Business Technology
As technology has increasingly become part of every business, data has become the new oil and businesses are striving to make the most of it in order to gain a competitive and lasting advantage.
But …
Dr Ernest Edem Edifor (SFHEA, CMBE)
Reader (Digital Education)
Director of Digital & Technology Solutions Apprenticeship | Apprenticeship Research Unit Lead
My profile
Biography
Dr Ernest E. Edifor is a Reader in Digital Education at the Manchester Metropolitan University where he serves as the Director of the Digital Technology Solutions (DTS) degree apprenticeship which is an award-winning degree apprenticeship portfolio with both undergraduate and postgraduate programmes serving 700+ apprentices from over 70+ employers across the UK. He led the undergraduate programme for three years – through covid – and developed a bespoke delivery model that resulted in attaining over 90% National Student Survey (NSS) average satisfaction score for three consecutive years. He is currently leading the undergraduate programme through a programme review process and developing a scalable post-covid delivery model.
Dr Edifor has solely authored two books and published several peer-reviewed articles and papers in prestigious journals and conferences. He is leading two research projects on digital education both in the UK and internationally and serves as the director for a Ghana-based charity that supports students from under-resourced backgrounds. His UK-based project is investigating how immersive technology can be used as a supplementary resource for improving pedagogies for teaching computer programming while the international project is exploring how accessible technologies can be used to improve the academic outcomes of children in developing countries. He is also a co-investigator and coordinator of the first Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) project on degree apprenticeships that aims to create a good practice guide for delivering apprenticeships. His other research interests are in the application of engineering reliability systems to non-engineering fields.
What I believe
I am a firm believer in the transformational power of education. I have seen firsthand how education can transform lives, families and communities. This is why I do what I do. Let me leave you with some quotes.
Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world - Nelson Mandela
Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself - John Dewey
Education is a better safeguard of liberty than a standing army - Edward Everett
Words of wisdom
Nothing happens when you do nothing; something always happens when you do something.
External examiner roles
- External Examiner (University of Namibia)
- External Examiner (Staffordshire University - DTS)
Expert reviewer for external funding bodies
- Reviewer (Computers and Electrical Engineering, 2020-Now)
- Reviewer (Journal of Ambient Intelligence and Humanized Computing, 2019-Now)
- Reviewer (Augmented Reality (AR) & Virtual Reality (VR) Conference, 2018-Now)
- Reviewer (Quality and Reliability Engineering International, 2016)
Prizes and awards
- Collaborative Enhancement Project £9800 (QAA, 2021)
- Business Engagement Seed Funding £4900 (Manchester Metropolitan University, 2021)
- Research Development Grant £1800 (Faculty of Bus. and Law, Manchester Metropolitan University, 2017)
- Overseas Scholarship Scheme (Computer Science, University of Hull, Sep. 2010 - Sep. 2013)
- DfID/Shared Scholarship Scheme (Computer Science, University of Hull, Sep. 2007-Sep. 2008)
- Unilever Ghana Limited Scholarship (Science, Nungua Secondary School, Jun.1998 - Jun. 2001)
Personal website address
https://www2.mmu.ac.uk/business-school/about-us/our-staff/otehm/profile…
Projects
- Principal Investigator (Using Accessible Digital Technology to Improve the Academic Performance of Children from Underprivilege Backgrounds)
- Coordinator (Developing a Best Practice Guide for Delivering High-Quality Degree Apprenticeships)
- Principal Investigator (Using Virtual Reality to Teach Computer Programming)
- Founder/Director (Demfa Organisation)
Teaching
Research outputs
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Books (authored/edited/special issues)
tom Dieck, M.C., Jung, T.H., Loureiro, S.M.C. (2021) Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality: New Trends in Immersive Technology. Springer.
Jung, T., tom Dieck, M.C., Rauschnabel, P. (2020) Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality: Changing Realities in a Dynamic World. Springer International Publishing.
Edifor, E.E. (2016) 7 Keys to Academic Success. Partridge Africa.
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Chapters in books
Waheed, H., Anas, M., Hassan, S.U., Aljohani, N., Alelyani, S., Edifor, E., Nawaz, R. (2021) 'Balancing Sequential Data to Predict Students At-Risk using Adversarial Networks.' SI: The Impact of Technological Advancements on Educational Innovation. Elsevier,
Edifor, E., Swenson, A., Aiyenitaju, O. (2021) 'A Virtual Reality Framework for Upskilling in Computer Programming in the Business Context.' Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality New Trends in Immersive Technology. Springer,
Edifor, E., Gordon, N., Walker, M. (2021) 'Dependability Analysis Using Temporal Fault Trees and Monte Carlo Simulation.' Theory and Engineering of Dependable Computer Systems and Networks. Springer International Publishing, pp. 86-96.
Edifor, E., Cranmer, E. (2020) 'Dependability Analysis of High-Consequence Augmented Reality Systems.' Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality. Springer International Publishing,
Edifor, E., Nawaz, R. (2020) 'Dependability analysis of IoT systems using dynamic fault trees analysis.' Big Data-Enabled Internet of Things. pp. 433-454.
Edifor, E., Nawaz, R. (2019) 'A Framework for Analysing the Risks Associated with the Implementation of IoT Devices.' Big Data-Enabled Internet of Things. The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET),
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Journal articles
Nawaz, R., Edifor, E., Holland, S.R., Cao, Q., Liu, L. (2022) 'The impact of degree apprenticeships: analysis, insights and policy recommendations.' Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy,
Ahmed, W., Khan, B., Ullah, Z., Mehmood, F., Ali, S.M., Edifor, E., Siraj, S., Nawaz, R. (2022) 'Stochastic adaptive-service level agreement-based energy management model for smart grid and prosumers.' PLoS One, 17(12) pp. e0278324-e0278324.
Edifor, E.E., Brown, R., Smith, P., Kossik, R. (2021) 'Non-Adherence Tree Analysis (NATA) - an adherence improvement framework: a COVID-19 case study.' PLoS One, 16(2)
Ali, S., Mehmood, F., Khan, M.J., Ayaz, Y., Asgher, U., Sadia, H., Edifor, E., Nawaz, R. (2020) 'A Preliminary Study on Effectiveness of a Standardized Multi-Robot Therapy for Improvement in Collaborative Multi-Human Interaction of Children with ASD.' IEEE Access, 8
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Conference papers
Mavengere, N., Edifor, E., Adedoyin, F., Apeh, E., Owusu, A. (2023) 'Education inequality in underserved regions: exploring the role of technology to promote diversity and inclusivity.' In IEEE International Conference on E-Business Engineering (ICEBE) 2022. Bournemouth, 14/10/2022 - 16/10/2022. IEEE, pp. 288-293.
Riaz, F., Nemati, R., Ajmal, H., Hassan, A., Edifor, E., Nawaz, R. (2019) 'Osteoporosis Classification Using Texture Features.' 5/6/2019 - 7/6/2019. IEEE,
Edifor, E.E., Lascelles, D., Dixon, G. (2018) 'Analyzing Supply Chain Resilience Using Temporal Fault Tree Analysis.' In 23rd Annual Conference of The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport. 5/9/2018 - 7/9/2018.
Edifor, E., Gordon, N., Walker, M., Papadopoulos, Y. (2014) 'Using simulation to evaluate dynamic systems with weibull or lognormal distributions.' 286. pp. 117-187.
Kabir, S., Edifor, E., Walker, M., Gordon, N. (2014) 'Quantification of temporal fault trees based on fuzzy set theory.' 286. pp. 255-264.
Edifor, E.E., Walker, M.D., Gordon, N.A. (2013) 'Introducing temporal behaviour into binary decision diagrams.' 4. pp. 7-12.
Edifor, E., Walker, M., Gordon, N. (2013) 'Quantification of simultaneous-AND gates in temporal Fault Trees.' 224. pp. 141-151.
Edifor, E., Walker, M., Gordon, N. (2012) 'Quantification of priority-OR gates in temporal fault trees.' 7612 LNCS. pp. 99-110.
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Presentations
Edifor, E., Hart, D., Partington, S. (2023) Delivering Degree Apprenticeships Equitably. [Presentation] Chartered Association of Business Schools Learning Teaching and Student Experience Conference,23/5/2023.
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Posters
Edifor, E.E., Kean, S., Aziz, J. (2015) 'Introducing the Framework for Analysing Non-Adherence (FAN).' [Poster] In International Clinical Trials Methodology Conference. Date viewed 1/9/2015.
Edifor, E.E. (2012) 'Quantifying Simultaneous-AND Gates.' [Poster] In Computer Science Departmental Poster Conference, University of Hull. Date viewed 1/12/2012.
Edifor, E.E. (2011) 'Temporal Safety Analysis: Quantifying Pandora.' [Poster] In Computer Science Departmental Poster Conference, University of Hull. Date viewed 1/12/2011.
Edifor, E.E. (2011) 'Temporal Safety Analysis: Extending Pandora.' [Poster] In Computer Science Departmental Poster Conference, University of Hull. Date viewed 1/1/2011.