Dr. Agnieszka (Aga) Palalas is Associate Professor in Open, Digital and Distance Education at Athabasca University; Program Director of the Doctor in Distance Education as well as Master of Open, Digital and Distance Education Programs. Aga is an experienced practitioner and researcher of technology-assisted learning/teaching with a focus on innovative pedagogy and digital technologies for human-centred learning. Drawing from three decades of experience as a face-to-face and online educator, instructional designer, mobile learning and IT programmer, combined with her two-decade-long mindfulness practice, she researches and designs digital learning for the whole person, which nourishes the intellect, body, mind and spirit of the individual and the community (with focus on digital wellness, mindfulness in online learning and digital learning design). She is one of the Founding Directors and the Past-President of the International Association for Blended Learning (IABL) and the Past-President of the International Association for Mobile Learning (IAmLearn).

Research focused on technology-assisted learning/teaching with a focus on innovative pedagogy and digital technologies for human-centred learning. Drawing from three decades of experience as a face-to-face and online educator, instructional designer, mobile learning and IT programmer, combined with her two-decade-long mindfulness practice, she researches and designs digital learning for the whole person, which nourishes the intellect, body, mind and spirit of the individual and the community. Her research interests include the following: • Digital wellness in online & digital learning • Mindfulness in teaching and learning • Contemplative pedagogy in digital learning • Innovative approaches to digital learning (pedagogy of care, healing; critical pedagogy) • Disruptive human-centered digital pedagogies • Mobile learning • Computer-assisted language learning • Mobile-assisted language learning • Blended learning • Human-centered instructional design • Ecological Constructivism as learning theory • Design-based research