Brett Bligh is a Lecturer in the Department of Educational Research, Lancaster University, and Director of the Centre for Technology Enhanced Learning. His research interrogates the nexus of technology mediation, physical environment, and institutional change in higher education. Brett’s work prioritises Activity Theory conceptions of human practice, and interventionist methodologies.
My research mainly concerns the higher education sector. I mainly wish to deal with PhD proposals focussed on universities. I may consider other post-compulsory sectors (further education, workplace learning, etc.) if the project is otherwise very close to my research interests. I do NOT wish to supervise PhD projects examining compulsory education (K-12) settings and simply will not consider proposals for such projects.
I am mainly interested to supervise proposals that use activity theory to frame the work. I am particularly interested in proposals that use the Change Laboratory or other interventionist research designs. I am fairly unlikely to consider proposals that do not use activity theory at all.
Brett conducts research into the connections between our material surroundings, the technologies that permeate them, and the ways we act, think and learn.
Much of his research concerns adult learners, and particularly the Higher Education sector. Recurring interests include how educational institutions design and evaluate their built environment estate to support opportunities for learning, how Universities attempt to expand and replicate their institutional forms in other countries (for example, by establishing international branch campuses), how Universities might change as a result of initiative 'from below' generating expansive learning, and how technological tools can support learners’ collaboration. More general interests include Activity Theory, the Change Laboratory methodology, and collaborative learning.
He is currently
In 2012 he co-authored Nesta's Decoding Learning report, and was previously a member of the EU's "STELLAR" Network of Excellence for Technology Enhanced Learning. In 2010, as part of the Visual Learning Lab, he was awarded a Lord Dearing Award for innovation in teaching and learning.