Prof. dr. Theo J. Bastiaens (1968) studied Educational Science at Utrecht University and received his doctorate degree from University of Twente. As an assistant professor he went in 1998 from Twente to the Open University of the Netherlands, where he became associate professor in 2002 and was appointed professor of Educational Technology in 2006. In the same year the FernUniversität in Hagen appointed Bastiaens as professor Mediendidaktiek. His specific research interest is in instructional design and e-learning. He has published extensively in this area.

At the FernUniversität Bastiaens was from 2006 to 2010 director of the Institute of Educational Science and Media Research and from 2010 to 2012 dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Science. Since March 2016, as the vice-president for digitalization and international affairs, Bastiaens is a member of the Executive Board of the FernUniversität in Hagen.

Bastiaens has various ancillary activities like being a member of the Supervisory Board of the European Association for Distance Teaching Universities (EADTU), editor in chief of the new scientific journal Open Education Studies and a member of the scientific board of editors for journals as Computers in Human Behavior, Studies in Educational Evaluation and E-learning and Education (E-LEED). He is also chairman of the executive committee of the international conference Ed-Media.