Biodata

I’m an associate professor in the Graduate School of Education at The University of Western Australia in Perth, where I am the Deputy Head of School (International), with responsibility for overseeing our offshore programmes and international connections. In my courses, I specialise in digital technologies in education, with a particular focus on mobile learning. I am a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and my teaching has been recognised through Faculty and University Excellence in Teaching Awards, as well as a 2010 national Australian Learning & Teaching Council (ALTC) Excellence in Teaching Award. My current research focuses on mobile technologies, digital literacies, augmented reality, and mobile learning trails and games. My books include: Brave New Classrooms: Democratic Education and the Internet, co-edited with Joe Lockard, and published by Peter Lang in 2007; From Blogs to Bombs: The Future of Digital Technologies in Education, published by UWA Publishing in 2009; Digital Literacies, co-authored with Gavin Dudeney and Nicky Hockly, and published by Pearson in 2013; Mobile Learning: Languages, Literacies and Cultures, published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2014; and Mobile Lenses on Learning: Languages and Literacies on the Move, published by Springer in 2019. To date, some of my work has been translated into Chinese and Portuguese. I am an Associate Editor of the International Journal of Virtual and Personal Learning Environments, a member of the Editorial Boards of Interactive Technology and Smart Education, Language Learning & Technology and Technology in Language Teaching & Learning, and until recently I was a member of the Editorial Board of System. I am a member of the Advisory Council for the Laureate-Cambridge Online Language Learning Research Network (OLLReN); a member of the International Academic Advisory Board of the International Academic Forum (IAFOR); a member of the International Review Panel for mLearn; and the Co-Convenor, with Hayo Reinders, of the AILA research network Mobile Gaming in Language Learning & Teaching. I have also been a member of the Advisory Panels for the Digital Education Show Asia and EduTECH Asia; a member of the Programme Committee for the International Mobile Learning Festival; and an external reviewer for the 2018-2019 UNICEF Digital Literacy & Skills scoping project. I currently teach in Perth and Singapore and have given presentations and run seminars on e-learning and m-learning in Australia and New Zealand, Asia and the Middle East, the UK and Europe, and North and South America. Further details can be found in my long bio below.

 

History >  I’m an associate professor in the Graduate School Education at the The University of Western Australia in Perth, Australia. Nowadays I work primarily in the area of digital technologies in education, with a particular focus on mobile learning, but over a number of years, I’ve taught in the areas of TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages), German and French language, and contemporary culture. The universities and organisations where I’ve worked include Milner International College of English in Perth, Australia; Stanton School of English in London, England; Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh, Scotland; the English Club in Oulu, Finland; and the University of Dundee in Dundee, Scotland.

Teaching >  I have developed, co-ordinated and taught new cutting-edge courses for undergraduates, postgraduates, and teachers and lecturers seeking PD (professional development). The courses I currently teach at The University of Western Australia include the undergraduate unit, A World of Mobile Learning, the M.Ed. units Integrating Pedagogy and Technology (which I teach both in Perth and in Singapore, and have taught on a number of occasions in Hong Kong) and Teaching and Researching with Mobile Technologies, the M.Teach. unit Embedding ICTs Across the Curriculum, and the Grad. Cert. Tertiary Teaching PD unit Digital Technologies for Learning. I run a number of PD seminars nationally and internationally, ranging from the 1-day Introduction to Digital Learning and Digital Literacies seminars to the 4- or 5-day Emergent Technologies in Education course, as well as running workshops tailored to the specific needs of particular groups of educators. I am a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and my teaching has been recognised through Faculty and University Excellence in Teaching Awards, as well as a 2010 national Australian Learning & Teaching Council (ALTC) Excellence in Teaching Award.

Research >  My current research focuses on mobile technologies, digital literacies, augmented reality, and mobile learning trails and games. My books include: Challenging Modernity, published by Berghahn in 2000;  Brave New Classrooms: Democratic Education and the Internet, co-edited with Joe Lockard, and published by Peter Lang in 2007; From Blogs to Bombs: The Future of Digital Technologies in Education, published by UWA Publishing in 2009; Digital Literacies, co-authored with Gavin Dudeney and Nicky Hockly, and published by Pearson in 2013; Mobile Learning: Languages, Literacies and Cultures, published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2014; and Mobile Lenses on Learning: Languages and Literacies on the Move, published by Springer in 2019. To date, some of my work has been translated into Chinese and Portuguese. I am an Associate Editor of the International Journal of Virtual and Personal Learning Environments, a member of the Editorial Boards of Interactive Technology and Smart Education, Language Learning & Technology and Technology in Language Teaching & Learning, and until recently I was a member of the Editorial Board of System. I am a member of the Advisory Council for the Laureate-Cambridge Online Language Learning Research Network (OLLReN); a member of the International Academic Advisory Board of the International Academic Forum (IAFOR); a member of the International Review Panel for mLearn; and the Co-Convenor, with Hayo Reinders, of the AILA research network Mobile Gaming in Language Learning & Teaching. I have also been a member of the Advisory Panels for the Digital Education Show Asia and EduTECH Asia; a member of the Programme Committee for the International Mobile Learning Festival; and an external reviewer for the 2018-2019 UNICEF Digital Literacy & Skills scoping project.

Service >  Within the Graduate School of Education at The University of Western Australia, I am the Deputy Head of School (International), with responsibility for overseeing our offshore programmes and international connections. As mentioned above, I run PD seminars nationally and internationally, ranging from the 1-day Introduction to Digital Learning and Digital Literacies seminars to the 4- or 5-day Emergent Technologies in Education course, as well as running workshops tailored to the specific needs of particular groups of educators.  I have given seminars, workshops, conference papers and presentations on digital learning, often with a focus on mobile learning, in Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Brunei, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Cyprus, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Ireland, Japan, Macau, Malaysia, New Zealand, Oman, the Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, Turkey, the UK and the USA.

Personal >  I’m based in Perth, Australia, but I travel frequently for work. I also enjoy travelling in my spare time. Some favourite destinations include Budapest, Hong Kong, Istanbul, Lisbon, Marrakech, Phnom Penh, Reykjavik, Seoul, Taipei and Tokyo. Some of my recent travel photos can be seen on Instagram. Other pastimes include keeping up with new cinema (with some favourite directors including Pedro Almodóvar, Gregg Araki, Luc Besson, Xavier Dolan, François Ozon and Wong Kar Wai), watching long form television drama (with current favourites including Sense8, Humans, Mr. Robot, How to Get Away with Murder, Orange is the New Black and Dear White People), listening to music (with my fairly eclectic taste reflected on Last.fm), reading novels (with Haruki Murakami being my standout favourite), taking photos, visiting galleries, dining out and exploring innovative wine menus, and experimenting with international recipes from eastern to western. I speak some French and German along with fragments of a few other European languages, and I’m currently studying Mandarin Chinese.