Conclusion

Through discussion and analysis of the 21 selected items from my portfolio, connected to a methodology and theoretical & conceptual framework, I have made a claim for the award of PhD. The key to this is the practice itself, which I argue has been internationally significant in originality, impact and importance.

Starting with the development of a single piece of educational software, Snooker, created at the time the genre was established, I have grown in ambition to ultimately design educational institutions based on significant projects such as Ultraversity, which at its first graduation in 2006 awarded a BA to around 150 students with almost half with first-class honours.

My work has been guided by the four theoretical analyses I have presented and used in practice to steer design decisions. I have begun to develop these further as an original contribution to knowledge that will become the basis of research & development to refine their validity and support their reliability.

The portfolio selection made could have been larger but a pragmatic decision to limit the choice for both handling and for coherence has been made.

My contribution has mostly been in collaboration, but in total I argue there is enough evidence of my individual input, often in the form of critical advice and mentoring to colleagues as well as personal creative innovation.

Finally, I have developed this thesis extensively by using a web site and content management system to source, develop, organise, design and present my argument and hope that the model I have explored, described in the section Methodology for this thesis will act as useful basis for others to follow in my footsteps.