Niall Winters

Honorary Norham Fellow | Kellogg College

About me

From 2023, Niall is an Honorary Norham Fellow at the Department and a Visiting Fellow at Kellogg College. His main research interest is advancing knowledge of the complex development processes involved in designing socially-just technology innovations. This research agenda has been supported by over €7m in funding.

Niall was previously Professor of Education and Technology at the Department, co-convenor of the Critical Digital Education Research Group, and Director of the MSc Education (Digital and Social Change. Niall continues to supervise DPhil students but is no longer accepting new students.

Before joining the Department of Education in 2014, Niall was a Reader in Learning Technologies at the UCL (previously London) Knowledge Lab, UCL Institute of Education and Deputy Head of the Department of Culture, Communication and Media. He holds a PhD in Computer Science from Trinity College Dublin.

Niall has been a visiting researcher at the Instituto Superior Técnico, Lisbon and MIT Media Lab Europe, a Fellow of the L’Institut d’études avancées de Paris, a member of the Visiting Faculty of the Paris School of International Affairs (PSIA), Sciences Po, Paris, co-editor of the British Journal of Educational Technology (BJET), member of the ESRC Peer Review College, a Trustee (former Chair of the Board) of the Restart Project and has consulted for UNESCO, WHO, DFID and the NHS.

Research

Books

Book chapters

Conference papers

Journal articles

Reports

Doctoral Applications

Niall welcomes doctoral applications from students interested in the following research areas:

  • The design and development of mobile-based training interventions for healthcare workers in the Global South (with a specific focus on child development, disability or mental health but other areas would be considered)
  • Evaluating the role of technology for postgraduate medical training in the UK and the Global South
  • The application of theories of social justice in ICT for Development (ICT4D)
  • The role of technology in supporting social inclusion in (in)formal education and training in the UK

Past Doctoral Students

  • Jade Vu Henry (PhD 2018, co-supervised with Martin Oliver, UCL IOE)Theorising the Design-Reality Gap in ICT: Matters of Care in Mobile Learning for Kenyan Community Health Workers
  • Laurenz Langer (PhD 2018, co-supervised with Ruth Stewart, UCL IOE/University of Johannesburg) Rethinking mobile learning for development: Using the Capability Approach and a mixed-methods systematic review to conceptualise the application of mobile technologies as an educational tool in Low- and Middle-Income Countries
  • Michael Sean Gallagher (PhD 2016, co-supervised with John Potter, UCL IOE) Charting Trajectories on the Peripheries of Community Practice: Mobile Learning for the Humanities in South Korea
  • Ronda Zelezny-Green (PhD 2017, co-supervised with Dorothea Kleine, Royal Holloway) The Role of Girls’ Mobile Phone Use to Increase Access to Educational Content After School: A Capabilities-Based Evaluation in Nairobi
  • Damien Darcy (PhD,  2016) Learning Design in Hybrid Spaces:  Challenges for Teachers and Learners
  • Saima Rana (PhD 2011, co-supervised with Martin Oliver, UCL IOE) ICT and Educational Purpose in the English Secondary School: Using Bell’s Cultural Contradictions to Challenge Techno-economic Justifications of ICT Use
  • Kevin Walker (PhD 2010, co-supervised with Richard Noss, UCL IOE) Designing for meaning making in museums: Visitor-constructed trails using mobile digital technologies
  • Christothea Herodotou (PhD 2009, co-supervised with Maria Kambouri, UCL IOE) Game appropriation: Where does the gamer fit?
  • Esra Wali (PhD 2008, co-supervised with Martin Oliver, UCL IOE) Reinterpreting mobile learning: An activity-theoretic analysis of portable devices in higher education

Funded Research Projects

Mobile learning for development, HEIF, September 2009
Budget: £20,000 (PI)
July 2010
CoMo: Supporting collaborative group work using mobile phones
Centre for Distance Education. Budget: £20,000 (PI)
(2007-2008)
Learning patterns for the design and deployment of mathematical games, EU Kaleidoscope Network of Excellence
LKL budget: £39,644 (Project Co-director)
2006
ReMATH: Representing Mathematics with Digital Media
Specific Targeted Research Project (STREP) funded by the EU under the FP6-2004-IST-4. LKL budget: £182,626, (Co-I, LKL with C. Morgan)
2006-2008
CoMo: Supporting collaborative group work using mobile phones
Centre for Distance Education. Budget: £20,000 (PI)
(2007-2008)
GoGirl: code + create, Oxford University IT Innovation Seed
£90,000 (CI) (with A. Geniets
The design and evaluation of a mobile learning intervention for the training and supervision of community health workers, ESRC-DFID
Budget: £496,197 (PI) (with Martin Oliver and Amref Health Africa)
Oct 2012 – Sept 2015
The professional development of postgraduate medical trainers’ technology enhanced learning design expertise, HEIF
Budget: £32,174 (PI) (with S. Price, C. Pelletier and C. O’Keeffe)
Feb 2013 – Jan 15
An investigation of mobile learning for formative assessment and reflective practice in postgraduate medical education, HEA
Budget: £7,000 (PI)
June 2012-May 2013
Peer learning and knowledge sharing for distance learning students using mobile phones, CDE
Budget: £4,980(PI)
March 2011 – August 2011
Mobile learning for development, HEIF, September 2009
Budget: £20,000 (PI)
July 2010
Mobile phones for development: Supporting veterinary training of distance learners in Tanzania, CDE
Budget: £4,990 (PI)
July 2009 – August 2010
Learning patterns for the design and deployment of mathematical games, EU Kaleidoscope Network of Excellence
LKL budget: £39,644 (Project Co-director)
2006
ReMATH: Representing Mathematics with Digital Media
Specific Targeted Research Project (STREP) funded by the EU under the FP6-2004-IST-4. LKL budget: £182,626, (Co-I, LKL with C. Morgan)
2006-2008
CoMo: Supporting collaborative group work using mobile phones
Centre for Distance Education. Budget: £20,000 (PI)
(2007-2008)