Lindsey Wingate's Profile Description

I’m a BSc(Hons) Multimedia Systems (2:1) graduate and started working with Ultralab, the learning, technology and research centre at Anglia Ruskin University in September 2000. My primary research interest is in the use of multimedia in e-learning - my final dissertation was on the usability of Flash-enabled websites.

Currently I am researching and developing administrative and technical systems for the Ultraversity degree project. This innovative online degree for people who want to develop their work role to degree standard but who cannot attend a University campus produced its first 6 graduates in 2005 and another 140 will graduate in November 2006. My work has involved setting up and developing existing admin processes for our online degree environment including marketing and admissions, our innovative online registration system, and supporting our students and Learning Facilitators online. I also collaborate with Mark Constable, Rex Wingate and Greta Mladenova on developing our virtual learning environment and online resources.

I am currently co-writing a paper with Mark Constable, Greta Mladenova, Stephen Powell, Tim Williams and Rex Wingate about how Ultraversity has progressed the Government’s agenda on Widening Participation in Higher Education, based on data we have collected and analysed to date. I am also collaborating with Geraint Lang, Kevin Thompson, Tim Williams and Rex Wingate on a paper about our experiences with student retention.

I have also been helping to develop a virtual Cultural Hub website using an Open Source Content Management System to support a Cultural Leadership mentoring/networking infrastructure. The site features both dynamic informational content and bulletin boards that both sustain and develop communities of individuals on-line.

My first project at Ultralab was helping write and develop the UK’s first Online Soap which was an interactive multimedia experience very ahead of its time. I worked with Multimedia students, professionally published and amateur writers, and actors on 12 episodes of the soap, that we built using animation, audio, video, photography and graphics packages and that was launched and published on the web in 2001.

Since then, I’ve hosted Writeaway workshops for 12-14 year olds and mentored year 7 and sixth form students at Colbayns High School in videomaking, animation, sound, graphics and web design.

I also helped develop the Creditlink website, which was for a consortium of Further and Higher Education colleges to working in partnership to design a system offering lifelong learning across the East of England.

E-mail: lindsey@ultralab.net