Jonny Bell

Digital Learning Developer (Dental School)

Jonny has been working at the University since 2010, starting out in the Faculty of Humanities, firstly in the School of Languages. One of the original members of the university’s expansion of Online Course Developers, (a cohort of around 15-20), Jonny has worked with Blackboard as the main VLE before moving to using Moodle in 2012. Jonny gained a skillset in online assessment using QMP and then latterly Moodle.

Having spent 5 years in the School of Languages, he moved to work with The Institute of Criminal Justice (ICJS, now CCJ) and The School of Education. It is here where he developed his passion for video-based content. Interviewing various interesting figures including John Grieve, CBE.

In 2017 he received a promotion and a move to the Science Faculty. As the largest faculty in the university, it brought its own set of challenges but every day brought a new opportunity! With such a plethora of different course types, Jonny was able to develop a variety of different resources for each of the academic teams and provide bespoke support where needed. Furthermore, he honed his online assessment skills here, particularly in online exams, including creation, development and on the day support to site teams and academic staff.

Jonny’s passion is very much Scenario Based Learning, particularly creating interactive video-based content, in late 2020 he developed a “Choose your own adventure” resource with the Nursing team, where students would make decisions about the scenario put in front of them. It went on to be shortlisted for a nationally recognised award (Student Nursing Times) in 2022.

Also in 2022, Jonny had the opportunity to travel to Sicily with the Geology course and climb an erupting Mt Etna to film some video based resources for students who may be unable to attend field trips, thus making the learning more accessible.

In May 2023, Jonny was successful in securing a secondment as a Project Manager to work on an NHS England funded project that allowed clinical staff to dip their toes into the world of academia. Working with 14 HEIs and 23 NHS Trusts  across the South East.

Jonny currently holds a PRINCE2 Foundation qualification, an industry standard in Project Management.

One of Jonny's best skills is networking and he has managed to get local news coverage of the project on BBC South Today (January 2024), presented at the Royal College of Midwives annual conference in Liverpool (May 2024) and appeared on a Council of Deans for Health Podcast (May 2024)

In May 2026, Jonny was successful in securing another secondment, this time to help set up the new Dental School that the University is opening in September 2026 (for International students, September 2027 for Domestic students). His role is primarily being the point of contact for online learning provisions within the school, liaising with external stakeholders and providing training sessions for academic staff.

Areas of interest:

• Scenario Based Learning
• Video content
• Online Assessments
• Structure of Moodle sites
• Project Management