Sue Beckingham (2017) – bio

Sue Beckingham is a Principal Lecturer in Digital Analytics and Technologies within the Department of Computing at Sheffield Hallam University, with a lead role in Learning, Teaching and Assessment. She is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, Fellow of the Staff and Educational Development Association, and a Certified Management and Business Educator and a Member of the Association of Learning Technology. Sue is an internationally acclaimed expert on digital networking and is regarded by peers as one of the best known academics online,  specialising in leveraging the power of social networks including LinkedIn and Twitter to develop the personal learning networks and employability of students. Equally she has been instrumental in ensuring the affordances of social media have transformed the sphere of academic professional development. In 2014 she collaborated with Chrissi Nerantzi NTF to create the cross-institutional online course ‘Bring Your Own Devices for Learning’ (BYOD4L), providing students and staff with CPD opportunities to develop digital skills with mobile devices; an innovation recognised by JISC. In addition Sue is the co-founder of the highly praised Learning and Teaching in Higher Education weekly tweetchat http://lthechat.com which attracts participants globally.

Sue’s teaching extends beyond her own students and she has voluntarily given numerous lectures, seminars and workshops. Her pedagogic research interests include the use of social media for learning, online identity and technology enhanced learning, She has published and presented this work internationally across the UK, Ireland, Spain, Denmark, South Africa and USA.

In 2015 she was selected by JISC as one of the ‘Top 50 Influencers of Social Media in Higher Education. In 2016 Sue was one of eight academics to be chosen as LEAD Associates at Sheffield Hallam and led a project titled ‘The PjBL Toolkit – Embedding Digital Capability through Project Based Learning and Multimedia Reflective Practice’.

As an advocate of both informal and formal learning Sue continues to engage in international co-learning opportunities. She continues to work with students as partners on a project called Social Media for Academic Studies at Hallam (SMASH), which is researching how social media can be used for learning in higher education.

Email  s.beckingham@shu.ac.uk

Twitter  @suebecks