• Dr Michael Marcinkowski, Senior Lecturer in Professional Education, Director of Education, Digital Futures Institute, Pro-Vice-Dean (Professional Education)

Previous to his work at King's, Michael has been Subject Lead for Technology Enhanced Learning at the University of Bristol and held a post-doctoral position as part of the AHRC funded Ambient Literature Project, a collaboration between the University of Birmingham, the University of the West of England (Bristol), and Bath Spa University. Michael earned his PhD at the Pennsylvania State University's College of Information Sciences and Technology, focusing on the uses of large scale data in education design. His BA from the Residential College at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, focused on contemporary American poetry. Previous to his academic work, Michael was Project Manager at the Poetry Foundation in Chicago, where he helped to develop and launch their massive public archive of English language poetry at poetryfoundation.org.

• Dr Felix Kwihangana, Senior Lecturer (AEP) in Transnational Education, King’s Academy

Felix is a Senior Lecturer in Transnational Education and the Programme Leader for the PGCert Online Learning and Teaching at Kings College London. His research and teaching focus on the educational use of digital technologies, with a particular interest in teacher education and digital technologies in under-resourced contexts. He is specifically interested in the way teachers develop digital competencies and how these shape their digital teachers’ identities in under-resourced contexts. He previously worked at the Manchester Institute of Education, University of Manchester, where he led the MA in Digital Technology, Communication & Education (Distance Learning). Felix is currently a convener of the British Educational Research Association (BERA)’s Digital Education Special Interest Group.

• Dr Sara Black, Lecturer in Education and Society, School of Education, Communication & Society, Faculty of Social Science & Public Policy

Sara Black is a sociologist, maths teacher and former coder who focuses on the geography of education, with particular interest in the temporality and spatiality of everyday life and how this (re)produces social inequality. Her experience as a software engineer generated her research interest in technology as it applies to education practices, focusing on the discursive and structural changes technologies bring to education systems and the effects of these on students’ and teachers’ work and lives. She currently leads the team designing the new MA in Education Futures and Technology at King’s, housed in the School of Education, Communication and Society. Before coming to King's in January 2022, Sara worked at the Centre for Education Rights and Transformation at the University of Johannesburg, and also on the teacher development programme at the University of Cape Town. She has experience across myriad contexts in the public education system in South Africa and the UK, both as a teacher and researcher. She was the acting deputy principal and head of the mathematics department in a township high school in Cape Town, and has eight years of experience in teacher support and training, as well as policy analysis in challenging schooling contexts. In her spare time, Sara is a working musician.

• Mark Lester, Chief Partnerships Officer at FourthRev

Mark Lester has spent his career at the intersection of education, policy, and innovation. He was co-founder and Managing Director of Universities and Educational Partnerships at FutureLearn, where he built a global network of over 150 partners and launched some of the world’s first MOOC-based online degrees and microcredentials. He has advised governments and universities on digital strategy, internationalisation, and the future of lifelong learning. Prior to this, Mark headed the strategy unit at the Open University and held senior roles in financial services and the UK civil service, following his early career as a strategy consultant with Monitor Group. He is now Chief Partnerships Officer at FourthRev, where he brings together world-leading universities, technology companies, and employers to co-create online Career Accelerator programmes with direct pathways to qualifications and jobs in the digital economy. His focus is on building scalable, high-quality and careers-first education that meets the evolving needs of learners and industry in areas like data, AI, product management and cybersecurity.

• Professor Sara de Freitas, CEO and Director at Weypoint

Sara is an international expert in digital and immersive education. Over three decades, she has held executive education and research directorial roles in schools, colleges and universities, along the way helping to establish three research institutes and attract over 80 projects including 19 EU projects including scientific coordination of a network of excellence. Along the way she has set up three companies, in addition to consulting with national and international government agencies and departments. Her work is captured in 40 books, over 100 scientific peer-reviewed journal articles and conference papers, and in over 10 software applications and 3 platforms developed and tested. Selling her last AIM-listed PLC company for over £70M in 2022, she is currently a University Governor, CEO of EdTech start up Weypoint, and holds visiting Professorships at Open University and University of South Wales. She is also an Honorary Research Fellow at Birkbeck University of London, in the same Computer Science department she started her academic career at in central London. Having held 8 Professorships (UK/Australia), and executive roles up to Deputy Vice Chancellor, her awards include fellowships from the Royal Society of Arts and the Business Excellence Institute, and she is a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.