Dr. Gísli Þorsteinsson (cdt@hi.is) er prófessor í hönnun og smíði við Menntavísindasvið Háskóla Íslands. Hann lauk doktorsgráðu frá Háskólanum í Loughborough á Englandi 2011 sem fjallaði um notkun veflægs námsumhverfis til að styðja við hugmyndamyndun (e. ideation) nemenda í nýsköpunarmennt. Gísli var formaður Félags íslenskra smíðakennara frá 1995–2005, formaður Félags norrænna handverkskennara frá 2001– 2005 og í stjórn norrænu rannsóknarsamtakanna Nordfo frá 2000–2005. Árið 1999 tók Gísli þátt í mótun nýs námssviðs fyrir upplýsinga- og tæknimennt og var einn af aðalhöfundum aðalnámskrár fyrir hönnun og smíði. Gísli hefur ritað fjölda greina um nýsköpunarmennt og hönnun og smíði og gefið út nokkrar kennslubækur.

Gisli Thorsteinsson, is a Professor at Iceland University of Education, in the Department of Design and Craft Education.  At present, he is also a PhD student at Loughborough University in England, where he is exploring the pedagogical values of using Virtual Reality Learning Environment for improving ideation in the context of Innovation Education in Iceland.  Gisli was the Chairman of the “Association of Icelandic Design and Craft Teachers” from 1995-2005 and the chair of the NST “The Nordic Sloyd Association” from 2001-2004.  From 2000-2004 he was on the Board of ‘Nordfo’, the “Nordic Research Association in Sloyd”. 2001-2003 he coordinated the European project InnoEd and has been rewarded with numerous of grants from different sources for various educational activities.  In 1999 he was involved in the National Curriculum development for Information Technology and Technology Education in Iceland and wrote the curriculum part for “Design and Craft Education”. Gisli has written numerous articles on Design and Craft Education and the use of ICT and ODL in Education.  He has also published several textbooks about Innovation Education.