Neil Buchanan

Teaching Fellow

Biography

Background

As a Teaching Fellow within ELE, I teach on a wide range of courses and programmes including COL's International Foundation Programme (IFP), the in-sessional Academic Language and Literacies' (ALLIS) provision and on the Post Graduate Pre-Sessional English Programme (PGPEP), where I also organise the Reading, Research and Enquiry course.  I am the Course Organiser for ELE's collaboration with EFI and take an active role in the Learn Users Group.  

My own experience of higher education began as an undergraduate at the University of Edinburgh in the 1980s with my degree in medieval and ancient history.  Fuelled by my love of history, I first explored the world of EFL in Hungary and Poland before becoming an EAP practitioner at colleges and universities in Saudi Arabia and the UAE.  It was in Dubai in 2004 that I was introduced to a laptop only, WiFi-enabled campus and so began my interactions with EdTech, ultimately leading to my recent Masters for which I researched teaching colleagues' identities within a GenAI world.

I continue to be fascinated by how we learn, communicate, and form our identities and am happiest in the class using this experience to foster continued student success, growth, and lifelong learning.

Qualifications

Master of Education in Applied Linguistics (2023)

PG Diploma (Distinction) in Digital Education (2016)

RSA/UCLES Diploma in Teaching English as a Foreign Language to Adults (1996)

Master of Arts (Hons) in History (1986)

Conference details

Co-presented with Dr Anya Clayworth, Director of the International Foundation Programme and COL Lecturer, on ‘Finding Belonging: how to negotiate AI presence in the academic world’ ​at FYNAC24 (Foundation Year National Annual Conference 2024) held at the University of Lincoln in July 2024.

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