Margaret J. Cox is Emerita Professor of IT in Education at King's College London (based in both the Faculty of Dentistry, Oral and Craniofacial sciences, and the School of Education, Communication and Society) and on the Council of the National Conference of University Professors.

She pioneered the use of computers in education from 1969 and has been researching and developing IT in education to the present day, also pioneering the use of haptics in dentistry and other health care disciplines since 2006.

More recent research includes the hapTEL project (2007-2012), of which she was the principal investigator, developing and investigating the use of haptic devices to teach health-care skills to undergraduates, and the FundamentalGR project (2018-2020) for postgraduates and healthcare professionals. The hapTEL project was awarded two Medical Futures awards in 2010, the BETT award for innovative uses of technology in education in 2011 and an ESRC impact award in 2011. The project was also awarded Research Project of the Year by King’s College London in 2012.

Cox was awarded the OBE in 2001 for outstanding contributions to computers in education, made Fellow of the Institute of Physics in 2003 for outstanding contributions to physics education and awarded Fellowship of King’s College London in 2011 for exceptional services and achievements in Education and Dental Education. Professor Cox is past President of the National Conference of University Professors; joint Editor of the Section (1st and 2nd Editions) Researching IT in Education in the International Handbook: IT in Primary and Secondary Education (which formed the foundation of the Edusummits) and is an international expert on the role of technology in the classroom, its impact on teaching and learning and on policy and practice.

Amongst her 250+ publications ranging over more than 50 years is the recent paper on “Learning Leaders: Teaching and Learning Frameworks in Flux Impacted by the Global Pandemic. Special Issue of the Canadian Journal for Learning Technologies,” published in September 2021.

Research and PhD supervision

• The development and impact of technology enhanced learning in education.
• The design, use and integration of haptics in health care education and professional clinical settings.
• Students' learning progression, performance of clinical skills and application.
• The impact of IT in education on new educational alignments, educational settings.
• Measurement and research methods to investigate IT in education.
• The effects of IT on knowledge representations and learning.
• Teacher education and pedagogical practices.
• Educational frameworks and theories of IT in education.

Prof Cox is also happy to supervise students' PhD theses exploring: 

• The development and impact of technology enhanced learning in education.
• The uptake and impact of haptics in health care education and professional clinical settings.
• Students' learning progression, performance of clinical skills and application.
• The effects of IT on knowledge representations and learning.
• Teacher education and pedagogical practices.
• Educational frameworks and theories of IT in education.

Further information

For further information please see Margaret's Research Staff Profile.