The Future of Education

Dr Joseph Vancell Ph.D. is an academic member of the Department of Leadership for Learning and Innovation of the Faculty of Education, Malta. He is specialised in technology-enhanced and online learning, adult education, Initial Teacher Education. He is also the Faculty’s Coordinator of Field Placement for student teachers, Between 2015 and 2019 he was a resident Senior Research Fellow at the School of Education and Social Sciences of the Faculty of Arts, Cultures and Education at the University of Hull, United Kingdom. There, he investigated the potential of digital remote learning programmes for workers in Maltese and European SMEs. He is a Malta ambassador for EPALE (Electronic Platform for Adult Learning in Europe) and serves as an expert in digital learning to various European agencies including EASME (Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises) and CEPS (Centre for European Policy Studies). During 2020 – the year of the COVID-19 pandemic - Dr Vancell was heavily involved in the fast transition of students, teachers and lecturers from the classroom to the virtual remote dimensions.

Dr Vancell was awarded his PhD by the University of Hull (UK) for a Grounded Theory investigation of online efforts of the University of Malta. He also holds a Master Degree in Education from the University of Malta specializing in adult education, a Master Degree in e-Learning from the University of Hull and a Master of Online Teaching Certificate from the University of Illinois (US). He strongly believes that, for young and adult learners, the online dimension is a very valid alternative to the face-to-face classroom.

Recent publications include:

Vancell, J. (2018) ‘e-Learning for older workers in SMEs? The perceptions of owners and workers in Maltese microenterprises’. Symposia Melitensia, 14, 391 - 403. ISSN: 1812-7509

Vancell, J. (2018) ‘From face-to-face to online learning: the experiences and perceptions of non-traditional students’. Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on e-Learning ICEL 2018, The Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Cape Town, South Africa, 5 - 6th July 2018, 485 – 492. ISSN: 2048-8882

Vancell, J. (2018) ‘Making the shift to e-learning: eliminating blocks and barriers to the effective and active participation of adult learners in online courses’. Proceedings of the 8th International Conference - The Future of Education, Florence, Italy, 28 – 29th July 2018, 49 – 53. ISSN: 2384-9509

Vancell, J. (2018) ‘Online Distance Courses for Older Workers: A Maltese Case Study’. Proceedings of the European Distance Education Network (EDEN) 2018 Annual Conference, Exploring the Exploring the Micro, Meso and Macro Navigating between dimensions in the digital learning landscape, Genoa, Italy, 17 – 20th June 2018, 466 – 474. ISBN 978-615-5511-23-3

Vancell, J. (2017) ‘The role of the mass media and social media’. Debono, M. (Ed.) Systems of Knowledge: An Interdisciplinary Approach, Agenda, Malta, 70 – 77. ISBN 978-99957-5-293-4

Vancell, J. (2017) ‘The Information Revolution after the Second World War’. Debono, M. (Ed.) Systems of Knowledge: An Interdisciplinary Approach, Agenda, Malta, 250 – 257. ISBN 978-99957-5-293-4

Area/s of Expertise: Adult Education, Adult Vocational Training, Critical Pedagogy, Social Constructivism, Grounded Theory and Digital Learning, e-Learning for SMEs.