Licentiate Degree in Education Sciences (1996) and Master (2000) in Educational Sciences (major in Educational Psychology), I researched Models for Learning Management in Virtual Environments., pursued research with a PhD in Education Sciences (speciality in Educational Technology) with an innovative thesis on The Management of Learning Communities as Generators of Learning Contexts: a Case Study (University of Coimbra). I am an integrated researcher at UID-FCT nº 4372, Laboratory of Distance Education and eLearning (LE@D), Universidade Aberta (Portugal) and, also, a collaborating researcher at the Centre for Informatics and Systems (CISUC) of the University of Coimbra (Portugal). I'm currently an Invited Assistant Professor at the Universidade Aberta. I'm a researcher, lecturer, trainer and author (co-author) of books, book chapters, and conference papers, about distance, open and digital education and learning. EDEN-European Distance and E-Learning Network have awarded my research about effective learning design for distance education in Portuguese schools during the COVID-19 pandemic the BRIPA2020. My research interests include distance, open and digital education, flexible learning, e-learning, blended and hybrid learning, innovation in learning design, EaD training for teachers, digital transformation in education, active learning methodologies, gamification and playfulness in distance education. I'm involved in Erasmus Plus projects concerning innovative high-quality online distance education practices in higher education and teacher training models for online distance education.