2025 Keynote Speakers and Gasta

Dr. Enda Donlon is an Associate Professor in the school of STEM Education, Innovation and Global Studies at the Institute of Education, Dublin City University. His teaching and research interests include digital learning and teacher education, with a particular emphasis on where the two intersect. Enda is the APF (Area of Professional Focus) leader for Digital Learning on the Doctor of Education Programme at DCU. He currently serves on the editorial boards of the International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, of Irish Educational Studies, and of Impacting Education: Journal on Transforming Educational Practice. As well as a long-standing CESI executive member, Enda is a former president and vice-president of the Educational Studies Association of Ireland (ESAI) and has served as the Irish representative on the Governing Council of the European Educational Research Association (EERA). He is a recipient of a DCU President’s Award on two occasions (for Innovation, and for Excellence in Teaching) and is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA). Enda publishes regularly in academic journals, supervises the research of EdD and PhD doctoral candidates, and leads/co-leads on funded research projects.

Dr. Peter Tiernan is an Associate Professor of Digital Learning and Digital Literacy at the Institute of Education, Dublin City University. Peter is responsible for the design, delivery and evaluation of a broad range of modules at the Institute of Education, which enable teachers and other educators to harness the potential of technology in education while becoming critical evaluators of technology and the role it plays in teaching and learning, and society more broadly. Peter has led nationally and internationally funded research projects, and has an extensive research publication record with multiple articles in top-tier international journals. His research covers the spectrum of digital learning, but he has a specialist interest in digital literacy and its development among students and wider society. Peter hosts a monthly education research podcast, ‘Let’s Talk Education Research’, which focuses on disseminating new research and exploring new avenues for research collaboration. He is a member of the Educational Studies Association of Ireland (ESAI) executive, the Campus Entrepreneurship Educators Network (CEEN), and the Further Education and Training Research Centre (FETRC).

With the best will in the world many presenters find it difficult to keep within their allocated time and the session chairs often find it equally difficult to call them to order when their time is up.

There are plenty of lightning talk formats but Gasta’s principal component is the counting down in Irish from one to five by the audience to start the presenter and again at the end of the five minutes the audience count from one to five before shouting out Stád (Stop).

This session will be lead by the GastaMaster, Tom Farrelly.