Astrid‎‎‏‏‎ ‎deRidder

About

Education

• Astrid received a Master’s in Literary and Cultural Studies from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with a particular interest in the production and consumption of text. She obtained a Certificate in Publishing from New York University’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies, and has completed an MBA from the Open University in the UK.

 Professional Experience

• Astrid has worked in publishing for more than 20 years. Beginning at Random House in New York City, she developed a passion for well-structured content and workflow solutions. Moving to the UK in 2013, Astrid focused on educational content, and has worked at Cambridge University Press leading the Content team in the International Education division, heading up the Custom Publishing team at Macmillan Education, and as VP of Content FutureLearn.  

 Public Speaking

• Astrid is a much requested public speaker at education, content, and edtech related events and conferences.  She has spoken at the London Book Fair about accessibility implications of the Marrakech Treaty, delivered the keynote address at the 2016 Typefi Users Conference on the historical similarities between the modern age of digital publishing and the evolution of moveable type during the time of Henry VIII, and was interviewed by the Financial Times about the growth of online education. 

 Pedagogy on the Page & Screen

• Astrid is passionate about creating amazing learning content, on the page and on the screen. She has consulted for the World Bank on two education projects, in Vietnam and Albania. In both cases, this involved running workshops and extensive training for local teachers and publishing companies on how to translate best practice pedagogy from the classroom to the textbook or online learning resource.