Mr Tom Olney

Professional biography

I am currently employed as the Associate Director, Strategy Planning & Operations in the Institute of Educational Technology (IET) at the UKOU. In this role I am responsible for leading on strategic and operational activity and change across IET. This includes working closely with the other members of the Senior Leadership Team on the development and implementation of strategy, budget and policies.   

My previous role was as Senior Manager, Learning & Teaching in the Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) at the UKOU with specific responsibility for the adoption and development of learning design and learning analytics approaches in open and distance learning module creation. My work included project managing institutional learning and teaching initiatives in the faculty to improve the experience of STEM students. These include work in the areas of student workload, sustainability, learning outcomes, assessment, learning analytics, and student communications. 

Before joining the UKOU I was employed as a secondary school teacher and humanities faculty lead in Melbourne, Australia. I designed and delivered learning and assessment that was aligned with Victorian Department of Education guidance in the subject areas of English, Global Politics and History for ten years. I mentored multiple student and beginning teachers. I hold a BA (Hons) degree in History and Politics, a MA Diploma in Education, and I am a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Association (SFHEA). I am currently working towards a PhD by Published Work. 

I have developed substantial expertise and experience in developing synchronous and asynchronous professional development products in both online and face-to-face environments. I am an experienced facilitator. I am able to draw on my extensive classroom practice and I am trained in consensus and group facilitation methodologies. At the UKOU I have designed and facilitated multiple learning design and learning anlaytics workshops for academics and academic related staff. I am particuarly interested in the cross-cultural application of learning design and as such I have also developed and delivered a range of workshop approaches for international and commercial audiences. These include: the Independent Institute of Education (IIE) in Johannesburg, South Africa (2017), the Enhancement of Lifelong Learning in Belarus (BELL) project (2018), and eight different Open Universities in China (2017-24). I am co-creator and co-faciliator of the Learning Design and Course Creation (LDCC) Workshop. 

Research interests

My research interests include professional development, learning design approaches and learning analytics. Specific areas of interest include the impact of professional development on the professional identity of Chinese HE educators, the implementation and practice of learning analytics in HE, and the development of learning design approaches (both pedagogical and organisational) for supporting academics in HE. I regularly mentor visiting scholars from Chinese OU. 

Methodological frameworks of interest include; social informatics (Kling, 2007), shadow practices (McCoy & Rosenbaum, 2019), The Personal Interpretive Framework (Kelchtermans, 2009), the Cultural Dimensions of Learning Framework (Parrish & Linder-van Berschott, 2010), and the Theory of Practice Architectures (Mahon, Kemmis, Francisco & Lloyd, 2017). In 2024 I discussed what vintage detective shows could tell us about writing good intended learning outcomes on the Pedagodzilla Podcast. 

My project, Measuring the impact of the LDCC workshops, received a Highly Commended award at the 7th eSTEeM Scholarship Projects of the Year Awards 2024. I am currently principal investigator on the OU Open Societal Challenges (OSC) project, Enhancing the quality of learning and teaching in the Chinese Open University system, the findings of which will form the basis of a Research Excellence Framework (REF) Impact Case Study for submission in 2029. 

I am a regular reviewer for a number of peer reviewed academic journals, which include Distance Education, The Journal of Learning Analytics, International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, and Frontiers of Digital Education. I was co-chair of the LA practitioner track at the Learning Analytics & Knowledge 2025 (LAK25) Conference.  

I am currently working towards a PhD by Published Work for submission and review in 2026. A full list of my published authored work can be found below, or on my Google Scholar page.