Associate Professor & Program Director, Doctor of Distance Education Program
Contact information
Email: agapalalas@athabascau.ca
Phone:
Aga is Associate Professor in Open, Digital, and Distance Education, and Program Director in the Doctor of Distance Education Program at Athabasca University. She is an experienced practitioner and researcher of technology-assisted learning and teaching with a focus on innovative pedagogy and digital technologies for human-centred learning. Aga has been teaching in both the Master and Doctor of Education programs at Athabasca, and previously at the University of New Mexico, USA. Drawing from over 25 years of experience as a face-to-face and online adult educator, instructional designer, IT programmer, and an academic, combined with her passion for teaching and learning, Aga has focused her research on providing online and digital learning for the whole person – learning that feeds the intellect, body and mind of the individual and the community.
Aga has been involved in numerous transnational projects in Canada, US, Poland, Ghana, Greece, and India. She is an internationally recognized expert in technology-assisted teaching and learning, online education, m-learning, digital learning design, and mobile-assisted language learning. 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). In those roles, she interacted and collaborated with scholars, learning and training experts around the globe across diverse educational and cultural contexts. Aga has published a number of articles and book chapters as well as edited books (see https://athabascau.academia.edu/apalalas and https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Agnieszka_Palalas2).
She has been active in local and international professional associations and has presented keynote speeches, papers, and workshops around the globe. She is also on editorial review boards of several journals in the field of m-learning, language learning, distance education, and educational technology. Aga is excited to be able to contribute her expertise to the field of distance, digital, and open education.
Research interests
Innovative approaches to digital learning
Disruptive human-centered digital pedagogies
Mobile learning
Computer-assisted language learning
Mobile-assisted language learning
Mindfulness in teaching and learning
Digital wellness in online education
Contemplative pedagogy in digital learning
Blended learning
Human-centered instructional design
Ecological Constructivism as learning theory
Design-based research
Educational credentials
Doctor of Education (Distance Education), (Instructional Design, Program Development & Educational Technologies). Dissertation title: Design guidelines for Mobile-Assisted Language Learning objects supporting the development of ESP listening skills. - Athabasca University, 2012
Master of Distance Education - Athabasca University, 2006
E-Commerce Solutions Developer Diploma (IT Programming) - The Institute for Computer Studies, Toronto, Canada, 2002
TESL Teaching Certificate (Teaching English as a Second Language) - University of Toronto, 1999
B.A. – Major in Linguistics and Minor in Slavic Languages and Literature - University of Toronto, 1994
Applied Linguistics, Specialist in Teaching and Translating English and Russian - University of Warsaw, Poland, 1988
Pegrum, M., & Palalas, A. (2021). Attentional Literacy as a New Literacy: Helping Students Deal with Digital Disarray. Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology, 47(2).
Palalas, A., Mavraki, A., Drampala, K., Krassa, A., & Karakanta, C. (2020). Mindfulness Practices in Online Learning: Supporting Learner Self-Regulation. The Journal of Contemplative Inquiry, 7(1).
Palalas, A., & Wark, N. (2020). A framework for enhancing mobile learner-determined language learning in authentic situational contexts. International Journal of Computer-Assisted Language Learning and Teaching (IJCALLT), 10(4), 83-97.
Palalas, A., & Wark, N. (2020). The relationship between mobile learning and self-regulated learning: A systematic review. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 36(4), 151-172.
Palalas, A. (2019). Mindfulness for Human-Centred Digital Learning. Argentinian Journal of Applied Linguistics (AJAL), 7(4), 110-125.
Palalas, A. (2018). Self-determined Learning and Teaching Presence in a Mobile Learning Solution for English Language Literacy. Distance Education in China, 2, 12-26.
Gunawardena, C. N., Palalas, A., Berezin, N., Legere, C., Kramer, G., & Amo-Kwao, G. (2016). Negotiating Cultural Spaces in an International Mobile and Blended Learning Project. Mobile Learning Futures–Sustaining Quality Research and Practice in Mobile Learning, 83.
Palalas, A., Berezin, N., Gunawardena, C., & Kramer, G. (2015). A Design Based Research Framework for Implementing a Transnational Mobile and Blended Learning Solution. International Journal of Mobile and Blended Learning (IJMBL), 7(4), 57-74.
Palalas, A., & Hoven, D. (2013). Implications of Using DBR to Investigate the Iterative Design of a Mobile-Enabled Language Learning System. CALICO Monograph Series 11, 41-66.
Palalas, A. (2011). ESP for busy college students: Is the blend of in-class, online and mobile learning the answer? The IALLT Journal of Language Learning Technologies.
Hoven, D. & Palalas, A. (2011). (Re)-conceptualizing design approaches for mobile language learning. CALICO Journal, 28 (3).
Refereed edited books
Palalas, A., & Lazou, C. (Eds). (2021). Blended Language Learning: Evidence-Based Trends and Applications. [eBook]. International Association for Blended Learning and Power Learning Solutions. ISBN 978-1-9993825-4-4
Palalas, A. (Ed.) (2019). Blended Language Learning: International Perspectives on Innovative Practice. Beijing, China: China Central Radio & TV University Press
Power, R., Ally, M., Cristol, D., & Palalas, A. (Eds.) (2017). IAmLearning: Mobilizing and Supporting Educator Practice. International Association for Mobile Learning
Palalas, A., & Ally, M. (Eds.) (2018). The International Handbook of Mobile-Assisted Language Learning. Beijing, China: China Central Radio & TV University Press (Chinese Version)
Palalas, A., & Ally, M. (Eds.) (2016). The International Handbook of Mobile-Assisted Language Learning. Beijing, China: China Central Radio & TV University Press
Refereed book chapters
Palalas, A. (2019). Reaching out to Forgotten Learners (Literacy Uplift, Canada). In M. Pegrum (Ed.), Mobile Lenses on Learning: Languages and Literacies on the Move (pp. 193-198). Singapore: Springer
Palalas, A. (2019). Introduction to the Book on Blended Learning. In A. Palalas (Ed.), Blended Language Learning: International Perspectives on Innovative Practice. Beijing, China: China Central Radio & TV University Press
Palalas, A. (2018). Mindfulness in Mobile and Ubiquitous Learning: Harnessing the Power of Attention. In M. Ally et al., The International Handbook of Mobile and Ubiquitous Learning (pp. 19-44). Springer
Palalas, A. (2017). Community and Informal Learning, and Skills Development. In J. Traxler (Ed.), Capacity Building in a Changing ICT Environment, pp. 17-26. The International Telecommunications Union (ITU)
Palalas, A., & Hoven, D. (2016). Emerging Pedagogies for MALL. In A. Palalas & M. Ally (Eds.), The International
Aga has had the honour of supervising more than 20 doctoral and master's students both in Canada and internationally. She has also been on supervisory committees of numerous graduate students. She has been extremely active serving on local and international committees, boards, and associations, as well as co-organizing international in-person and virtual educational conferences for global audiences.