Paolo Oprandi is a Senior Learning Designer. His work advances the University’s social justice mission of transforming lives through education, promoting an inclusive culture, and enabling fair outcomes for students. Through staff development and system design he blends in-person and online learning, uniting embodied and virtual learning experiences. By increasing the inclusivity of education, he believes his work transforms and enriches education, knowledge production, and the academic disciplines, through maximising the input of voices from diverse backgrounds.
Paolo is central to the Active Learning Network, having been Chair and Co-Chair since 2019. The Active Learning Network is a community of academics, educational developers and learning technologists who meet regularly, share practice, organise CPD events, research and publish together in the field of active learning.
Paolo is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a Doctor of Higher Education Pedagogy. He combines pedagogy and technology to improve and enrich student experiences. He has been a product manager of several learning platforms and the head of a digital department in the charity sector. He has extensive experience in teaching technologies including learning management systems, having implemented and managed their operations in various contexts. In his spare time, he is a conservationist and nature enthusiast, Wikipedia editor, off-road cyclist, outdoor swimmer and paddleboarder.
Paolo has several publications, including most recently, The great equalizer: Learning in the outdoors, in which he makes a case for utilising outdoor spaces in teaching, Curriculum design that welcomes students into the discipline in which he describes the teaching that offers a supportive hand to students and encourages their contributions to build and Decolonising formative assessment in which Barbara and he describe how seemingly benign teaching processes can work to entrench white, male and heterosexual values into higher education teaching. Further to this, he is an editor of collective of works including, Outdoor learning in HE, 100 Ideas for Active Learning and Disrupting traditional pedagogy: active learning in practice.
More about Paolo Oprandi
Collected Works, Editor
Betts, T., & Oprandi, P. (Eds.). (2024). "Lab to Laptop: Case studies in teaching practical courses online". Sussex OpenPress.
Garnham, W., & Oprandi, P. (Eds.). (2024). "Outdoor Learning in Higher Education: Educating Beyond the Seminar Room". Taylor & Francis.
Betts, T., & Oprandi, P. (Eds.). (2022). "100 Ideas for Active Learning". Active Learning Network. Sussex OpenPress
Garnham W., Betts T., Oprandi P. (2019) "Disrupting Traditional Pedagogy: Active Learning in Practice". Sussex OpenPress
Articles, Author
Oprandi, Paolo. (2026). Opinion Piece: "Learning is More Active When Online, Period. In S. Wilson-Medhurst & J. Horrocks (Eds.), Making active learning happen for all: Practical ideas for developing and sustaining active learning". Sussex Open Press, UK.
Betts, Tab, & Oprandi, Paolo (2024), "Introduction –How do we teach practical courses online?", In: Betts, Tab, & Oprandi, Paolo (Eds.) From Lab to Laptop: Case studies in teaching practical courses online. Sussex Open Press, UK.
Betts, Tab, & Oprandi, Paolo (2024), "Conclusion -Where do we go from here?", In: Betts, Tab, & Oprandi, Paolo (Eds.) From Lab to Laptop: Case studies in teaching practical courses online. Sussex Open Press, UK.
Oprandi P (2024) The great equaliser: learning in the outdoors in "Outdoor Learning in Higher Education: Educating Beyond the Seminar Room", Garnham, W. & Oprandi, P. (eds.) Higher Education: Educating Beyond the Seminar Room. Routledge
Oprandi P (2024) "Conclusions in Outdoor Learning in Higher Education: Educating Beyond the Seminar Room", In: Garnham, Wendy and Gowers, Isobel (Eds.) Active learning in higher education: Theoretical considerations and perspectives. Routledge.
Oprandi P (2023) "A contemplation on four active learning tasks: what do pedagogic theories suggest about them?" In Garnham W. & Gowers, Active Learning SEDA special. Routledge
Pranjol Z., Oprandi P. & Watson S. (2022) "Project-based learning in biomedical sciences: using the collaborative creation of revision resources to consolidate knowledge, promote cohort identity and develop transferable skills", Journal of Biological Education, 58(5), 1048–1064.
Oprandi P (2022). "Decolonising Formative Assessment" In: Huisman, J. and Tight, M. (Eds.) Theory and Method in Higher Education Research, Vol. 8, Emerald Publishing Limited, Bingley, pp. 181-196
Oprandi P (2022). "Curriculum design that welcomes students into the discipline" In: Oprandi, Paolo & Betts, Tab (Eds.) 100 Ideas for Active Learning. Sussex Open Press, U , pp. 95-101.
Gowers, I., Oprandi, P. and Betts, T. (2022). "Introduction". In Betts, T. and Oprandi, P. (eds.) 100 Ideas for Active Learning. Sussex OpenPress
Oprandi, P., Ogamba, I., & Middleton, A. (2022). "Introduction to Theory and Curriculum Design." In P. Oprandi & T. Betts (Eds.), 100 ideas for active learning (pp. 27–35). Sussex Open Press
Oprandi P. & Murphy M.L. (2019). "Specialism-based learning in action: why, how, when?" In: Oprandi, Paolo, Garnham, Wendy, Betts, Tab (Eds.) Disrupting traditional pedagogy: active learning in practice. Sussex Open Press, UK, pp. 58-78.
Oprandi, P. (2016) The assessment challenge – an end-to-end solution. Assessment Higher Education 18th July.
Oprandi, Paolo Roberto (2014) "Supporting learning autonomy and curriculum coverage in university teaching: three case studies of formative assessment". Doctoral thesis (EdD), University of Sussex.
Bromham, L., & Oprandi, P. (2006). "Evolution online: using a virtual learning environment to develop active learning in undergraduates". Journal of Biological Education, 41(1), 21–25.
Paolo Oprandi
Senior Learning Designer in the Centre for Teaching Enhancement