Michael Thomas (academic)

Not to be confused with Michel Thomas.

Michael Thomas, born 1969 in the northeast of England, is an academic with research interests in applied linguistics, online and distance education, and digitally mediated communication.

Thomas attended Collingwood Junior School, Norham High School and Tynemouth Sixth Form College and holds degrees from Newcastle University, the University of Manchester, Lancaster University and the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom. He holds a Ph.D. in English Literature and Cultural Theory from Newcastle University and a Ph.D. in Linguistics from Lancaster University. He was previously a Lecturer at the University of Heidelberg in Germany (1998), Associate Professor (2002) and then Professor (2009) in English Communication at Nagoya University of Commerce and Business, Japan, before moving to the University of Central Lancashire in 2010. He has also taught at Stuttgart University and Mannheim University in Germany. In the private sector, he has been a consultant or trainer for the Institute for Modern Foreign Languages, KMP Sprachinstitute, Linguarama, and the GlobalEnglish Corporation in the USA.

Thomas has published 14 books in these fields and is founding and lead editor of two international book series, Digital Education and Learning (Palgrave) and Advances in Digital Language Learning and Teaching (Bloomsbury). He was the founding editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Virtual and Personal Learning Environments and is now a member of the journal's International Advisory Board.

He is currently a Reader and Associate Professor in Digital Education and Learning at the University of Central Lancashire and is active as a researcher within the areas of modern languages and cultures. He is director of the Language, Literacy and Digital Education Research Group. He is also a member of the Research Unit for Speech and Language.

Thomas was project coordinator and principal investigator of the EU-funded CAMELOT Project on language learning with machinima, a two-year project consisting of nine EU partners (EUR 489,000) that ran from December 2013 until November 2015; and a partner in the Erasums+ VITAL project on learning analytics and online learning.

In May 2005, his article in The Times Higher Educational Supplement on the use of iPods and podcasting was published.

In October 2011, Thomas was interviewed by the French language publication Regards Sur Le Numerique on the subject of digital natives. In November 2012, he was quoted by The Guardian as a contributor in a debate about massive open online courses and the future of higher education.

Thomas is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and the Royal Society of Arts.

Selected works

• The Reception of Derrida: Translation and Transformation (Palgrave Macmillan, 2006).
• Handbook of Research on Web 2.0 and Second Language Learning (IGI Global, 2009).
• Online Learning. Four Volumes (Sage Publications, 2010).
• Task-Based Language Learning and Teaching With Technology (Continuum, 2010).
• Interactive Whiteboards: Theory, Research and Practice (IGI Global, 2010).
• Technology Enhanced Learning: Quality of Teaching and Educational Reform. Series: Communications in Computer and Information Science (Springer, 2010).
• Deconstructing Digital Natives: Young People, Technology, and the New Literacies (Routledge, 2011).
• Digital Education: Opportunities for Social Collaboration (Palgrave Macmillan, 2011).
• Technologies, Innovation, and Change in Personal and Virtual Learning Environments (IGI Global, 2012).
• Contemporary Computer-Assisted Language Learning (Bloomsbury, 2012).
• Pedagogical Considerations and Opportunities for Teaching and Learning on the Web (IGI Global, 2014).
• Contemporary Task-Based Language Teaching in Asia (Bloomsbury, 2015).
• Researching Language Learner Interaction Online: From Social Media to MOOCs (CALICO, 2015).