Professor Mason, who died at the weekend after a short illness, was a specialist in the research and practice of online teaching and learning.

She was one of the early pioneers in developing the medium of computer conferencing for distance education and completed her PhD – one of the very first in the subject – in 1989.

Professor Mason worked extensively on the OU’s Masters Programme in Online and Distance Education, as course developer, tutor and as Director of the Programme.

In 2000, she conceived of the idea of a Virtual Graduation for the first cohort of Masters students and developed the concept with the Knowledge Media Institute.

Robin was truly a global scholar, most recently working on transnational projects supporting colleagues in places such as Africa, the Caribbean, the South Pacific and Nepal. Tributes are coming in from all over the world – if you would like to see them, or leave your own, please visit the memorial page.

17 June 2009