Career switch brings creative approach to science of learning

Artist and photographer Dave Lawrey had been working in both commercial photography and higher education for decades when his plans to crank up the photography side of his career were stalled by the pandemic.

Lawrey needed a career path that didn’t rely on being somewhere in person, so he decided to move into learning design formally. It was a role he’d dabbled in during his years holding various university administration positions, as he helped educators create learning materials for their blended learning environments.

Lawrey used the pandemic to undertake a master of learning science and technology at the University of Sydney. He now works as an education technologist at UNSW.

“I assist educators with a wide range of things … for example, a lecturer may have course material they wish to present online, so I’ll use my knowledge of learning science to help create a series of short, engaging interactive experiences for their students,” Lawrey says.

The qualification taught him how to use technology optimally, an important skill given most students are becoming more selective about how they learn, not just what they learn.

“Research has shown that while the use of technology helps engage students, providing the material in shorter topics makes the biggest impact on their ability to take in the material,” Lawrey says.

Director of technology and enablement at RMIT Online in Victoria, Will Calvert, says that before a course even gets to the design phase, research is done to determine what the skill gaps are in the market.

“We have a strategy and partnerships team who work closely with industry to define what problems they have in terms of skills capabilities, and whether there is a learning solution we can develop to address it,” Calvert says.

“It’s skills in areas like 5G, blockchain, digital transformation and the Internet of Things which, left unaddressed, will hold back the job creation and productivity-boosting capabilities of [Australia’s] high-tech services sectors,” he says.