Associate Professor Michael Cowling has been a leader in educational technology and technology in society for over 20 years. He is currently an Associate Professor in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) at CQUniversity Australia and was the 2020 recipient of the Universities Australia AAUT Award for Teaching Excellence (Physical Sciences). He founded The CREATE Lab, where he leads collaborative research and engagement around technology and education. He is an Advance Queensland Community Digital Champion, and an Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education (ASCILITE) Community Fellow. Tens of thousands of academics, teachers, and students from kindergarten to doctoral level have learned directly and indirectly from him, through his award-winning workshop series ‘Weaving Technology into the Fabric of the Classroom’ training hundreds of educators, and his CSIRO-supported ‘Professor Tech’ program engaging hundreds of students in K-12 schools - all whilst delivering his mantra of 'pedagogy before technology'.
Associate Professor Cowling is a recipient of an Australian Government Award for Teaching Excellence, a Citation holder for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning, an Advance Queensland Community Digital Champion, an Australian Government TEQSA expert, an Australian Awards for University Teaching (AAUT) team leader, and a CSIRO STEM Professional in Schools. He was appointed an ASCILITE Community Fellow in 2018 for his work in community outreach.
Additionally, A/Prof. Cowling was a partner in an OLT Innovation and Development grant and is the recipient of 3 CQUniversity Learning and Teaching grants related to teaching technology. He is is a three time recipient of a CQUniversity Learning & Teaching Award, and gained a CQUniversity Student Voice Commendation for his teaching practice in 2014. He is a regular contributor to media outlet The Conversation (with over 1.1million views) and is also a regular contributor in Australian radio and print media on the topics of Educational Technology and Technology Ubiquity.
A/Professor Cowling has a passion for the practical application of technology in the classroom, with a focus specifically on not just bolting technology onto a classroom setting, but instead investigating how technology can be weaved into the pedagogy of a classroom setting. Living by the mantra “pedagogy before technology”, Michael works to help teachers and academics to innovate with technology to improve their students motivation and learning outcomes, leveraging technology as a tool to improve the overall education process, not a another resource that will gather dust in the corner of a classroom.
Griffith University
University of Southern Queensland
Griffith University
Central Queensland University (CQUniversity)
2020 Australian Awards for University Teaching - Award for Teaching Excellence (Physical Sciences and related fields)
2019 CQUniversity Opal Award for Excellence in Engagement - Learning & Teaching
2018 ASCILITE Community Fellow Award
2018 Advance Queensland Community Digital Champion
2016 Australian Awards for University Teaching - Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning
2015 CQUniversity Award for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning
See www.michaelacowling.com for the latest Media coverage of my work, and www.thecreatelab.org for details of the projects I'm currently working on.
Business
Information Systems/Technology & Multimedia
Chair, CQUniversity Scholarship of Learning & Teaching Grant Panel
Member, ASCILITE Executive
... plus many other previous internal and external service roles.
Member, Australasian Research Management Society (Apr 2012 – present)
Member, International Education Association of Australia (Feb 2012 – present)
Member, Institute of Electrical & Electronic Engineers (Jan 1999 – Dec 2004)
I am currently accredited for supervision in the following:
Specialist Studies in Education - Educational Technology and Computing
Artificial Intelligence and Image Processing - Virtual Reality and Related Simulation