Tony Bates has been responsible since June 1995 for developing distance education programs and flexible delivery of credit and non-credit programs at the University of British Columbia, in conjunction with faculty and program directors. This includes the development of innovative off-campus programming using technology delivery. He is project leader for a national research study on cost-benefit analysis of telelearning. He is also project leader for a study of the impact of technology on adult learners for the Canadian Federal Office of Learning Technologies.
Prior to moving to UBC, he was Executive Director, Research, Strategic Planning, and Information Technology at the Open Learning Agency of British Columbia, where he worked from 1990 to 1995. Before that, he was Professor of Educational Media Research at the British Open University, where he worked for 20 years, as one of the founding members of staff.
His research groups at the UKOU, OLA and UBC have published over 350 papers in the area of distance education and the use of technology for teaching. He is the author of five books, including his latest, 'Technology, Open Learning and Distance Education', published by Routledge in June, 1995. His next book, 'Managing Technological Change: Strategies for University and College Leaders' will be published by Jossey Bass in October, 1999.
He has worked as a consultant in over 30 countries. In 1995 he was awarded the degree of Doctor Honoris Causa by the Open University of Portugal.
