Introducing Dr. Amanda Taylor-Beswick
Among the many outstanding people contributing to the field of educational technology, I have chosen to highlight Dr. Amanda Taylor-Beswick, director of the University of Cumbria’s Centre for Digital Transformation. I discovered her work while researching notable figures in educational technology and social justice. Her contributions to the advancement in social work education made an impression on me.
Dr. Taylor-Beswick has worked as a social worker in the mental health field with deaf children and adults in Ireland (Kellsey & Taylor-Beswick, 2016). She garnered acclaim for using modern technologies to develop pedagogical methods in social work education (Kellsey & Taylor-Beswick, 2016). Her primary research interest is digitalization and professional education, specifically how social work education helps students socialize and prepares them for practice in an evolving and complex digital social environment (Taylor-Beswick, 2022). Listen to her podcast to learn more about her research. She is also active on Twitter and has a blog.
Dr. Taylor-Beswick founded a synchronous and asynchronous “Social Work Book Group” to promote practice-based knowledge and research interest. Dr. Taylor-Beswick has been recognized as one of the Top 50 HE Social Media Influencers by Jisc (Taylor-Beswick, 2022). She has also earned various honours, including the 2019 United Kingdom Government EdTech 50 award, the 2018 United Kingdom Government Top Three Women in Tech Award, and the JISC Top 50 in Higher Education award in 2016 (Taylor-Beswick, 2022). Her complete biography, including links to her publications, is available here.
References:
Dr Amanda Taylor-Beswick. Senior Leadership Team | Amanda M.L. Taylor-Beswick | University of Cumbria. (n.d.). Retrieved September 18, 2022, from https://www.cumbria.ac.uk/study/academic-staff/all-staff-members/senior-leadership-team/amanda-ml-taylor-beswick.php
Kellsey, D., & Taylor-Beswick, A. (2016). The LearningWheel: A model of digital pedagogy. Critical Publishing. https://books.google.ca/books?id=dr6rDwAAQBAJ
Taylor-Beswick, A. (2022). Digitalizing social work education: preparing students to engage with twenty-first century practice need. Social Work Education, 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1080/02615479.2022.2049225