Mr Nigel Newbutt BSc MA PG DIP
Contact Details
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Biography:
| Nigel has industry experience designing and working with animation and TV productions, coupled with experience of designing, validating and running programmes of study at UK and Irish Universities. He has a Masters in Education and interests in assessment, E-learning and Higher Education policy. Nigel is a peer-reviewer for the Higher Education Academy (HEA), and involved in consultancy work for Universities and Colleges in the UK. More recently he has been working with virtual world technology and users with autism to help teach social and communication skills. This has seen him engaged in fieldwork with a school in the UK carrying out a case study as part of his PhD with SMARTlab. Nigel's current role is developing research bids, managing SMARTlab and undertaking teaching on SMARTlab's / School of Education's MA programmes.
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Research Interests
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Nigel's research interests are in the areas of autism and technology. More specifically this includes the role technology can play in teaching social skills and helping to aid communication for users with autism-spectrum conditions (ASCs). His research is focused on participatory input and user-centred design approaches, as well as a qualitative approach to gathering data. His work sees him engaged in classrooms, working with children and teachers to design and develop virtual worlds to help provide a platform that in many ways helps to level the playing field for users with ASCs. More broadly Nigel in interested in media, animation and games-related projects and has worked in the areas of broadcast television and animation as well as teaching animation and games programmes in the last 10 years. Nigel is completing his PhD research under the supervision of: Prof. Goodman (UCD), Dr. Parsons (Southampton), Dr. Morie (USC) and Dr. Clarke (UCL). He is due to complete late 2012. The proposed title of his PhD is: Facilitating Communication in Children with Autism Through the Use of Virtual Worlds in the Classroom. Research Interests/Expertise; Autism, Qualitative Research Methods, Assistive Technology, Special Needs, Design, Technology Some of Nigel's grants and projects include:
Sponsor: HEFCE & UnLtd Title: VIRTAUT: virtual worlds for users with autism Start Date / End Date: 1 September 2010 / 1 September 2011 Sponsor:
European Framework Programme Title: PANDORA: Advanced Training Environment for Crisis Scenarios. Joint project between UoG,
UEL, SMARTlab and European partners. Includes: environment and emotion
simulation engine, environment design and building and integration component
development Start Date / End Date: January 2010 / March 2012 |
Book Chapters
| UPCOMING: Parsons, S., Newbutt, N. and Wallace, S.; (2012) 'Learning Technologies for People with Autism and Related Disorder' In: Boser, K, Goodwin, M. Wayland, S (eds). Virtual Spaces and Classroom Learning using Virtual Reality Technology to Support the Learning of Children on the Autism Spectrum. USA: Brookes. [Details] |
Peer Reviewed Journals
| Newbutt, N., Flynn, R. and Kinchington, F.; (2009) 'Can the use of supplementary video and audio materials support student understanding of 3D Animation? - Some results, analysis and conclusions'. International Journal of Technology Enhanced Leanring, :21-32. [Details] |
Newbutt, N & Flynn, R; (2006) 'Innovations in Learning and Teaching - Approaches using Games Technologies: Can The Movies be used to teach how to make a Movie?'. 5 (3):2-11.  [Details] |
Conference Publications
| Newbutt, N. and Donegan, M. ; (2010) A brief review: assistive technology and autism, a proposal for virtual tools for improved communication and emotional recognition . In: C. Crawford et al. (eds.) eds. Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference USA, , pp.1998-2003 [Details] |
| Newbutt, N. Flynn, R. Penwill, G; (2008) Creating a suitable and successful solution for the integration of Podcasting and Vidcasting in a Higher Education E-Learning Environment . In: Bonk, C., Lee, M. M., Reynolds, T eds. E-Learn USA, , pp.3028-3033 [Details] |
| Newbutt, N; (2007) The Use of New Technologies in Promoting Learning Autonomy: An Integrated Approach . In: Munox, M., Freitas, A., Cravo, P eds. E-ALT IASK Portugal, , pp.358-365 [Details] |
| Flynn, R., Newbutt, N., Dastbaz, M. and Jun Zhang, J. ; (2007) The Use of Commercial Game Technology to Teach Video Production - Some Initial Results . In: Montgomerie, C. & Seale, J eds. ED-MEDIA Canada, , pp.202-207 [Details] |
Honours and Awards
| Year: 2011. Title: Outstanding Social Entrepreneur Teaching Staff |
Associations
| Association: Higher Education Academy, Function/Role: Fellow |
| Association: British Computer Society, Function/Role: Member |
Committees
| Committee : University of Greenwich: Academic Council, elected committee member |
| Committee : Member (and co-founder) of British Computer Society: Animation and Games Special Interest Group (SIG) |
Employment
| Employer: University of Greenwich Position: Senior Lecturer |
Education
| Year 2010 Institution: University of East London Qualification: PG DIP Subject: Research Methods |
| Year 2008 Institution: University of Greenwich Qualification: MA Subject: Higher Education |
| Year 2001 Institution: Leeds Met. University Qualification: BSc Subject: Multimedia Technology: animation and graphics |
Other Activities
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Invited talks: British Computer Society, A Brief Review: assistive technology and autism (December 2010). Peer reviewer: Higher Education Academy (HEA), Journal articles, NTF, SFHEA bids. Program Committee Member and Referee: ICS (Information and Computer Science) for HEA. External Validation (subject expert) for over 15 programmes: BA, BSc, MA, MSc |
Teaching Interests
| Nigel
teaches at postgraduate level on Master programmes and supervises Masters students
in the areas of creative technology and innovation, design and development of interfaces,
and media projects. He is also supervises students on the Masters of Education programmes in the areas of technology used in education, application of technology used to support special needs, and qualitative methods of data collection and analysis . Nigel has supervised many undergraduate and postgraduate
dissertations (and projects) to successful completion. He has also sat as
external on many MSc and MA project vivas.
Nigel is also co-director on the Master CTI programme in the school. More details here |
Recent Postgraduates
| Current MA students include: Patrique McGarth (ICT and the digital divide in schools) Zoe Mannix (Impact and change: ICT in schools) Clara Nevin (Autism and ICT: social stories) |