Stephen Molyneux

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Professor Stephen Molyneux
British e-Learning Guru
Born February 24, 1955
Liverpool, UK

Professor Steve Molyneux, (born 24 February 1955) is considered one of Britain's leading experts in the use of Information and Communication technology to support Education and Training and one of the fathers of e-Learning in the UK.

Contents

[edit] Overview

Molyneux is recognised as a key player in e-Learning and as such is one of the UK's leading movers and shakers in the use of technologies to support education, training and the transformation of communities towards the Knowledge-Economy. He is currently (2006) Director of the Learning Lab and Director of the ADL Partnership Lab (UK). In the past he has held the Microsoft Chair of Advanced Learning Technologies, the IBM Chair of Information & Communication Technologies and the Asymetrix Chair of Multimedia at the University of Wolverhampton with whom he still works closely. In 1994 he developed one of the first Virtual Learning Environmnet (VLE/LMS) in the UK which was marketed under the brand learnwise by Granada Learning.

In addition to his running the Labs he also has a number of personal Consultancy roles. Molyneux is Special Adviser to the Ministry of Defence on Training & Education where he is responsible to the Deputy Chief of Defence Staff (Personnel) in assisting the Directorate General Training & Education (DGT&E) with the procurement of an £18 Billion Defence Training Transformation initiative. He also acts as a consultant to a number of Defence Colleges, UK Local Authorities, City Academies and Companies on their education and technology strategies as well as providing 'blue-sky' consultancy to Technology providers.

Molyneux has contributed to UK National and International strategic policy papers as a member of the UK Distributed Electronic Learning Group (DELG) of the Learning and Skills Council, a member of the Digital Content group of the UK Department for Trade and Industry and a member of the UK Department for Education and Skills Post-16 e-Learning Strategy Task-force. He has assisted a number of other UK Government Departments including the Cabinet Office, the Department of Health and Her Majesties Revenue and Customs, He was a member of the Institute of IT Training e-Learning Standards Committee and continues to play an important role in shaping the future of e-Learning on a global scale. He was a founding member of the Broadband Stakeholder Group Executive with responsibility for the Education and Training sector, advising the UK Government on Broadband deployment strategies across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland and Senior Advisor to the e-Parliament on Education. He has also worked closely with the Scottish Parliament and Scottish Executive in meeting the needs of the Scottish Digital Economy.

Internationally, Molyneux has contributed to the use of technology to support education and training in a number of Countries including the United States, Germany and Singapore.

Molyneux is often asked to provide advice on the strategic use of ICT and Broadband Infrastructure to National, European and International Clients from both the Public and Private sector.

Outside of work, Molyneux is a Justice of the Peace, a local Town Mayor and patron of Shropshire Young Enterprise.

[edit] Recent Career Overview

Before returning to the UK in 1991, Molyneux provided consultancy at board level to Siemens, Intel, IBM Europe, BMW and Deutsche Telekom which culminated in him acting as the West German representative on a European Commission task-force to investigate the Delivery of European Learning through Technological Advancement (DELTA). It was during this time that Molyneux developed one of the first models for a Managed Learning Environment, a model that formed the basis of the development of the successful Granada Learning Learnwise Virtual Learning Environment currently in use by numerous Colleges of Further Education and servicing almost 1 Million Students.

On his return to the UK Molyneux was engaged by the University of Wolverhampton where he was responsible for conceptualising Europe’s first BA in Interactive Multimedia Communication, a programme supported by the Multimedia Industry and sponsored by Creative Technologies. He also worked with Architects on the development of a multi-million pound Science Park in Wolverhampton to ensure that the Information Technology Infrastructure met the needs of modern Teaching and Learning practices.

In 1994, as IBM Professor of ICT, Molyneux spearheaded a £2.6 million pilot project with ICL, IBM and TeleWest Communications to deliver online Just-In-Time training to over 100 small businesses across the West Midlands via a mixture of Narrowband and Broadband infrastructures using Web-based protocols. This project was used by the British think tank the Institute for Public Policy Research as a case-study for a Government consultation paper in developing an electronic University for Industry.

In 1996 he was the visionary behind the Telford & Wrekin Broadband Grid for Learning, a £12.5 million initiative linking 87 schools, libraries and community centres to deliver education, training and other e-Government services to all citizens of Telford. This network is seen by many as the most advanced educational network in Europe offering up to 155 Mbit/s to every school and more broadcast quality video-conferencing points than NATO. He also worked closely with CISCO and other major blue-chip companies on the rollout of UK Net Year, an initiative to provide connectivity to all schools across the UK.

Between 1995 and 1996 he developed what was the first Web-Based Learning Environment to support the delivery of learning content to Students at the University of Wolverhampton. This system is still in use by over 23,000 students at the University.

In June 1997, for his contribution to “Connected Learning Communities” – a vision paper upon which the UK National Grid for Learning was based – he was appointed as a distinguished Fellow of ICL. Molyneux is the only non-employee to be awarded such a distinction.

In 1999, Granada Learning licensed the on-line Learning Environment he had developed for the University and sold it to Schools and Colleges under the 'learnwise' brand and together with Capita Education as 'Sims.Net'. This learning environment was one of the most prolific Virtual Learning Environments deployed across the UK Schools and FE sector.

In 1999 he founded, together with major e-Learning Companies, The Learning Lab, a recognised European centre of excellence dedicated to the promotion and use of Information Technology in Education, Training and Employment.

In 2000, he was successful in winning the bid to provide the UK Department of Education and Skills ICT Research Centre. This was a collaboration between the Learning Lab and the University a Wolverhampton. In November of 2000 he was the recipient of the first ever World Open Learning Award for outstanding personal achievement in promoting the use of technology to support education and training.

In 2001 he assisted Telford & Wrekin Council in bidding to the Countryside Agency to develop an integrated Post Office, Local Shop, Learning and Community Centre which was given National Status for it innovative use of Information Technology. During this period Molyneux provided advice to the Department of Health on the set up of and e-University for the National Health Service.

In 2002 he assisted in preparing the vision paper for a £1 Million project to develop two Classrooms of the Future. So successful was his idea of the re-usable learning pod that the project also receive national acclaim. In collaboration with the United States National Guard and United States Department of Labor he formed a Partnership Lab in the UK aimed at supporting the UK Industry in the development and adoption of a common standard to deliver an e-Learning reference model and later that year was successful in securing a £7 Million bid, on behalf of the University of Wolverhampton and Telford & Wrekin Borough Council, to build an e-Innovation Centre to support lifelong learning and the West Midlands knowledge economy.

For his efforts in e-Learning, in August of 2002 he was named as one of the top 10 movers and shakers from the UK in advancing the use of Information Technology to support the knowledge-economy and in June 2003, at the House of Commons, he was presented with the personal coin of the Adjutant General for the State of Minnesota, an honour normally reserved for military personal and in October 2003, joined the Advisory Board of GeneEd Inc, a leading provider of e-Learning Material to the Pharmaceutical, Medical and Scientific Industries.

In April of 2004, he was asked to join the e-Parliament, a global network of legislators, as their senior advisor on e-Learning and since then has also worked with a number of local authorities in shaping the future of local e-Government and how this is linked to e-Learning. For his continuing work with the United States Military he was awarded with Major General Keefe’s personal coin for enterprise in the field. Steve is the only UK Citizen holds two such commendations, one from the State of Minnesota and one from Massachusetts.

In 2005, Steve continued to make an impact on the use of technology in Education & Training. In particular the use of Video Conferencing in Schools. He initiated a project to run a tripartite discussion on Human Rights between Children aged 14-16 located at a School in Tavistock (UK), Shattuck Minnesota (USA) and a Palace in Iraq. The debate lasted over 2 Hours and is thought to be the first time that Children have engaged in studies linked live to a Conflict Zone. In September 2005, Steve was appointed as Advisor on Training and Education to the Ministry of Defence.

Since November 2005, Molyneux holds a role as Special Advisor to Air Marshal David Pocock, the Deputy Chief of Defence Staff with responsibility for Personnel issues. His role is to act as independent advisor to the Directorate General Training & Education working alongside Brigadier Geoff Nield in the evaluation of bidder's responses to a large Defence Training Transformation Programme.

Molyneux is well respected worldwide by the Technology and Media industries for his futuristic views on the use of technology to support citizen-centric services and evangelistic frankness. He has participated in Ditchley Foundation focus workshops together with senior Government officials for the UK and USA, delivered a Faraday Lecture at the Royal Institution on the impact of technology on Lifelong Learning and has given many TV and radio interviews.

[edit] Outside Interests

Within his local community in Telford, Molyneux is a Justice of the Peace, Chairman and Mayor of his local Town Council and Patron of Shropshire Young Enterprise. He lives in Telford, Shropshire with his Partner and 4 dogs.

[edit] Employment history

  • 1973-1975 Royal Air Force - RAF Neatishead
  • 1975-1978 Royal Air Force - RAF Wattisham
  • 1978-1979 Software Sciences Ltd (United Kingdom)
  • 1979-1981 DAI International (Frankfurt)
  • 1981-1982 American Express Military Banking (Frankfurt)
  • 1981-1982 University of Southern California - Part-Time (Frankfurt)
  • 1982-1986 ATARI Europe (Hamburg)
  • 1986-1988 ARIOLASOFT - Bertlesman (Munich)
  • 1988-1990 SM Software AG (Munich)
  • 1988-1992 Munich Technical University - Visiting Professor - Part-Time
  • 1990-1992 Self-Employed Consultant (Munich)
  • 1992-1994 Self-Employed Consultant (United Kingdom)
  • 1994-2004 University of Wolverhampton (United Kingdom)
  • 2004- Self-Employed Consultant (United Kingdom)

[edit] Clients: Past and present

[edit] Public sector

[edit] Private sector

  • ACE Coin (United Kingdom)
  • AEG (Germany)
  • Amino Communications Ltd (United Kingdom)
  • AstraZenca (Sweden)
  • BWM (Germany)
  • Caspian Learning (UK)
  • Computer Training Systems (United Kingdom)
  • Creative Labs (United Kingdom)
  • Deutsche Telekom (Germany)
  • fuel International (United Kingdom)
  • Gene Ed (United States)
  • Granada Learning (United Kingdom)
  • HSBC Bank (United Kingdom)
  • Intel Europe (Germany)
  • International Business Machines (United Kingdom)
  • Kelly College Independent School (United Kingdom)
  • UfI/learndirect (United Kingdom)
  • Line Communication (United Kingdom)
  • Microsoft (United Kingdom)
  • MWR (United Kingdom)
  • Siemens AG (Germany)

[edit] Advisory positions

  • 1988-1992 Visiting Professor - Munich Technical University
  • 1988-1991 German Ministry of Science & Education EU DELTA Workforce
  • 1994-2000 Amino Technologies - Non-Executive Director
  • 1999 Scottish Parliament Knowledge Economy Taskforce
  • 2000 USA National Science Foundation e-Learning Research Advisory Group
  • 2001 Department of Health - National Health Service University
  • 2001 Department for Education and Skills - Post 16 e-Learning Taskforce
  • 2001-2003 The American University in Richmond - Member of the Academic Board
  • 2002 Learning ands Skills Council Distributed e-Learning Group
  • 2002 Interactive BAFTA awards Judging Panel
  • 2002-2004 UK Broadband Stakeholder Executive
  • 2003 Institute of IT Trainers e-Learning Standards Committee
  • 2003 GenEd Inc. - Scientific Advisor
  • 2004 e-Parliamnet - Special Advisor of Education
  • 2005 Ministry of Defence - Directorate General Training and Education

[edit] Awards and Accolades

  • 1972 Royal Airforce Best Recruit of Intake
  • 1978 Air Officer Commander in Chief commendation for meritorious service to Strike Command
  • 1997 First non-employee ICL Fellow
  • 2000 First recipient of WOLCE Award for outstanding personal contribution to e-Learning Industry
  • 2002 Named one of the top 10 UK movers & shakers in Education & Training
  • 2003 State of Minnesota Adj. Generals Personal Coin for contribution in the field
  • 2004 State of Massachusetts Adj. Generals Personal Coin for contribution in the field
  • 2004 United States National Guard Coin for Distributed Training Technology Programme

[edit] References and Citations

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early years

Stephen Molyneux was born in Walton, Liverpool, England, on 24 February 1955. Son of Ronald and Lucille Brenda Molyneux he has one younger Sister, Elaine.

The Molyneux family lived at numerous addresses across Liverpool but during most of Stephen’s younger years they lived in the district of Walton-on-the-Hill where his family have lived since the 1600’s.

[edit] School

When he was twelve he attended Wade Deacon Grammar School in Widnes for one year before his parents moved back to Walton where he attended Alsop High School for Boys until the age of 17 when he joined the Royal Air Force.

Molyneux excelled at using his social skills at School and his future in the Technology field was influenced mainly by Mr. Eric Tucker, his Biology Teacher. Originally wanting to take up a Career in Science this was not to be the case.

[edit] Working life

[edit] The Royal Air Force

In 1972 Molyneux left School and decided to take up a career in the Royal Air Force as an Aerospace Systems Operator. After Basic Training at RAF Swinderby and Trade Training at RAF Bawdsey his first operational posting was to RAF Neatishead where he worked as part of a very small team ensuring operational readiness of one of the first Computer controlled Defence Radar Systems in the UK. This first place of work was seen as state-of-the-art in 1973 when he joined his squadron but how houses the RAF Air Defence Radar Museum.

It was at RAF Neatishead that Molyneuxs aptitude for Computers was recognised and although not a commissioned officer it was obvious to the Officer Commanding the Programming Squadron, Flight Lieutenant George Crowhurst, that his ability lay in the field of Computing and in particular Computer Programming. Within 3 Months of his being posted, even though it was outside of his trade brief, Molyneux could competently programme the two Elliot 920B computers in machine code. Molyneux worked along Sgt. Mick Shelton, programming the operational Radar simulators used to train Fighter Controllers. A work colleague RAF Neatishead would also feature some 33 years later in Molyneux's career. Such was his passion for Computing that Molyneux purchased for £120 the first 'Build-it-yourself' computer on the UK market, a NASCOM. This computer was delivered in component format which had to be soldered together and programmed in Hexadecimal machinecode.

In 1975, his Commanding Officer was promoted to Squadron Leader and posted to command a large team of Programmers at the Tinsmith-SLEWC Support Unit (TSSU) at RAF Watttisham. Molyneux was invited to join his Commanding Office at TSSU but due to military protocol dictating that Programmers hold a commissioned rank, he was posted as a Software Librarian. This of course was a rouse by the Squadron Leader to ensure that his prodigy got the posting that would make best use of his talents.

During his time at TSSU, Molyneux set about working with a team of two Officer Programmers ( Flight Lieutenants Dave Adams and Ian Robertson ) to design, develop and implement an Operating System and Software Development platform for the Elliot 920C machines that were being installed in Defence establishments across the UK. This work was written in an emerging real-time programming language Coral 66. An avid Star Trek fan, Molyneux named a tool he had developed that would allow him to monitor and control the systems he was programming after a probe called NOMAD in Episode 37 of Series 2, 'The Changeling". In the TV Episode NOMAD is created by the merger of two probes and sees its mission as to seek out new life and perfect it. Unaware that his Commanding Officer had reported on the development of NOMAD, the Ministry of Defence requested what NOMAD stood for. In order not to seem foolish, Molyneux told them it stood for "Non-resident Online Multiprocessing Aid to Debugging" and heard no more of it.

In 1978, after 6 Years in the RAF, Molyneux decided to leave and enter the world of Industry. Realising early on that that the only way to further his career was to gain the Educational qualifications he did not attain at School, Molyneux attended evening classes throughout his career giving him the academic qualifications he would need later as he went on to enter Higher Education.

As a sign of his achievements whilst in the RAF he was awarded an Air Officer Commanding in Chiefs commendation for meritorious service to Strike Command.

[edit] First steps in Industry

As is the case with many ex-servicemen, Molyneux was recruited by a company already involved in the Defence Industry, Software Sciences International (SSL). Based in Farnborough, Hampshire, SSL had a small Research Centre in Macclesfield, only 40 minutes from his home City of Liverpool, and Molyneux joined the team to work as an evaluator on the ADA programming language and later to work with Plessey on programming part of a new Digital Telecommunications Network “System X (telephony)”.

Molyneux, relished in his work with Computers but was looking for a more challenging position and in 1979 found employment with a small British Company, Digital Applications International (DAI) based just outside Frankfurt in Germany. Even though he had spent 6 Years in the RAF, Molyneux had always been based in East Anglia, and this was his first time outside the UK with the exception a Holiday with his Family in Spain.

Planning to work in Germany for 1 Year before returning to the UK, Molyneux very quickly became fluent in German and his 1 Year plan extended to 13.

[edit] Life in Germany: Frankfurt-am-Main

At the age of 24, after leaving Software Sciences Ltd. to join DAI, Molyneux relocated to Neu-Isenburg, a small suburb 2 km outside of Frankfurt-am-Main in the German region of Hessen. His job at DAI was that of a contract programmer working on a variety of projects. All of his time at DAI was spent working with German colleagues at AEG, a large Germany Company. His first project was on the design and development of a system to perform real-time control and monitoring of energy consumption at the newly built Rhein-Main Airport. The second project was again in the area of real-time control and monitoring, but this time of the new Munich Underground. Munich would play another role in Molyneux's career later.

Working with German Colleagues at AEG and in his spare time not frequenting the well known English Pubs in Sachsenhausen as did other ex-pats, Molyneux quickly built up a circle of friends which where almost exclusively German. This coupled by his desire to immerse himself in the German culture, Molyneux quickly became fluent in the Language opening up wider opportunities and leading him to stay in Germany longer than expected.

Elaine, Molyneux's Sister had relocated to Germany some two years prior to him and had also settled down. This gave Molyneux added confidence that a new, and richer lifestyle was to be had in Germany than the UK at the time.

Molyneux's excellent social skills assisted him in not only being adopted by the German and British communities but also by the United States Military who had had a strong presence in Frankfurt since the end of the Second World War. It was in 1981 from within this community that Molyneux would find his second employment opportunity in Germany. Within his social network Molyneux had met someone who told him of a job offering at American Express, who at the time were responsible for providing Banking services to the United States Military. This friend offered to organise an interview at the Bank. Little did Molyneux know that the 'Friend' was the Vice-President of the Bank. Molyneux attended the Interview and instantly hired. His role was as Senior Systems Analyst on a project to work closely with National Cash Register (NCR) in the development of what would be the first dual-currency Automatic Teller Machine (ATM), otherwise known as a a cash-point in Britain.

During his time at American Express, Molyneux continued to build his personal network within the American Community and was asked if he would be willing to act as a pert-time Associate Professor at the Frankfurt campus of the University of Southern California. His role would be to lecture on Computing to US Service personnel attending an undergraduate programme. This position would lead him three years later to join his Sister in Hamburg.

Personal Computing at the time was limited to a few vendors. In particular APPLE, TANDY and the up and coming computer game giant ATARI. Give the fact that Molyneux could purchase through the US Military, it was decided to use ATARI 400 machines to teach programming. In order to provide the best service for his students, Molyneux wrote to ATARI in Sunnyvale, California, and asked if they could assist in providing as much documentation as possible. They were more than willing to help and even sent a listing of the operating system. This allowed Molyneux the possibility of becoming intimately conversant with the machine.

In 1982, ATARI, who had been acquired by Warner Communications, decided to set up their European Headquarters in Germany and approached Molyneux as a known contact to see if he would lead the Software Localisation Team from their new HQ in Hamburg - and so the move to join his Sister.

[edit] Life in Germany: Hamburg

Molyneux enjoyed his time working for ATARI in Hamburg. Belonging to the Warner Communications Family, ATARI had very close ties to the Music Industry, In particular the WEA (Warner, Electra, Atlantic) record labels. It was during his work one year at the "Berliner Funk Austellung", one of the largest consumer electronic trade shows of the 80's, that Molyneux met a young up and coming female New Wave recording artist IXI (Gaby Tiedemann), who also, by chance, lived in Elmshorn, a suburb of Hamburg. This chance meeting led to a strong friendship with IXI which continues today. IXI was a well known artist on the New Wave music scene and was frequently seen in the company of Molyneux at celebrity venues across Hamburg. In 1986 ATARI was sold to Jack Tramiel, founder of Commodore Computers and during the staff reshuffle Molyneux was head-hunted to run a software distribution company being founded by the media giant Bertlesman.

[edit] Life in Germany: Munich

In the 1980s most entertainment software in Germany and many other countries was distributed not via dedicated Games or Computer shops but by the Record Departments of large stores. This was due to the fact that the market was still growing and dedicated shops had high overheads. It was for this reason that Bertlesman, the most successful media empire in Germany decided that as it already owned a number of record labels and therefore the distribution channels that it would also license and distribute Computer Games.

The company headhunted Molyneux to assist Board member Michael Dornemann in the creation of ARIOLASOFT. ARIOLA, a successful record label owned by Bertlesman and boasting such artists as Whitney Huston was deemed the ideal brand given that at the time the film Ghostbusters was due to be launched and Bertlesman had acquired the rights to the Album (under the Ariola brand) and the Computer Game (Activision). It was Molyneux's job to work with the Games industry in acquiring the distribution rights to international games as well as seek out local German Games talent.

Whilst the games industry provided excitement and travel for the young 32 year old, Molyneux was still interested in how Computer Technology could assist in Education. This dated back to his early days at ATARI when he saw the potential for simulation games such as the SCRAN, a game whereby the player controlled a nuclear power station.

A chance meeting with a Munich Software Company aptly named SM Software AG gave Molyneux the next opportunity in his divers career. SM Software was a well known German software house which has created a business suite running on a Commodore 64. One of the founders, Hans Beck, was a progressive alternative thinker and during a meeting of him and Molyneux the topic of Accelerated Learning arose. This was a phenomenon first explored by a Soviet Psychologist Georgio Lozonov and branded "Super Learning".


Persondata
NAME Molyneux, Stephen
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Molyneux, Steve
SHORT DESCRIPTION British e-Learning Guru
DATE OF BIRTH 24 February 1955
PLACE OF BIRTH Liverpool, England
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH
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