about Distant Yarnings

Distant Yarnings is an educational podcast exploring the rapidly evolving landscape of global higher education in the digital age.

Join us as we unravel the complex threads of how universities worldwide are adapting to technological transformation, examine the growing influence of AI on teaching and learning, and weave together insights from educators, students, and innovators across continents.

Through our conversational approach, Distant Yarnings celebrates the collaborative process of understanding how technology, pedagogy, and learning design can work together to create better learning experiences for everyone.

Dr Julie Lindsay

Senior Education Technology Advisor in the Learning and Teaching Futures Portfolio at the University of Southern Queensland

Dr. Julie Lindsay is an internationally recognized leader in online global collaboration with over 35 years of experience in education. As a strategic change agent for digital transformation, she helps embed educational technologies and innovative teaching methods that create dynamic learning environments. She works with academics to enhance online learning across on-campus, hybrid, and HyFlex formats, with particular emphasis on asynchronous learning as the foundation connecting these approaches. Her experience spans K-12 and higher education, including fifteen years teaching in international schools across Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, giving her a uniquely global perspective on digital learning.

Julie travels worldwide to share her expertise through workshops, presentations, and consultations, empowering educators to embrace online global collaboration and leverage technology for meaningful, sustainable, and open learning experiences. When she’s not connecting learners through technology, Julie tends her rose garden, plays jazz piano, and walks her Sheepadoodle dogs.

Find her via her website: LearningConfluence.com or on LinkedIn.

Mr Jim Harris

Learning Designer, University of Northampton

Jim has been working within Higher Education in the UK for 33 years, with a background of roles encompassing IT support, management and training as well as e-learning material creation, content development training, and the setup of innovative delivery mechanisms. For the past 10 years he has been a Learning Designer supporting academics with curriculum and learning design interventions through the Creating Aligned Interactive educational Opportunities (or CAIeRO) process. His work directly impacts the student experience while expanding the university’s technological portfolio and its capacity to serve external partners. His approach bridges technical opportunities with pedagogical innovation, ensuring that technology solutions enhance learning experiences for learners, whether they be staff or students.

Beyond his core responsibilities, Jim champions retro-media and technology, amateur archaeology, and music audio and video production. He hatched and fostered an PC recycling social enterprise called We Re PC Ltd with backing from the University of Northampton, creating opportunities for students to gain controlling interest in a real business by refurbishing and selling old IT equipment to the public. This initiative allows students to learn and earn while providing valuable, affordable technology services to all members of society. He has five cats, and needs them all to keep rodents away from his #VHShed.