Associate Professor Lisa Jacka is an Associate Professor at the University of Southern Queensland in the Learning and Teaching Futures portfolio, where she shapes the future of education with the passion of a true digital pioneer. Drawing from over two decades of transformative higher education experience across four Australian Universities Associate Professor Jacka has emerged as a visionary force in educational innovation. Her groundbreaking contributions to teaching and learning scholarship earned her recognition as a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy in 2019, cementing her reputation as an educational trailblazer. She has revolutionised how technology integrates across all educational levels from Early Childhood to Higher Education, consistently pushing boundaries as an innovator who has spent most of her career reimagining online education through cutting-edge emerging technologies that captivate and engage learners. Her exceptional work garnered the Vice-Chancellor’s Citation for Excellence in Student Engagement in 2015, honouring her ingenious design and delivery of online learning experiences that don’t just teach, they prepare education students to thrive in the dynamic learning environments of tomorrow. Her scholarly prowess shines through her PhD research exploring Virtual Worlds in teacher education, where she unlocked innovative pedagogical approaches that blur the lines between digital and physical learning spaces, culminating in her compelling sole-authored book Using Virtual Worlds in Educational Settings: Making Learning Real. Beyond her individual achievements, she actively shapes the broader educational technology landscape through her strategic involvement with ASCILITE, where she champions the implementation of the TELAS framework, demonstrating her unwavering commitment to advancing educational practice through bold technology integration that transforms how we teach and learn.

Find her on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisajacka/

Dr Lisa Ryan is a Lecturer in the School of Education at University of Southern Queensland and an Adjunct Research Fellow in the Sustainability Research Centre at the University of the Sunshine Coast, where her passion centres on education’s vital role in creating sustainable futures. She is recognised as a leader in the field of student engagement in asynchronous learning environments through her commitment to effective learning design. With over 20 years of experience teaching and researching environmental and sustainability education across formal education, government, and community-based contexts in Australia and internationally, Lisa brings a rich, multifaceted perspective to her work. Her research is positioned within the sociology of education field and draws inspiration from post-structural and postcolonial theories of power and discourse, with particular focus on the shaping of environmental and sustainability identities, spaces for agency and resistance, and the intersections of knowledge systems across global and local fields. Lisa’s groundbreaking PhD thesis, “Localising the Global Eco-Schools Program in South Africa: A postcolonial analysis,” utilized the underexplored theory of postcolonialism to challenge dominant conceptualizations of agency within environmental education, earning her the prestigious Chancellor’s Medal for best thesis in 2017 at Southern Cross University. She has also completed significant research involving systems approaches to change in teacher education. Dr Ryan has served as Environmental Education Officer for Sunshine Coast Council, where she managed the award-winning Kids-in-Action Program, was the recipient of the 2020 Queensland Government Reconciliation Award for Partnerships, and contributed to Australia’s first vertical BioBlitz, which earned the 2019 Australian Banksia Prize (Government). Currently serving on the executive of the Queensland Chapter of the Australian Association of Environmental Education and as an invited member of the International Reference Group for the Agents of Discovery program, a digital locative explorer platform engaging young people in nature exploration, Dr Ryan’s current research focuses on teacher environmental and sustainability education and the innovative use of digital platforms in fostering young people’s environmental engagement.

Find her on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisa-ryan-204630241/

Dr Julie Lindsay is the Senior Education Technology Advisor in the Learning and Teaching Futures Portfolio at the University of Southern Queensland, where she champions digital transformation as a strategic change agent, embedding educational technologies and innovative pedagogies to create dynamic learning environments. She collaborates with academics to elevate online learning experiences across on-campus, hybrid, and HyFlex modalities, with particular focus on asynchronous learning as the foundational “glue” that binds these diverse educational approaches. Drawing from over 35 years of educational experience spanning K-12 and higher education sectors, including fifteen years in international schools across Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, Dr Lindsay brings a uniquely global perspective as a recognised leader in educational technology and online learning implementation. She is the accomplished author of two influential publications: Flattening Classrooms, Engaging Minds and The Global Educator: Leveraging Technology for Collaborative Learning and Teaching, demonstrating her commitment to advancing educational practice through thoughtful integration of technology and pedagogy. Her scholarly contributions culminated in completing her PhD at UniSQ in 2019, with her dissertation “Online global collaborative educators and pedagogical change” offering groundbreaking insights into the critical factors of beliefs, competencies, and conceptual change, that enable educators to develop a Global Collaborator Mindset and successfully implement the Online Global Collaborative Learning Framework. Dr Lindsay’s excellence in educational leadership has been formally recognized through the Research in Educational Leadership and Management Award from the Australian Council for Educational Leaders.

Find her on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/julieannelindsay or her website: learningconfluence.com.

Nina Usher is a Digital Learning Advisor at Curtin University and Visual Arts Specialist at an independent community primary school, where she revolutionises educational experiences through the transformative power of arts integration and cutting-edge digital learning design. With an unwavering passion for education, technology, and the Arts, She champions a visionary approach that empowers students to exercise greater agency and autonomy while fostering authentic connections between creativity, curriculum, and community. Her expertise spans all five Arts areas—Dance, Drama, Media Arts, Music, and Visual Arts—seamlessly integrated with advanced educational technologies and innovative learning design principles. In her role as a specialist lecturer at the University of Southern Queensland, she has transformed how pre-service educators engage with Creative and Critical Thinking, Arts and Technology Education, and Digital Technologies, consistently pushing boundaries through her commitment to authentic Arts Integration and curriculum design. Nina’s contributions to educational innovation have earned her remarkable recognition, including the prestigious 2024 ATEM Excellence Award and a University Vice Chancellor’s Excellence Award for team excellence. Her work was further honoured with the 2023 Excellence Award for University Educational Leadership for fostering student reflective learning and employability through university-wide integration of online portfolios, demonstrating her ability to create sustained academic practice change. The 2023 Learning and Teaching Award at UniSQ and the 2021 Theme Award for Teaching and Learning at UniSQ for innovative course creation and learning design cement her reputation as an educator who consistently delivers transformative learning experiences. Nina’s scholarly pursuits are anchored in her PhD research, “Exploring how genuine arts integration can enhance quality learning experiences in the primary classroom,” where she investigates how authentic arts integration can serve as a catalyst for enhanced learning outcomes. This research has positioned her as a strategic consultant with ACARA, contributing to national curriculum development and working closely with educators and arts specialists across Australia to develop innovative pedagogical pathways that serve students’ diverse needs and aspirations.

Find her on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nina-u-6352b4210/ 

Jo Kay is an educational technology consultant, designer, and digital creator who has worked in online and virtual worlds education for nearly 20 years. She operates as a freelance consultant through her company jokaydia.com, where she specializes in digital solutions for education, small businesses and community organisations. Her expertise spans educational technology consulting and implementation, web development, virtual world design, and online community facilitation. She has been a pioneer in educational applications of games and virtual worlds, particularly in Second Life, OpenSim and Minecraft environments. In 2007, she co-created a resource on “Educational Uses of Second Life,” recognising the potential of virtual worlds as ideal spaces for engaging students in immersive learning environments and for creating their own learning activities, experiences and spaces. Additionally, she hosted and facilitated a virtual worlds in education community of practice for educators in both Second Life and Open Sim from 2007 until 2018. She also co-created and facilitated the Massively @ jokaydia Minecraft project, engaging students from Australia, New Zealand, the US, the UK and beyond in student-directed learning in a sandbox game. Another significant area of Jo’s work involves the implementation and support of digital portfolios and reflective practice frameworks in vocational and tertiary education settings. Her expertise in this area encompasses the design and deployment of ePortfolio systems that enable students to document, curate, reflect upon their learning journeys and build a personal online presence. Jo’s current focus is on open source social networking platforms, and how they can serve as catalysts for meaningful human connection, community building and collaborative learning. She hosts and facilitates several communities in the fediverse and contributes to the ongoing discourse around digital equity, community autonomy, and how social media spaces can remain accessible, adaptable, safe, inclusive and owned by the communities they serve rather than by corporate interests seeking to monetize and/or weaponize them.

Find her on her website: jokaydia.com