Maaike Grammens obtained her Master's degree in Educational Sciences from Ghent University in 2013, after previously graduating as a primary school teacher in 2010. Since September 2018, she has been working on her PhD project at the Department of Educational Studies at Ghent University under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Bram De Wever and in function of the organization d-teach, while also serving as the advisor for professional development at d-teach. The main aim of her PhD project is to identify and measure the competences needed for teaching synchronously online through video conferencing technology in order to support teachers’ professional development.

Dr. Fien De Smedt holds a Ph.D. in Educational Sciences from Ghent University, awarded in 2019, and currently serves as a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Educational Studies at the same institution. With 12 years of experience in designing, implementing, and evaluating educational interventions, her research primarily focuses on enhancing writing skills and motivation among elementary and secondary school students, as well as on academic reading and writing in higher education. Dr. De Smedt is a member of EARLI and EARLI SIG Writing, a founding member of the European Literacy Network, and serves on the General Assembly of the European Literacy Network.

Bram De Wever is a professor in the field of learning and instruction at the Department of Educational Studies at Ghent University. His research focuses on technology-enhanced learning and instruction, peer assessment and feedback, computer-supported collaborative learning activities, and inquiry learning in higher education. He finished his Ph.D. on scripting collaboration in online discussion groups in 2006 and has been focusing on technology-enhanced learning research ever since. From 2007, he was a post-doc research fellow at the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO) and in 2010, he obtained a tenure track position on Learning and Instruction at Ghent University. In 2015, he was appointed associate professor. His research interests include CSCL, computer-supported collaborative learning, TEL, Technology Enhanced Learning and Asynchronous Discussion Groups.