Mr David Pollard

Qualifications

• BA (Hons) in German - Manchester University

• PGCE in Teaching English as a Foreign and Second Language - Leicester University

• MSc in Information Technology - Aston University

Role

Leading the School’s learning and teaching support team, facilitating the adoption of blended and e-learning, training both staff and students, representing the School at University level. Currently the School’s “Learning Technologies Champion”.

Teaching responsibilities

• Second Year Translation and Technology - covering machine translation, disposable corpora and TRADOS Studio 2009 certification.

• Guest appearances on others’ modules - covering the use of software for research or creative projects.

Recent publications

• BUCKLEY, S., COLEMAN, J., DAVISON, I., KHAN, K. S., ZAMORA, J., MALICK, S., MORLEY, D., POLLARD, D., ASHCROFT, T., POPOVIC, C. & SAYERS, J. (2009) The educational effects of portfolios on undergraduate student learning: A Best Evidence Medical Education (BEME) systematic review. BEME Guide No. 11. Medical Teacher, 31, 340-355.

• POLLARD, D.J., ÇELEN POLLARD, A. (2009) Lextra. Sprachkurs Plus: Türkisch. Berlin, Cornelsen Verlag. (German version of “Teach Yourself Turkish”)

Profile

David studied at the Universities of Manchester, Zurich, Leicester and Aston. He taught English in Switzerland, Spain, Bugaria and Turkey. After gaining an MSc in IT, he became an Analyst/Programmer with Price Waterhouse then held research posts in computer assisted learning (CAL) at the Universities of Exeter and Bristol.

In the 1990s David held CAL-related posts in Birmingham University's Centre for Computer-Based Learning, Birmingham Dental School, Aston University and the Eastman Dental Institute (University College London).

He was a finalist in the 1994 European Academic Software Awards, founded the erstwhile Journal of Educational Technology in Dentistry, and wrote Teach Yourself Turkish (Hodder and Stoughton).

David spent most of the 2000s in Birmingham Medical School as an education facilitator, working on the undergraduate medical curriculum and liaising with teaching hospitals around the West Midlands. He joined Aston University's School of Languages and Social Sciences in 2009.