ideaslab Department of Education and Early Childhood Development

Bruce Dixon

Director

In addition to his role as director of ideaslab, Bruce Dixon is also the founder and president of the Anywhere Anytime Learning Foundation. He consults to schools, School Districts, Education Departments, Ministries of Education as well as technology companies such as Microsoft, HP-Compaq, Apple, Bertelsmann and Toshiba on 1:1 teaching and technology in education.

Bruce has more than 25 years experience working with schools and technology, as a teacher, Principal, software developer and an undergraduate college lecturer. Then in 1987 he and a partner established an educational technology company, Computelec. As a national company of more than 90 staff, the company was fundamental to the establishment and growth of laptop programs in more than 80 schools across 3 states, before he sold it in the mid-nineties to focus on consulting.

Since 1995 he has worked extensively in North America, and was in part responsible for developing the 1:1 program there, through the Anytime Anywhere Learning initiative. Over the past 3 years, Bruce has consulted in Australia, the US, Canada, Germany, UK and New Zealand, and has been invited to speak at Conferences in Australia, Asia, South Africa, the United Kingdom and North America.

David Brooks

Project Director, Broadmeadows Schools Regeneration Project

David has worked closely in the set up of the ideaslab through his current role as the project director of the Broadmeadows Schools Regeneration Project. David has previous project management experience in the development of the Department’s Building Futures policy and process, and the schools’ accountability framework. Before joining the Department of Education David previously worked for Treasury.

Wayne Craig

Regional Director, Northern Metropolitan Region

Wayne is the Regional Director of Education for Melbourne’s Northern Metropolitan Region. Having previously taught mathematics and science at technical school level he is now responsible for the operation of 200 primary, secondary and special schools as well as the Distance Education Centre of Victoria and the Victorian School of Languages.

Prior to this appointment Wayne was Principal of Box Hill Senior Secondary College. Under his leadership Box Hill Senior built a reputation as an innovative school providing diverse programs and pathways, and developed new approaches to the use of ICT as both a teaching and management tool. In 2004 Wayne received the prestigious Outstanding School Leader Award from the Department of Education and Training.

Lynn Davie

eLearning Manager for The Office of Government School Education

Lynn believes that teachers need to see the possibilities that technology provides if we are to realise its potential to teach new things in new ways. As eLearning Manager for the Office of Government School Education at DEECD Lynn’s team enables teachers to build their confidence and ability to use ICT for improved teaching and learning.

Prior working at DEECD Lynn was Assistant Principal at Essendon North PS where she was also the Project Officer for the Navigator School Project. In this role she facilitated professional learning for Victorian and interstate educators and hosted delegations of international educators, politicians and the World Bank. Lynn designed and delivered professional learning programs related to ICT and curriculum reform for teachers in New Zealand, China and India.

Lynn has been recognised internationally for her work with improved learning and teaching in schools being awarded the VPPA IT Study Award in 2004 and named Apple Distinguished Educator from 2000-2006.

Neil Jackson

Education Industry Manager, Microsoft Australia

Neil is the Education Industry Manager for Microsoft Australia. He works to address the diverse needs of Australian education customers and provide a link between Microsoft’s products and the requirements of Australian educational institutions and students.

Diane Joseph

General Manager, Innovation and Next Practice Division

The Innovation and Next Practice Division is within the Office for Policy Research and Innovation. In the position of General Manager of the division, Diane is responsible for developing and promoting a framework for educational innovation in Victoria to ensure successful innovations can assume scale.

The objectives and work of the division focus on stimulating innovation, capturing the innovation occurring throughout the system to inform system learning and policy development.

The division has a focus on innovations in eLearning through pilots, and partnerships that progress the integration of ICT into teaching and learning and school improvement. A major project underway is the further development of KnowledgeBank.

The work resulting from the Ideas Lab will contribute to the work of the Innovation & Next Practice Division of the Victorian Department of Education and Early Childhood Development.

Grant Meyer

Manager, Economic Development, Hume City Council

Grant is Manager Economic Development at Hume City Council. Prior to this he oversaw Knox City Council’s place management program. His previous roles include Senior Consultant at SGS Economics and Planning as well as working as an economic development practitioner and town planner in local government. Grant serves on the national board of ‘Economic Development Australia’ and has a strong interest in linking local people to employment opportunities.

Marco Pantano

Enterprise Manager, Education, Intel Australia

Marco is an Enterprise Manager who brings a wealth of knowledge to the board with over 15 years of ICT experience and vast experience with education. He has been at Intel for eight years and contributes the expertise of Intel in ICT and best practice in educational ICT to the board. Intel’s worldwide experience will enable the Board to explore ways to improve both teaching and student learning.

Katrina Reynen

Assistant General Manager, Innovation and Next Practice Division

Katrina is a career educationalist who brings extensive experience of working with ICT to the Ideas Lab Advisory Board. She has held roles as a secondary teacher and lecturer as well as her previous role as Assistant General Manager of the Information Technology division where she initiated the southern hemisphere’s largest wireless network rollout.

Katrina has a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Education from the University of Melbourne and a Master of Business Administration from Melbourne Business School. She is also a Leadership Victoria Williamson Fellow. She recently became a Director on the Skyline Education Foundation Australia (SEFA) Board which provides scholarships to academically talented students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Field Rickards

Dean of Education, Melbourne Graduate School of Education

Field Rickards is the Dean of the Melbourne Graduate School of Education and has 35 years experience in education. He is focussed on the learning outcomes of young people and has done extensive research into learning for hearing impaired children. Field holds national and international patents for computer-based technology that measures hearing in babies.

As Dean, he has guided the transformation of the faculty to the Melbourne Graduate School of Education and the reform of the professional training of teachers with the introduction of the new Master of Teaching program in January 2008.

Prior to being appointed Dean of the Faculty of Education in August 2004 he was President of the Academic Board of the University of Melbourne.

Michelle Selinger

Education Director, Internet Business Solutions Group, Cisco

Dr Michelle Selinger is education director in the global public sector practice of the Cisco Internet Business Solutions Group (IBSG). She brings extensive experience in education and technology to Ideas Lab with over 25 years experience teaching in secondary schools and in teacher education. In her work with Cisco IBSG, Michelle’s focus is primarily on education transformation in all areas of formal education.

Prior to joining IBSG Michelle was the education strategist for all Cisco’s social investments in education including the World Economic Forum’s Global Education Initiative and has had experience working with governments on developing their strategies for education reform with technology.

Before working at Cisco Michelle was the director of the Centre for New Technologies Research in Education at the University of Warwick, a research and multimedia centre dedicated to research and development in ICT.

Anna Vlass

Director of Pedagogy and Curriculum, Broadmeadows Regeneration Project

Anna is the pedagogy and curriculum director for the Broadmeadows Regeneration Project. She is responsible for leading the development and implementation of the new teacher and student learning practice across the Broadmeadows project schools. Anna is working with the leading principals and teachers of these schools to build a relevant and robust teacher practice that reflects how students learn in the 21st century.

Anna brings over 30 years of teaching and management experience to the Advisory Board. She is the former principal of Box Hill Senior Secondary College and a former member of the Victorian Qualifications Authority and Victorian Educational Training reference group.