Digital Songlines

Creating mobile, place-based learning experiences inspired by Aboriginal songlines to foster deep cultural connection and reflection.

"By embedding stories in the land, we invite learners to slow down, listen deeply, and reflect in place — just as songlines have done for thousands of years."

Digital Songlines is a place-based learning project that draws inspiration from an ancient Aboriginal educational practice — the songline — to reimagine how mobile technology can support reflection, cultural literacy, and connected learning. In Aboriginal tradition, a songline is a living pathway across the land, encoded in songs, stories, and ceremony. These pathways teach history, embed meaning in place, and connect the next generation to both land and identity.

Using mobile GPS-enabled tools like Actionbound, I designed a modern interpretation of this concept in central Sydney. Participants are guided through the ANZAC War Memorial and surrounding Hyde Park, where learning experiences are “unlocked” by location. For example, standing beside the bas-relief on the Eastern wall triggers a reading of Wilfred Owen's Dulce et Decorum Est, pairing historical memory with poetic reflection. Learners are asked to respond with photos, reflective writing, and their own embodied experience of place — a gentle, meaningful interruption to the passive scrolling we often associate with mobile tech.

While originally developed as a personal exploration, this work demonstrates the powerful intersection between Indigenous pedagogies (specifically Yunkaporta's "Land Links"), digital storytelling, and mobile learning. It's a culturally responsive model that not only engages Aboriginal learners more meaningfully but also helps non-Indigenous students encounter learning in a new light — one grounded in place, presence, and empathy.

Diermyer, C., & Blakesley, C. (2009). Story-Based Teaching and Learning: Practices and Technologies.
Yunkaporta, T. (2009). Aboriginal Pedagogies at the Cultural Interface. Retrieved August 29, 2016, from 8 Aboriginal Ways of Learning Category: Illustration

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VR Reflections Using Google Cardboard

Transforming student storytelling with low-cost immersive tech — 360° panoramas, recorded reflections, and place-based learning.

"When students share reflections from inside a place that matters to them, it creates a new kind of presence — personal, embodied, and deeply engaging."

This lightweight project leverages the free Google Cardboard Camera app and students' own smartphones to create immersive, audio-narrated 360° experiences — no headsets, no developers, and no budget required.

Students begin by capturing a 360-degree panoramic image of a place that holds meaning to them: a backyard, a beach, a cultural site, a quiet corner of their neighborhood. As they slowly pan through the environment, the app records ambient audio and voice narration, embedding their reflections directly into the scene.

From there, the process is simple:

1. Share the VR photo via email.
2. Post the link in an LMS blog or assignment.
3. Peers and teachers can view the scene using a free Google Cardboard viewer — listening to the student's reflection in place.

This small, thoughtful innovation turns mobile phones into empathy machines. It's a perfect tool for digital storytelling, place-based inquiry, cultural reflection, or even social studies fieldwork. It fosters reflection, presence, and creativity — all while being incredibly easy to implement in any school setting.

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Mass Casualty Serious Game

Immersive trauma-response training simulation designed to teach critical decision-making under pressure using real-world casualty data.

"When students step into these scenarios, they're not just clicking buttons — they're making life-and-death calls in the middle of a simulated disaster."

Mass Casualty Serious Game is an immersive simulation tool designed to support healthcare education through authentic, scenario-based training. Built for paramedic and medical students, the app blends elements of serious games, VR design principles, and real-world emergency protocols to develop clinical judgement, triage competency, and crisis decision-making.

The simulation places users inside major incidents such as the Avon Valley train derailment — a fictional mass casualty scenario set in Western Australia and constructed using satellite imagery, emergency call audio developed by St John's Ambulance, and realistic terrain modeling. Participants are tasked with triaging over 100 casualties, selecting from internationally recognized frameworks: SALT, START, or Triage Sieve & Sort.

Unlike traditional mannequin-based training or high-cost simulation labs, this serious game was built for scalability and accessibility. It uses real casualty data from the VictimBase database to simulate a spectrum of injuries and outcomes. The flexible, app-based format allows students to repeat scenarios, reflect on outcomes, and build mastery over time — something not easily achieved in live drills.

By combining learning science with narrative-driven, high-pressure environments, the game bridges theory and practice, providing a meaningful pathway into trauma-informed healthcare education — all without needing a single drop of fake blood.

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Paramedics Virtual World Prototype

For the new Paramedics Masters set at a local University, I was asked to develop a prototype scenario to teach the students how to triage in a Mass Casualty Incident.

I worked a Paramedics Officer in developing a small scenario that asks the student to triage casualties in a train wreck using the actual triage card they use on the field.

The prototype was developed in the Unity3D game development engine. I was able to customise the Unity3D web player so that the scenario is SCORM compliant – this means that we can plug it into a Learning Management System (we used Blackboard), and track the students progress through the scenario.

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Invited Keynote: Griffith University - Learning Futures

Immersive learning experiences should be accessible, purposeful, and deeply human — not just dazzling tech demos.

Topic: Virtual Reality, Simulations and Serious Games — What's Out There, and Where Should We Go?

"The best immersive learning doesn't require a Hollywood budget — it just needs purpose, collaboration, and a little creative courage."

At Griffith University's Designing Disruption summit, I delivered the keynote exploring how virtual reality, simulations, and serious games can move from novelty to necessity in higher education. My talk traced a personal and professional journey — from programming games on a Commodore 64 to building trauma-response simulations for nursing students — to show how immersive technologies have evolved and how we can leverage them to create more authentic, scalable, and emotionally resonant learning.

Drawing on real projects I've developed with health and education teams, I emphasized that we don't need million-dollar grants to make a difference. We need thoughtful pedagogy, collaborative partnerships, and a commitment to creating tools any educator can use. I also showcased place-based mobile learning inspired by Aboriginal pedagogies, XR-driven empathy-building experiences, and how even a simple Google Cardboard headset can transform understanding when embedded meaningfully into curriculum.

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Invited presentations: University of Western Australia - mLearning Month

Virtual Worlds, Simulations and Serious Games: Unity3D, SCORM and Blackboard Learn & Adapting to win: making learning technologies work for you.

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Virtual Labs: Practical Pedagogy in a Digital Classroom

You don't need a tech overhaul to run practical, high-engagement virtual classrooms — just smart use of the tools you already have.

"It's not about doing everything in VR or building an entire lab in the cloud. It's about using what you've already got—your LMS, a camera, breakout rooms—and using them intentionally to bring hands-on learning online."

This interactive session tackled a major challenge in online education: how to run labs, workshops, and practical sessions virtually — without expensive gear or extensive retraining. Drawing from my own remote teaching and edtech consultancy, I walked participants through a flexible 3x3 model of virtual engagement: scaling learner involvement (from passive to individualised) against technology complexity (from analog demos to immersive XR).

Using Blackboard Collaborate, I demonstrated how to run online lab sessions across three key formats:

• Analog, Demonstrator-led Experiments: With just a webcam and a microscope (DIY or USB), I simulated a live onion skin microscopy session. Students participated in pre-experiment prediction via the whiteboard, followed by direct observation and real-time reflection — all from their own homes.
• Individual Immersive Labs: Using browser-based platforms like Labster, students completed self-paced virtual experiments (e.g., chemistry simulations) while remaining in the Collaborate room. I used breakout rooms to simulate the “classroom walkthrough” — checking in one-on-one, answering questions, and reviewing screen shares for feedback.
• Group-Based Web Experiments: Students were placed in breakout rooms to collaboratively run online simulations. Roles like recorder and facilitator were assigned, and I moved between groups like I would in a face-to-face workshop. At the end, we reconvened for a collaborative debrief and screen-share of group results.

A big part of the workshop also covered OBS (Open Broadcaster Software) — a free tool that allows educators to blend video, slides, and multiple cameras. I demoed how to:

• Layer a live talking head over slides (for presenter energy).
• Add a second cam (e.g., smartphone or USB microscope) for up-close detail.
• Stream the composite feed directly into Collaborate as a shared camera — maintaining control of the learning flow.

Throughout, I emphasized simplicity and scalability: using tools teachers already know, with no need for costly VR headsets or third-party apps. The focus was not on replicating every facet of in-person labs, but on delivering the same learning outcomes in a pedagogically thoughtful way.

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Blackboard Online Workshop: Cross Reality Pedagogy in Practice

Immersive tech is only as powerful as the pedagogy behind it — XR should serve learning, not the other way around.

"If the goal is a press release, then VR can be shiny. But if the goal is learning, it must be grounded in strong pedagogical foundations."

In this session, I offered a strategic, practice-ready framework for integrating XR — virtual, augmented, and mixed reality — into curriculum and learning design. Rather than tech for tech's sake, I introduced a pedagogically grounded approach built on situated experiential learning, emphasizing immersion, interaction, and real-world complexity.

To make the concept real, I showcased a learning sequence built in Blackboard Learn Ultra, where a 360° immersive video was embedded directly within the LMS. In this example, students learning Italian first experience a virtual tour of Italy — hearing the sounds, seeing the signage, and virtually walking the streets — before engaging in any vocabulary or grammar. The result is a shift from abstract instruction to embodied, contextual learning.

I also demonstrated how the same content resource scales across devices: desktop users get a scrollable window into the world; mobile users can drop into Google Cardboard for deeper immersion; and Oculus Go users experience a fully stereoscopic virtual journey. No extra tech integration needed — it's all embedded directly in the LMS for seamless access, scaffolding, and reflection.

Finally, I shared a custom-built WonderVR lesson — a virtual plant cell tour — and walked through how this experience can integrate with quizzes, peer discussion, and formative feedback inside the LMS.

The big idea: we don't need to overhaul entire courses to integrate XR. We can build intentional, pedagogically anchored micro-experiences that scale, support differentiated access, and invite students into deeper engagement with their learning context.

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Conference Presentations

Blackboard's ANZ Teaching and Leanring Conference and the Apple University Consortium's CreateWorld

Apple University Consortium's Createworld Conference ANZ, Brisbane 2012

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Presentation: Blackboard - Teaching and Learning ANZ Conference

Making immersive learning work for every educator — by grounding VR, AR, and MR in authentic pedagogy and accessible classroom practice.

Topic: VR, AR & MR - How Technology is Changing Learning & Teaching

"If your VR lesson needs a $3 million grant and a rockstar developer to work, I'm not interested. But if a regular lecturer with a smartphone and a good idea can use it to make learning more immersive, now we're talking."

In this session, I explored how immersive technologies — from virtual reality (VR) to augmented and mixed reality (AR/MR) — can meaningfully enhance teaching when anchored in strong pedagogical foundations. Instead of chasing “shiny tech,” I challenged educators to use cross-reality tools to deepen student engagement, support situated learning, and create scalable, emotionally resonant experiences. I shared real-world examples of low-cost, high-impact XR activities embedded directly into the LMS, including 360° video field trips, DIY science explorations, and culturally responsive simulations rooted in Aboriginal pedagogies. My central message: the best immersive learning doesn't require superstar developers or million-dollar budgets — just thoughtful design, accessible tools, and a commitment to improving the student experience.

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Panellist: 18th World Education Summit 2021 Higher Education

Reimagining collaboration and innovation through accessible technology already in the hands of learners and educators worldwide.

Topic: Innovation and Entrepreneurship for Growth in Higher Education

"If the telephone changed the world, virtual collaboration is about to do it again — and i's already in our pockets."

As a featured international panellist alongside vice chancellors and education leaders from across India, I explored how higher education can cultivate 21st-century skills through accessible, scalable innovation. I shared insights on the exponential growth of virtual learning environments and the transformative potential of everyday technologies — including low-cost mobile tools and DIY science hardware — to democratize access to quality education. I argued that virtual collaboration is not a trend but a turning point, and that institutions must invest in systems and skills that empower educators to respond creatively to change.

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