We are delighted to introduce the IABL directors.

Georgios Kormpas

President

Georgios is currently the Director of the Teaching, Learning and Development Center at Al Yamamah University in Saudi Arabia. He also works for the Center for Executive Education where he coordinates corporate programs for executives. Georgios has taught English in several countries, including the USA, Greece, Netherlands, Saudi Arabia and others. He has also been an invited speaker at different TESOL events in several countries namely the USA, Greece, Egypt, Hong Kong, Kuwait, Pakistan, Mexico, Turkey, and others. Georgios is pursuing a Ph.D. researching Technology Enhanced Learning at Lancaster University. He is the Past chair of the ANPC (Affiliate Network Professional Council) a professional council of TESOL (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages) International, an association based in the US with affiliate teacher associations in more than 120 countries around the world. Georgios currently serves as a member of the Nominating Committee of TESOL International, a committee that is responsible for nominating Directors to the Board of TESOL. Finally, he is a contributor to the latest 6 Principles Book for Exemplary Teaching of English Learners (Academic and Specific Purposes) and has several forthcoming publications.

Chrysoula (Chryssa) Lazou

Vice President

Chrysoula (Chryssa) Lazou is an EFL educator and School Life Counselor in the public sector, Hellenic Ministry of Education. She holds a Bachelor Degree in English Language and Literature, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, a Master's of Education in Distance Education, Athabasca University, Canada, and an MSc in Immersive Technologies, International Hellenic University (IHU). At present, Chryssa is a researcher and PhD Candidate at IHU. She is a founding member and Past President of the Association of State School Teachers of English in Kavala, Northern Greece, the Vice President of IABL (International Association for Blended Learning), the Chair of the Digital Communications Committee of IABL, and an IVLP and U.S. programs alumna with a specialization in media literacy, cultural awareness, and inclusive leadership and practices in education and community. Chryssa organizes and co-ordinates events and webinars, participates as a presenter and inspirer in national and international conferences and workshops, and facilitates MOOC courses with international students. Her teaching practices are based on the Universal Design for Learning principles and involve the incorporation of cutting-edge technologies (Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality/Mixed Reality) and project-based learning on various fields, leveraging CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) approach and blended learning. Her most recent U.S. program participation involves Alumni TIES Seminars in Kyiv with a specialization in media literacy and critical thinking in the digital age. She is the Coordinator of the “Media Literacy for Teens.gr” (Bravo Schools 2020 distinction), “DigiTEENS.gr” and "CommuniTIES" projects in Southeastern Europe. Chryssa trains undergraduate students of the English Language Department (Kapodistrian University of Athens) and Computer Science students of IHU on online instructional design. She has received the Northern Lights Award (2017), World Learning grant (2019), ELT Excellence Awards 2020, 2021,2022, Education Leaders Awards 2020, 2021, 2022, and Governor General's GOLD MEDAL Award (2019/2020) for academic excellence.

Maria Psychogiou, PhD

Secretary

Maria Psychogiou holds a Ph.D. in teaching Earth Sciences, and is currently a post-doc researcher, School Life Counselor and Secretary of IABL. She graduated as a geologist from the Department of Geology and Geoenvironment, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. She also holds a MSc in micro paleontology and a MEd in Distance Education from Athabasca University. She teaches science in secondary education and designing e-learning courses on Gender equality and Inclusion in education. She has organized workshops for students in Science festivals based on experiential learning and educational programs for Paleontology Museums. She has designed courses for university students on MOOC and is currently delivering guest lectures on Museum Education for the master’s program Museum Studies where she has been also supervising students’ theses. Her research areas of interest are: inclusive education, women’s leadership and status in education, experiential teaching and learning, blended learning, AR applications in Museums and field trips and the promotion of a systemic approach to teaching Earth sciences. She participates in Erasmus Youth exchange projects on Environmental Education and is a strong advocate for mitigating climate change through raising awareness and taking action. She loves spending time in outdoors and practices mindfulness in nature, every chance she gets.

Koni Drampala

Treasurer

Koni Drampala has a bachelor degree from the Department of Primary Education of Democritus University of Thrace in Greece. She, also, has a MEd in Distance Education of Athabasca University of Canada. She obtained a permanent teaching position and she provided after-school support to Roma children population. Currently, she is pursuing studies in Business Administration at the Technological Educational Institute of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace while also she studies Adult Education. For the last 4 years, she is seconded to the Directorate of Primary Education of Kavala region, to assume responsibilities for the educational information system of Greek schools.

Apostolos Koutropoulos, EdD

Recording Secretary

Apostolos Koutropoulos ("AK") is the program manager for the online Master of Arts program in Applied Linguistics at the University of Massachusetts Boston. He is also a lecturer for the Instructional Design program Master of Education program at UMass Boston, and faculty at the Online Learning Consortium. AK holds an EdD from Athabasca University, focusing on Distance Education.  Additionally, AK holds a BA in Computer Science, an MBA with a focus on Human Resources Management, an MS in Information Technology, an MEd in Instructional Design, and an MA in Applied Linguistics with  a focus on foreign language teaching. In addition to Blended Learning, his interests include knowledge management, educational technology, open education, MOOCs, and corpus linguistics. AK prefers to research in a collaborative manner, and such collaborations have included research work in MOOCs, gamification, lurking, and open education. AK is also a past editor for Current Issues in Emerging eLearning.

Dimosthenis Lygouras

Public Relations Officer

Dimosthenis Lygouras is a graduate of the Department of Occupational Therapy of TEI of Athens (University of West Attica), holder of two postgraduate programs (MSc "Clinical Ergospirometry, Exercise, Advanced Technology and Rehabilitation", Department of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and MSc "Immersive Technologies - Innovation in Education, Training and Game Design", Department of Computer Science, International University of Greece).

Dimosthenis is a PhD candidate at the Department of Computer Science, Democritus University of Thrace, with a specialization in Immersive Virtual Reality and Rehabilitation after Stroke. He is Academic Fellow of the Occupational Therapy Department of the University of Western Macedonia and he is working at the Day Centre for People with Dementia (Association for Regional Development and Mental Health - EPAPSY) in Larissa.

Thalia Vasiliadou

Special Events Officer

Thalia Vasiliadou is a teacher of Informatics and has worked as the head of the IT department of the Directorate of Secondary Education in Kavala, Greece. She graduated from the Computer Science Department, University of Crete, Greece and holds a MEd in Distance Education from Athabasca University, Canada. She has been a member of the research team of the Advanced Educational Technologies and Mobile Applications (AETMA) lab of the Computer Science Department, Democritus University, Thrace, Greece, since 2016(Year of the lab’s Establishment). She has been working as a trainer of students and teachers on how to use e-learning technologies for various organizations, among them the Greek Ministry of Education, the ex Eastern Macedonia and Thrace Institute of Technology, Kavala and the Greek National Centre for Public Administration and local government. She also facilitated international MOOC program from Athabasca University, Canada

Founders

 

Dr. Mohamed Ally

Founding Director

Dr. Mohamed Ally is Professor in Distance Education and a researcher in the Technology Enhanced Knowledge Research Institute at Athabasca University in Canada. He obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Alberta, Canada. His current areas of research include mobile learning, e-learning, distance education, and use of information and communication technology in training and education. Dr. Ally is Past-President of the International Federation of Training and Development Organizations (IFTDO) and is one of the Founding Directors of the International Association of Mobile Learning (IamLearn). He was also on the board of the Canadian Society for Training and Development. Dr. Ally chaired the Fifth World Conference on Mobile Learning and co-chaired the First International Conference on Mobile Libraries. He recently edited seven books on the use of mobile technology in education, training and libraries and is currently editing three additional books. His book “Mobile Learning: Transforming the Delivery of Education and Training” won the Charles A. Wedemeyer Award for significant contribution to distance education. Two of his research papers won the best research paper award at national and international conferences. Dr. Ally has published in peer-reviewed journals, chapters in books and encyclopedia and served on many journal boards and conference committees. He has presented keynote speeches, workshops, papers, and seminars in many countries.

Dr. Agnieszka (Aga) Palalas

Past President & Founding Director

Dr. Agnieszka (Aga) Palalas, long time teacher and researcher of adult education and educational technologies, has focused for almost two decades on exploring and developing blended learning solutions. She has been involved in numerous blended learning projects in North America, Ghana and India. Aga is an Assistant Professor in Distance Education, at the Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies, FHSS, at Athabasca University, Canada. Aga has taught in both the Master’s and Doctoral programs at AU and other universities. Drawing from 25 years of experience as a face-to-face and online adult educator, instructional designer and an academic, combined with her passion for teaching and learning, Aga has focused her research and practice on the issues related to the excellence in online and digital learning, including blended learning. Aga is an internationally recognized expert in technology-assisted teaching and learning, online education, m-learning, instructional design, and mobile-assisted language learning. She is Past-President of the International Association for Blended Learning (IABL) and Past-President of the International Association for Mobile Learning. In those roles, she has interacted and collaborated with academics and training experts around the globe across diverse educational and cultural contexts. Aga has published a number of articles and book chapters as well as edited books pertaining to mobile and blended learning. She has been active in local and international professional associations and is a regular presenter at international conferences. She is excited to be able to contribute to the field of blended learning as a founding director of the International Blended Learning Association.

http://www.linkedin.com/in/apalalas

Dr. Gwendolyn Willis-Darpoh

Past-President & Founding Director

Gwendolyn Willis-Darpoh, Ph.D., is a retired Senior Researcher with the American Institutes for Research. She is an educational consultant (K-16) and an expert in the field educational communications and technology, as well as in cultural and linguistic competence (CLC).  Dr. Willis-Darpoh also has significant expertise in teacher training/culturally responsive teaching, diversity, disproportionality and disparities and is a certified blended learning developer. An educator with more than 35 years of experience, she has presented nationally and internationally on blended learning and conducted research for multinational organizations. Dr. Willis-Darpoh is a two-time Fulbright scholar (Nigeria 1988; Germany 1997) and was a member of the Fulbright Association’s National Board of Directors.  In addition, she served on the Research and Innovation Advisory Board of the International Higher Education Teaching and Learning Association (HETL) and is the Past President and Founding Director of the International Association for Blended Learning. Gwendolyn earned a doctorate from the University of Pittsburgh, a M.Ed. from the American University, and a B.S. from Virginia State University.

gdarpoh@iabl.org