Ron Oliver is Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Teaching and Learning) at Edith Cowan University in Perth, Western Australia. Previously he was Associate Dean of Learning and Teaching in the Faculty of Education and Arts at ECU and Professor of Interactive Multimedia. Perth is the capital city of Western Australia and has a population of about 2 million. It enjoys a mediterranean climate with plenty of sun and warmth. There are 5 universities in Perth and ECU is the second largest. With 4 Faculties including Arts and Education, Computing, Health and Science, Business and Law and Regional Studies, ECU has over 21,000 students. Ron is Chair of the Academic Board at ECU, a member of the ECU Council, Chair of the University Curriculum Teaching and Learning Committee, a member of the University Research and Higher Degrees Committee and the Vice Chancellor's Planning and Management Group. He is also active on many sub-committees and working parties. Ron is a member of various Editorial Boards including the British Journal of Educational Technology, Journal of Educational Media and Hypermedia, Distance Education, Journal of Interactive Learning Research. Australian Journal of Educational Technology, Australian Educational Computing and ALT-J. He is an Associate Fellow of the Carrick Institute for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, and a Fellow of the Association for Advancement of Computers in Education.

research activities Ron has been involved in a number of activities exploring asepcts of online and technology facilitated learning. Current and previous projects include: • leading the mentoring team for the National Flexible Toolbox Project, • investigating the sharing and reuse of technology-supported learning designs through the Technology-Supported Learning Database. • exploring Authentic Learning Environments in Web-based learning, a project exploring authentic Web-based learning environments • Toolbox Digital Repository a research project designed to explore the capabilities and design specifications for a digital repository for the Flexible Learning Toolbox resources. • Ronline, a suite of publicly accessible content-free learning tools to support student-centred teaching and learning activities using the Web. (with comprehensive descriptions and instructions) • Design-Based Research, exploration of this research methodology supporting investigations of ICT in learning and teaching.