Projects

Research and practice in online education, information quality and digital regulation.

My projects start from practical problems in online education and digital services: students who don't know which skills they are missing, web content that is accessible but not informative, and online age checks that don't keep minors out. Each one pairs research with something practitioners can use, whether that is a diagnostic tool, a set of guidelines or evidence for policy.

For outputs from these projects, see my publications; for shorter pieces on the same themes, see my articles.

Practical guide · Online higher education

Online Accreditation Guide

An interactive, evidence-informed guide for academics extending an on-campus accreditation to an online degree, or making a new PSRB submission. Includes a route finder, decision planner, backwards schedule and staffing plan builder.

Route finder
Decision planner
Backwards schedule
Staffing plan builder

2026

Applied research · Student success

Academic Study Skills

Part-time online postgraduates often don't know which study skills they are missing until an assignment goes wrong. This project combines proactive one-to-one support with a self-diagnostic study skills tool, delivered with UK university partners.

Self-diagnostic tool
Online PGT students
Hull T&L Conference 2025 and 2026

Ongoing

Doctoral research · Information quality

Informative Web Content Guidelines (IWCG)

Accessibility standards check whether web content can be reached; the IWCG asks whether it actually informs. Four practitioner guidelines, developed through four action case studies, for content that people can find, understand and use.

PhD, University of Salford
Four guidelines
Complements WCAG

2016 – 2022

Commissioned research · Regulation and technology

Online Age Assurance

Ticking a box or typing a date of birth is often all that stands between a minor and alcohol bought online. Two funded studies examined current checks, the legislation, and how payment and banking data could verify age with less friction.

Institute of Alcohol Studies
Alcohol Change UK
Licensing Act 2003

2020 – 2021

Funded research · Technology and agency

Understanding Digital Events

How does life with algorithms and smart devices change our sense of agency? A British Academy-funded study that used diary studies and process philosophy to map how digital events shape human behaviour.

British Academy
Diary studies
HICSS 2020 paper

2018