Personal Profile

My personal belief is that people are the most important part of any system, from family, friends, colleagues, and students, and it is important to work hard to understand each person and what makes them who they are. While I specialise in Information Technology, it is with a focus on how it can improve things for people. Online teaching is making huge inroads but I believe that the human guide (teacher/facilitator) is always going to be fundamental to the learning experience, and my research focuses on both on improving the teaching experience and enhancing the learning experience. Ultimately we use technology to facilitate our learning so that we can further both ourselves and others.

My research interests center on the application of digital technology to teaching and learning. Teaching areas have included: Internet and Web, Multimedia, Database Management Systems,Digital Learning Technologies, the Social Impact of IT, and Office skills. I have also been involved in teaching academic staff "Design for learning".

In 2008 I completed my PhD thesis on “The virtualMe: A knowledge acquisition framework” where the research looked at integrating student knowledge into course content using a variety of internet based technologies. The research has been presented at many National and International Conferences, and has been included in three book chapters.

I have an interest in Open Education and have been an active participant in the WikiEducator community. Over many years much of my teaching materials have been made open in the wiki platform initially hosted in my own wiki ( http://www.virtualmv.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page ) and later in WikiEducator (http://wikieducator.org/VirtualMV). In 2010/11 I was a Learning 4 Content facilitator. In 2012 I presented a paper on “Curating digital content in teaching and learning using wiki technology” at the International Conference on Advanced learning Technologies in Rome, Italy.

In July 2012 was an invited speaker presenting “Technology in 21st Century Education : Academic learning and teaching” in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

The use of Wiki technology as a teaching and learning platform has changed and a considerble effort is being made at Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). This seems to be changing as organisations look at incorporating digital technology into their bricks and mortar offerings.

As a passionate teacher and someone who believes that a combination of face-to-face and online (blended) will ultimately serve students who need guidance and human interaction, my interest is in exploring the use of technology to deliver classes, where on-campus students are taught in a face-to-face classroom and other students may be geographically separated, such as at home or at work. I have coined this gxLearning (Geographically eXtended Learning). Research paper have been presented on this was presented, including ASCILITE, in Adelaide 2016.

I have been keen to pass on my teaching experience and have taken on staff development roles.

Another passion is in assisting others in their research and I have been Executive Editor for the Proceedings of the New Zealand CITRENZ Conference (2015 & 2016), assistant editor prior, and past editor of the New Zealand Journal of Applied Computing and Information Technology (JACIT), and am a reviewer for many National and International Journals and Conferences.

• Web alias: virtualMV ( http://www.virtualmv.com ) << Note: I will be shutting down this site as it is a target for hackers.

• Teaching areas: Multimedia, Database, Web site development, Office skills.

• Research Interests: gxLearning, Open Education, Learning spaces, Assessments

• Interests: family, walking, biking, swimming

  • Ukulele (Past Member of Uked@EIT and Hawkes Bay Ukulele Underground)