More about the Team

Jon Bolton

Jon is Director of Focused on Learning. He is an experienced and forward-thinking social work practitioner and manager who has worked in the not-for-profit, academic and statutory sectors for over 20 years. Until January 2010, he was a senior manager in one of Scotland's largest Social Work Services and was responsible for social work information, data protection, eCare, internal and external communications strategies, media relations and IT systems.

He delivered the nationally recognised 'Online Child Protection Register' for Fife, winner of the eGovernment Awards in 2008, and developed the Social Work Learning Portal. He also developed and manages the Virtual Learning Centre, an internet-based online learning environment to support students on a number of social work related courses, particularly Social Work law - now a large and dynamic Community of Interest.

Jon has had a lead role in contributing to local and national strategies for Modernising Government, eLearning, and supporting frontline staff, and is a former member of the eHealth Board for the NHS in Fife. He has a proven track record in developing and delivering a range of training courses and has specialist knowledge of information governance, data protection, eCare, communications, business planning, and consultation.

Jon is also an Associate Lecturer at the University of Dundee and a guest lecturer on the BA in Social Pedagogy at the University of Aberdeen. He has additional qualifications in PRINCE 2, Moodle and Mahara and is completing his MA in Online and Distance Education with the Open University.

Jon is a member of the Association of Learning Technology, the Association of Social Care Communicators, the British Computer Society, the eLearning Alliance, and SOCITM – Society of Information Technology Management.

In his spare time, Jon is heavily involved in a number of charities and voluntary organisations. He is a Trustee of Fife Gingerbread and is on the management committees of Parkinson's UK (Fife), Dyslexia Scotland (Fife), and the British Computer Society (Tayside and Fife).

Publications

• Bolton, J. (2010) Social Media in the Social Services, [e-book]: IRISS. Available at http://comment.iriss.org.uk/content/social-media-social-services
• Bolton, J. (2011) Use but don't abuse social media sites. Community Care, p.30.
• Bolton, J. (2001) Safe Surfing - tackling common questions on internet safety. Professional Social Work, August 2001, pp10-11.
• Bolton, J. (2001) e-mpowering others - using information and communication technology with children and young people looked after by Fife Council. Professional Social Work, October 2001, pp15-16.

Contact Jon

You can follow Jon on Twitter @jonbolton
and his contact details are jon.bolton@focusedonlearning.com

Or you can connect with Jon via Linked In: jonbolton