The Learning and Teaching Enhancement Unit is pleased to announce that Dr Chrissi Nerantzi will be this year’s keynote speaker.

The conference is taking place online via Teams between 30^th June and the 2^nd July. Booking for this year’s conference is open and you can still submit a proposal via our online form.

Dr Chrissi Nerantzi (@chrissinerantzi), Principal Lecturer – Academic CPD, University Teaching Academy (UTA), Manchester Metropolitan University

At Manchester Met, Chrissi developed the openly-licensed practice-based professional developmental programme FLEX which incorporates formal and informal pathways of engagement utilising digital professional portfolios and open development opportunities including cross-institutional collaborative initiatives. FLEX has inspired further initiatives internally and externally with staff and students. She is the founder of the the cross-institutional Creativity for Learning in Higher Education community (#creativeHE), the Teaching and Learning Conversations (TLC) webinars and the co-founder of the open courses Flexible, Distance and Online Learning (FDOL), Bring your Own Devices for Learning course (BYOD4L) and the Learning and Teaching in Higher Education tweetchat (#LTHEchat). Chrissi teaches on the  MA in Higher Education at her institution and leads Recognising and Rewarding Teaching Excellence and the Good Practice Exchange. She also co-ordinates the NTF and CATE submissions and regularly mentors colleagues. CChrissi contributes to further academic development activities within UTA, including the institutional PSF scheme and supports colleagues in creative curriculum design and is one of the Faculty Links for Arts and Humanities.

Chrissi’s approach to learning and teaching is experimental, playful and collaborative. Her research interests are in the areas of creativity, open and collaborative learning and she has published widely and openly, often with many others.

Currently, she leads the development of the Global Culture Jam, a five-day programme co-designed with staff and students and for students and staff across ManMet, collaborative partners and the wider public to be offered in June 2021 to celebrate cross-cultural learning, teaching and working. The Global Culture Jam is inspiring the creation of an international summer school at her institution.

Chrissi is involved on a voluntary basis in the global programme Open Education for a Better World Programme since its start over four years ago that utilises open education in achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) as a mentor, mentor co-ordinator and advisory board member. Chrissi is a National Teaching Fellow and a Principal Fellow of the HEA. She is also a Visiting Scholar, at the Lab of Informatics and Robotics in Education and Society Applications (LIRES) and Robotics Academy at the University of Macedonia in Greece and in 2020, she became a Visiting Professor at the University of Bolton, School of Education and Psychology and supports Teaching Excellence.