy based in Finland. With clients including ministries of education, national agencies, municipalities, and both public and private sector organizations, Educraftor is at the forefront of driving large-scale strategic change in education.
Juhani Koivuviita
Co-founder and CEO, Educraftor
Juhani Koivuviita is the co-founder and CEO of Educraftor, where he plays a crucial role in co-designing and implementing the company’s innovative programs and events. As a seasoned team coach and consultant, Juhani works closely with a diverse range of clients and learners, guiding them through transformative educational experiences.
Joe Fernandez
Founder and CEO, ALPACA
Joe Fernandez is CEO of ALPACA, a spin out from Trinity College Dublin, which identifies children who may go on to struggle read before they can read print. Having screened 20% of the infants in Ireland this last year, Joe shares the business journey so far and how partnering with AWS has allowed the business to grow and scale in Ireland and Internationally.
Ian O’Keeffe
Research Fellow, Technology Lead, Learnovate
Ian is a Research Fellow and Technology Lead at the Learnovate Centre at Trinity College Dublin. His research is in the area of personalisation and digital content management, specialising in the design and development of novel approaches and technologies to support the adaptive delivery of Interactive learning experiences.
Pablo Alvarez
Technology Lead, Learnovate
Pablo is a Tech Lead at the Learnovate Centre in Trinity College Dublin. In the past 15 years, he has been worked as an IT Teacher in Vocational Education Schools, a Research Fellow in EU-funded University projects, an R&D Digital Transformation Manager in the Construction and Social Mobility industries, a Software Developer and Scrum Master.
Marie Toft
CEO & Co-Founder, Emotionise AI
Marie enjoyed an international career as a senior TV executive and documentary maker before returning to university to study psychotherapy.
Prof. Vincent Wade
Professor of Computer Science, Trinity College Dublin & Co-Founder ADAPT SFI Research Centre for AI Driven Digital Content Technology
Professor Vincent Wade is a leading figure in the area of Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence, holding both the Professorial Chair in Computer Science since 1990 and a personal Professorial Chair in Artificial Intelligence at Trinity College Dublin.
Brian O’Mahony
Head of Sales, Roffey Park Europe
Brian O’Mahony has extensive experience in the design, delivery, and management of world-class organisational and leadership development programmes.
Emma Kinsella
Head of the Skills Policy and Enterprise Engagement Unit, Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science
Her role is to support the implementation of the national skills agenda through the skills infrastructure and the labour market forecasting system and to develop strategic policy in relation to high level skills issues.
Carl Morrissey
Head of Marketing, Intuition
Carl Morrissey is the Head of Marketing at market-leading digital learning and knowledge solutions company Intuition.
Aoife O’Sullivan
Head of Network Development and Innovation at Skillnet Ireland
Aoife is the Head of Network Development and Innovation with Skillnet Ireland where she oversees the management of 70 Skillnet Business Networks across a range of industry sectors and regions.
Dr. Ciarán Dunne
Transversal Skills Director, Dublin City University
Dr. Ciarán Dunne is the first Transversal Skills Director for Dublin City University (DCU), a unique role in higher education both nationally and internationally, focused on designing strategies that develop, apply, assess and evidence students’ key transversal skills in a rigorous, robust and innovative manner.
Natalie Geddis
Client Services Manager, Government & Commercial, Aurion Learning
Natalie Geddis is a consultative digital learning professional with over 15 years’ experience helping organisations with their learning and development challenges.
Daniel Mccrea
Head of Partner Services, Adaptemy
For over ten years at Adaptemy, Daniel has delivered Award-Winning AI-Powered solutions for partners as diverse as Higher-Education Course Providers, The Ministry of Education in Singapore, Leading European Educational Publishers, Specialised Adult Learning Institutions.
Mary McKenna
Co-Founder/Chair, AwakenAngels
Mary is a serial entrepreneur and angel investor. Originally an edtech founder at Learning Pool, these days she works especially with first time and women founders.
Ryan McInnes
eLearning Director, The Learning Rooms
Ryan is a creative digital learning specialist with a passion for learning, technology and design. His in-depth educational knowledge and understanding of learning technologies enable him to plan, manage and deliver outstanding digital learning experiences.
Tom Pollock
Commercialisation Manager, Learnovate
Tom brings broad business and product development experience across multiple industries, from web and software applications, to his most recent role in the corporate learning sector.
Deirdre Lyons
Founder and CEO, Examfly
Deirdre began her career in tax and wealth management, before transitioning into start-ups and technology. Her experience as a tax lecturer, coupled with a lifelong interest in learning, psychology and technology led her to the conclusion that there could be a better way to learn complex topics.
Drew O’Sullivan
Equity Advisory Service, InterTradeIreland
Drew has been involved in the early stage equity scene on the island of Ireland for over 20 years. Drew is a Jury member for the EIC. He led the deployment of the European Angel Fund Ireland for the European Investment Fund.
Mary Lyons
Director Enterprise, Employees and Skills, SOLAS
Mary Lyons is Director of Enterprise, Employees and Skills at SOLAS, the Further Education and Training Authority (FET) in Ireland. She has extensive experience as a researcher, lecturer and a skills development specialist in a range of education and industry settings.
Jonny Parkes
Learnovate Chairperson
Jonny has over 25 years’ experience in digital learning and is Chairperson of the Learnovate Centre. As the CEO of Electric Paper between 1996-2006, Jonny successfully built and exited the business to ThirdForce PLC which was subsequently acquired by Skillsoft.
Claire Doody
Founder & Principal Consultant, Work In Motion
Claire Doody founded Work In Motion to help organisations adapt to the changing world of work, supporting workplace innovators with peer collaboration experiences and thought partnership.
Linda Waters
Head of Business Development, Learnovate
Linda is a leading figure in sales, business development, and strategy, with over 25 years of experience in large enterprises, including senior roles at AIB and KONE. Now at the Learnovate Centre, Trinity College Dublin, she focuses on startups, scaling businesses, and enterprise clients, overseeing the centre’s commercial strategy.
Taelo Jonathan Mathuloe
Teacher | Writer | Technophile
Taelo Jonathan Mathuloe is an educational technologist and certified instructional designer passionate about lifelong learning and Humanity-Centered Design. With extensive experience in both secondary and higher education, Taelo is a qualified ICT and English educator.
Janet Benson
Learning Lead, Learnovate
Janet holds a MSc. in Digital Education from the University of Edinburgh and undergraduate qualifications in Science from UCD (BSc.) and ATU. She has also completed a Professional Diploma in Positive Health with RCSI. Janet focused on game-based learning in the workplace as part of her MSc. Dissertation.
Dr. Bilal Ahmad
Technology Lead, Learnovate
Bilal is a Postdoctoral Researcher / Technology Lead for Software Solutions in Edtech at the Learnovate Centre at Trinity College Dublin. His key areas of research are at the intersection of Software Engineering and Human-Computer Interaction i.e., Edtech, Smart Ageing, UX Research and Global Software Development, augmented with development of software.
Helena Ledermann
K12 Pedagogy Researcher, Learnovate
Helena joined the Learning Science Team as K12 Pedagogy Researcher. She is passionate about pedagogy and designing courses through the lens of Universal Design for Learning (UDL).
Who Attends?
Since the first Learnovation in 2018, attendees have joined learning and development managers, educators, learning providers, entrepreneurs, innovators, trainers, startup founders, learning designers, policymakers and researchers passionate about the design and delivery of learning now, and into the future.
An example of the type of organisations we have welcomed to Learnovation include…
