Matt Bower is an associate professor in the School of Education at Macquarie University, who specialises in the innovative use of technology for learning purposes. He is particularly interested in how contemporary technologies such as augmented reality, Web-based tools, virtual worlds, social networking, immersive virtual reality and so on can be most effectively used to support cognitive development and collaborative learning. Matt has over ninety peer reviewed publications in the area of technology-enhanced learning design, teacher education, and computing education. He has led over thirty funded grant projects and participated in many other research initiatives (total funding exceeds $2.4M). He has delivered numerous keynote and invited speaker presentations on topics such as augmented reality, blended-synchronous learning and learning design.  

Matt is a passionate educator who leads the “ICT and Education”, “Digital Technologies and Creativity” and “Technology-Enhanced Learning Design” subjects at Macquarie University. He has been awarded an Australian Office for Learning and Teaching Citation Award for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning as well as two Vice Chancellor’s Award for Teaching Excellence. His teaching strongly emphasises the importance of adopting a research-driven approach in education. He is the lead author of two A1 research books “Blended synchronous learning - A handbook for educators” and “Design of technology-enhanced learning - integrating research and practice” which won the 2018 Association for Educational Communications and Technology Design and Development Outstanding Book Award.