Prof. Lizbeth Goodman

Lizbeth is Founder and Director of the SMARTlab, as well as Professor of Inclusive Design for Education and Chair of Creative Technology Innovation at University College Dublin, where she is an Executive Board member and academic chair of the Innovation Academy (the UCD/Trinity alliance). Lizbeth is a world-renowned expert on lifelong learning, inventing new learning models using creative tools and creative engagement strategies to address the different learning styles of all learners, with all levels of intellectual and physical ability, across cultures and languages. She founded the SMARTlab nearly 20 years ago and has directed its internationally acclaimed practice-based Ph.D. Program and major projects and studios, including the MAGIC Multimedia and Games Innovation Centre and Gamelab. Lizbeth and her teams specialize in developing ground-up technology solutions for people of all levels of cognitive and physical ability, from mainstream learners of all ages to “special” and “gifted” learners and lifelong learners in the developed and developing worlds. In all her work, she applies a universal design method to practice-based innovation to transform lives through providing unlimited access to education and tools for creative expression.  She is known as an expert in Digital Inclusion, including learning models for communities at risk. She is an award-winning advocate of ethical learning and teaching models using interactive tools and games to inspire and engage learners. She specializes in working with people who do not have physical voices (whether due to disability, injury, illiteracy, or other social/political factors), enabling the use of new creative technologies for expression vocally, in writing, and with movement and music. Active as a Senior Researcher in Community Technology and Learning for Microsoft CSR, she is also Honorary International Research Advisor for RITSEC in Cairo, and has acted as special advisor to several major IT and learning initiatives in the Middle East and Africa.  In 2008, she was named Best Woman in the Academic and Public Sectors, and Outstanding Woman in Technology, by Blackberry Rim and their international industry judging panels.