DrMatt Smith

Associate Professor in Digital Learning Contexts and the Research Hub Lead for Digital and Lifelong Learning Contexts at the Centre for Research in Education and Social Transformation (CREST), Matt is also the Coordinator for the UNESCO Chair on Innovative Informal Digital Learning in Disadvantaged and Development Contexts.

Matt is also a Senior Lecturer in Primary Teacher Education. He was interim Head of Primary Education between December 2021 and June 2022 but focuses now more on Research. He leads on undergraduate Research modules on the primary teaching course leading to Qualified Teacher Status (QTS), and also teaches on the Masters in Education and doctoral programmes. He has been nominated by students for a Vice Chancellor's Award for Staff Excellence in the 'Enriching the Learning Experience' and 'Student Engagement' categories eight times.

A Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, Matt’s doctoral thesis focused on the epistemological and pedagogical trajectories of PGCE trainees within the field of Primary English. Matt’s research interests have previously focused on personalising the learning journey for children and students, but he is now predominantly working on mobile and digital learning, particularly in the Globalised South; digital literacy; and digital support for disadvantaged and developing communities and contexts. He co-authored a major report for the Department for International Development's EdTech Hub on lessons learned to support governments' digital responses to the educational crisis brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. With John Traxler, Matt has co-edited "Digital Learning in Higher Education - COVID-19 and Beyond", charting the effects of the pandemic on digital learning across the Higher Education sector, and with John and others edited a Special Issue (now a book) on Decolonising Educational Technology.

Matt has been involved in research in Palestine focusing on developing mobile technologies for supporting the teaching of English; in Wolverhampton focusing on mental health and resilience in young people; in Brazil, supporting school populations to influence virus control through mobile applications; and was Principal Investigator on an Erasmus+ project with partners across Europe creating a new online collaborative approach to textbook work. He is currently the Coordinator for the University's UNESCO Chair, and is working with international colleagues to support communities in disadvantaged and developmental contexts, and - with another UNESCO Arm - to support the incorporation of intercultural dialogue into the five key dimensions of the EU's DigComp framework in order to strengthen their potential as tools to build and sustain peace.

Prior to becoming a Senior Lecturer, Matt worked as a primary teacher, English specialist and Assistant Headteacher. He is keen for children to take ownership of their learning, and to work with teachers to develop a facilitative, learner-centric method that favours exploration and social construction of learning over more traditional, didactic teaching styles.

Matt teaches two modules on the Masters in Education programme, and supervises both Masters and Doctoral thesis students. He currently has twelve PhD and EdD students, with two completions so far and two more due this academic year.