Mike Sharples is Professor of Educational Technology at the University of Birmingham, UK. He leads the University's Educational Technology Research Group, comprising some 30 staff and postgraduate researchers. The focus of the Group's research is human-centred design of technologies for learning and knowledge working.

Major projects include the MOBIlearn project on "Next generation paradigms and interfaces for technology supported learning in a mobile environment exploring the potential of ambient intelligence", funded by the EC Framework 5 programme, and the Student M-Learning project, funded by Microsoft Ltd.

He is also Director of the Centre for Educational Technology and Distance Learning (CETADL), the University's innovations centre for flexible and distance learning.