Dr Michael Thomas BA (Hons) M.Ed. MBA Ph.D. FHEA is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Language, Literature and International Studies at the University of Central Lancashire, UK. He has taught at universities around the world, including the UK, Japan and Germany. He is currently principal investigator of a European Union FP7 grant researching machinima, learner creativity and 3D immersive worlds (CAMELOT Project, 2013-2015).
His research interests are in online and distance education, discourse analysis, computer-assisted learning and task-based learning. While at Berkman he will be conducting a comparative analysis of MOOCs in the US and UK.
He is the lead and founding editor of three book series, Advances in Digital Language Learning and Teaching (Bloomsbury), Digital Education and Learning (Palgrave Macmillan US), and Advances in Virtual and Personal Learning Environments (ISR). He has published 18 books and special editions of academic journals. Among his book publications are Contemporary Computer-Assisted Language Learning (2012), Handbook of Research on Web 2.0 and Second Language Learning (2008), Task-Based Language Learning & Teaching with Technology (2010), Interactive Whiteboards for Education: Theory, Research and Practice, Digital Education: Opportunities for Social Collaboration (2011), Deconstructing Digital Natives: Young People, Technology and the New Literacies (2011) and Online Learning (2011). He is Associate Editor of the International Journal of Computer Assisted Language Learning and Teaching, General Editor of the Journal of Second Language Teaching & Research, and has guest edited peer reviewed special editions for the CALICO Journal, the CALL Journal, the Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, the International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Society, the Journal of Digital Education and Culture, and the International Journal of Computer-Assisted Language Learning and Teaching.
He has organized over 20 international conferences on computer-assisted learning in the UK, Germany and Japan. He is a member of a number of leading editorial boards including the Journal of Research in Learning Technology (ALT-J), the Asian EFL Journal, and the Asian ESP Journal. Dr Thomas is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA) in the UK and a member of the Academic Board of the University of Central Lancashire.