Jonathan Bishop
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jonathan Bishop is a British researcher and political activist, based in Pontypridd in Wales. He is noted for his work in designing, developing and researching e-learning systems and virtual communities and using new media technology, such as weblogs and websites to communicate with voters and encourage them to become involved in political activities.
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[edit] Personal Life
Bishop's family have a long military, industrial, and political history. His paternal side have a history in the mining and construction industries, with his father being involved in many regeneration projects in South Wales and his grandfather serving underground for five decades. His maternal side have a history in the military, where is grandfather served in the Royal Navy during the Second World War and he is also related to the famous Llantrisant archers that fought at the Battle of Crecy in 1346. Bishop espouses further connections with Llantrisant as he is also maternally related to the late Ivor Jacobs, who was Chairman of Llantrisant Town Council in 1947.
[edit] Education
Bishop graduated from the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff in 1998 and went on to gain his first degree in Multimedia Studies in 2002 at the University of Glamorgan in Pontypridd. He later went on to undertake a masters degree in e-learning at the same university between 2002 and 2004.
[edit] Professional Career
Bishop joined Trefforest-based Broadway Studios in 1999 and was there when he developed the Circle of Friends technique for social networking in virtual communities, applying it to online communities that preceeded the existence of Friendster. Around about 2002 Bishop developed the PARLE System, a piece of assistive technology for people with forms of autism like Asperger Syndrome, which enables them to take part in social situations that they usually find difficult or confusing and while at Brodway Studios in 2003 he developed a number of e-learning systems and online communities, which resulted in new methodologies for designing such systems. In 2006 Bishop co-founded e-learning firm, Glamorgan Blended Learning, where a number of his technologies are now being used for the benefit of people in the [[South Wales Central (National Assembly for Wales electoral region)]|South Wales Central] region.
[edit] Political Career
In 2003 Bishop was elected to Llantwit Fardre community council as a Labour politician. He has successfully managed to persuade the council to adopt an E-government strategy and in 2004 he was shortlisted for the New Statesman New Media Awards along with Tom Watson MP and Steve Webb MP for using his website and weblog to communicate with the electorate. He has a regular column in the Pontypridd & Llantrisant Observer and features in the The Western Mail newspaper for his technological and political activities, as well as on an international level in the Washington Post and Bejing Review.
[edit] Partial bibliography
- Bishop, J. (2003). The Internet for educating individuals with social impairments. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning 19(4), 548-558
- Bishop, J. (2003). Factors shaping the form of and participation in online communities. Digital Matrix Magazine, July 2003
- Bishop, J. (2005). An ecological model for analysing and influencing behaviour in virtual communities. Paper presented to the 1st International Congress on Post Cognitivist Psychology. Glasgow: University of Strathclyde, 4-6 July 2005. Available online
- Bishop, J. (2005). The role of mediating artefacts in the design of persuasive e-learning systems. In Proceedings of the First International Conference on Internet Technologies and Applications, University of Wales, NEWI, Wrexham, 7-9 September 2005. Available online
- Bishop, J. (2006). Social change in organic and virtual communities: An Exploratory Study of Bishop Desires. Paper presented to the Faith, Spirituality, and Social Change Conference 2006, University of Winchester, 8 April 2006
- Bishop, J. (2007). Increasing participation in online communities: A framework for human–computer interaction. Computers in Human Behavior 23 (2007), 1881-1893
