Gregor Kennedy

Gregor Kennedy joined the Centre for the Study of Higher Education in 2011 when he was appointed as The University of Melbourne’s inaugural Director of eLearning. Prior to this appointment Gregor worked in the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences at the University for over a decade. For six years he was the Head of the Biomedical Multimedia Unit, where he oversaw educational technology research and development for the Faculty, and more recently he coordinated the activities of the Melbourne University Virtual Environments for Simulation research and development lab in the Health and Biomedical Informatics Research Unit.

As Director of eLearning, Gregor leads the University's strategy in technology enhanced learning and teaching. While a key member of the Centre for the Study of Higher Education, he also has accountabilities to the Office of the Provost at the University. He chairs the University’s eLearning Advisory Group, is a member of the University’s Teaching and Learning Development Committee and chairs its working group on Teaching, Learning and Technology, and is an Executive member of the Institute for a Broadband Enabled Society.

Gregor is an international leader in educational technology research and development, particularly in the context of higher education. His critical, evidence-based investigations of ‘Net Generation’ students have provided significant insight into how staff and students use technology and emerging technology based-tools in higher education. He has longstanding research interests in contemporary learning design and emerging technologies, educational technology research and evaluation, computer-based interactivity and engagement, 3D immersive virtual environments, and the use of electronic measures and analytics in computer-based learning environments. He has published widely in these areas and is a regular keynote and invited presenter at local and international conferences.

Gregor has been involved in number of major curriculum development and renewal projects, and has led many design and development teams to create technology-enhanced or enabled courses, subjects and resources, particularly in health science education. He has used a variety of instructional models and frameworks in this work, as well as a range of digital media and communications technologies, including interactive multimedia, Web 2.0 technologies and learning management systems. He has designed educational programs and resources to support a range of educational contexts including face-to-face, fully online, self directed, group-based, mobile and blended learning environments.