Albert Sangrà is Director for the UNESCO Chair in Education and Technology for Social Change. Professor and researcher at the Open University of Catalonia, Department of Psychology and Education. Member of the founder team of this university (1994-95), where I served as Director, Methodology and Educational Innovation until 2004, being in charge of the educational model of the university; Director of the M.Sc. program in Education and ICT (e-learning) (2006-2012), and Director of the eLearn Center (2012-2014). I have worked as a consultant and trainer in several online and blended learning projects in Europe, America, Asia, and Australia, focusing on implementation strategies for the use of technology in teaching and learning and its quality. Former Vice-president, European Foundation of Quality on E-Learning (EFQUEL), and member of the Executive Committee of EDEN (2003-2009). Recipient of the 2015 Award for Excellence in eLearning awarded by the World Education Congress.

Researcher at the Edul@b research group, and Research Associate at Contact North, Canada.

Current Director of the Industrial Doctorates Programme, Government of Catalonia.

Diana Andone is the Director of the eLearning Center at the Politehnica University of Timisoara in Romania. Diana  runs the team who developed the university’s award wining Virtual Campus CVUPT and is also lecturer at the “Politehnica” University of Timisoara, Romania, in the area of multimedia and web technologies.  She is passionate about the ubiquitous access to technologies and how they can be used to improve people’s life. Diana holds a PhD in Designing eLearning Spaces for Digital Students with University of Brighton, UK, an MA in European Studies, an “Learning about Open Learning”, postgraduate distance education course at the Herriott-Watt University, Edinburgh, UK; an MSc in Artificial Intelligence at the “Politehnica” University of Timisoara, Romania. Her publication list comprises 9 books and 82 papers presented at international conferences, she is reviewer for 12 International Conferences, 4 journals, 6 best paper awards at different conferences and since 2010 Co-chair at the IADIS WWW/Internet International Conference. In 2012 she received the EDEN Fellow Title.

Gila Kurtz is the Dean of the Faculty of Instructional Technologies at the Holon Institute of Technology (HIT) in Israel. She has a wealth of experience, having served as the Academic Vice President at a company specializing in e-learning solutions for the corporate sector for several years. Other positions: a member of the Steering Committee of the European Distance and E-Learning Network (EDEN) and the Editor-in-Chief of The Interdisciplinary Journal of E-Skills and Lifelong Learning (IJELL). Gila has been a visiting scholar at the University of Maryland University College, University of California Berkeley, Syracuse University and University Roma, TRE.

Dr Sandra Kučina Softić is the Assistant Director at the University of Zagreb University Computing Centre SRCE (Croatia). She is also the Head of the E-learning Centre at SRCE. She has 25 years of experience working in higher education. Her work focuses on monitoring and fostering e-learning in Croatian higher education, providing support and advice to institutions, teachers, and students on the implementation of new technologies in learning and teaching.

Her field of interest is strategic decision-making related to the implementation of digital education in higher education and the enhancement of teachers’ digital skills. She is also active in the field of open education. She is the author of training courses for teachers and a speaker at conferences. In 2021, she authored a book on digital transformation in higher education (published in Croatian) and has published many papers. She teaches at universities in Croatia and the region on topics related to digital education.

She holds a Master’s degree in Digital Education from the University of Edinburgh, UK, and a Ph.D. in Information and Communication Technologies from the University of Zagreb, Croatia. 

Dr Kučina Softić served as President of the international organisation EDEN from 2019 to 2022, and as Vice-President of EDEN DLE for the 2023–2025 mandate. In 2014, she received the title of EDEN Senior Fellow. And in 2025, she was named EDEH Digital Education Ambassador.

Dr. Jade Jue Wang Szilas is a specialist in distance education and digital language learning, with 20 years of experience in online course design, technology-enhanced learning, and intercultural language education. She is an associate researcher at PLIDAM (INALCO, Paris) and at the University of Geneva, and serves as Senior Adviser in Digital Learning Design at the University of Geneva’s Centre for Continuing and Distance Education (CFCD), where she leads the development of online education projects and supports the enhancement of digital competencies among teaching and coordination staff.

As project executive leader, she has co-initiated and coordinated several internationally recognised initiatives, including:

Chinese–French eTandem Programme – a pioneering telecollaboration linking learners in Switzerland, France, and China for reciprocal language learning and intercultural exchange. Running for over a decade, it serves as a living laboratory for research in bilingual communication and digital pedagogy.

Kit de contact en langues orientales: chinois (INALCO) – the first introductory Chinese MOOC designed for French speakers, integrating language skills, character learning, and cultural awareness.

Initiation to the Dongba Script (University of Geneva, INALCO, BLCU) – an innovative MOOC dedicated to safeguarding and transmitting the endangered Dongba writing system as part of intangible cultural heritage.

Didactique du FLE dans une perspective francophone (University of Geneva, OIF) – a professional development MOOC for international French teachers, focusing on multilingual pedagogies and the internationalisation of French language education.

Her research interests include computer-assisted language learning (CALL), multilingual course design, intercultural pedagogy, multimodality, and AI-enhanced learning, with a particular focus on teacher training, digital competencies, and building partnerships across linguistic and cultural boundaries.

Paul Prinsloo is a Research Professor in Open and Distance eLearning (ODeL) at the University of South Africa (Unisa). He is a visiting professor at the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), a Research Associate for Contact North/Contact Nord (Canada), a member of the Center for Open Education Research at the Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg (Germany), a Senior Fellow of the European Distance and E-Learning Network (EDEN), and serves on several editorial boards. Paul has published numerous articles in the fields of teaching and learning, student success in distributed learning contexts, the ethical collection, analysis, and use of student data in learning analytics, and digital identities.  

Christian Schumann is Professor of Business Informatics at the West Saxon University of Zwickau. He received his doctorate and habilitation from Chemnitz University of Technology. Currently, he is university representative for international relations, head of the Center for New Forms of Study, director of the Institute for Management and Information, and dean of studies for master’s and distance learning programs. He holds leading positions in the Association of German Engineers and is involved in international organizations, for example, the German University Consortium for International Cooperation, the Chinese-German University of Applied Sciences, the Mexican-German University Cooperation, ICDE and SAE International. Additionally, he is chair of the Continental Network of the British, Academy of Management (BAM) and visiting member of the BAM council, a member of the Board of Directors of the Fellows Council of EDEN, a member of the Board of Directors of the Accreditation Agency for Study Programs in Engineering, Informatics, Natural Sciences and Mathematics ASIIN as well as a member of the Delegate Assembly of the Society for Project Management in Germany.

Montse Guitert Principal Researcher at Edul@b research group. Full Professor in the Studies of Psychology and Education Sciences at the Open University of Catalonia (UOC). Since the foundation of the institution (1995), she has been actively engaged in the area of Digital Competences as well as in the Master’s Degree in Education and ICT (e-learning).

Her research focuses on the uses of ICT in education and training, with particular emphasis on online collaboration, online teacher education, and digital competences. She has participated in and led several national and international projects on these topics, including knowledge transfer initiatives. Among the most recent are: RESCCUE4COVID (“Recover Spaces for Traumatized Children in Community Settings”); DIGITAL WBL (“Digitalisation of Experiential Learning and Work-Based Learning – Deal with Digital Work-Based Learning”); EXCIITE (“Enabling eXtremely Creative, Inclusive, Inspiring Teachers for Europe”); SUPERRED (“Supporting Self-Regulated Learning in Emergency Remote Education”); ECOLHE (“Empower Competences for Onlife Learning in Higher Education”); DigiTelPro (“Professional Development for Digital Teaching and Learning”); CRISS (“Assessment and Certification of Digital Competences in K-12”); LExDigTeach (“Use of Learning Analytics in Digital Environments: Impact on the Improvement of University Teaching Practice”); CODUR (“Creating an Online Dimension for University Rankings”); and ECO4LEARN (“Learning Ecologies throughout Life: ICT Contributions to Teachers’ Professional Development”).

She has published numerous articles and has participated in international conferences and workshops in her fields of expertise. In 2016, she was awarded the Jaume Vicens Vives Distinction by the Government of Catalonia for her leadership in online training on digital competences in higher education and its impact on citizenship.

EDEN Senior Fellows 2019  Recognition of professional excellence and EDEN Fellows 2008 Recognition of professional excellence