Stephen Downes is a senior research officer with the Institute for Information Technology at Canada's National Research Council located in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada. Stephen specializes in research in online learning, online communities, and knowledge management. He is best known for his essays The Future of Online Learning and Learning Objects. He publishes a daily newsletter about online learning, OLDaily.
Previous to this position, Downes was employed as an information architect at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada to design and build a major Internet resource called MuniMall, a one-stop site for all components of the municipal affairs sector and municipalities in Alberta. Downes was also employed as a distance education and new instructional media design specialist with Assiniboine Community College in Brandon, Manitoba, Canada. Prior to that, he taught philosophy by distance for Athabasca University. Downes holds a BA and an MA, both in philosophy, from the University of Calgary.
