Sorting activity Foundations of Public Health

In response to a colleague's challenge, I revived and adapted a sorting activity I had previously developed for Swinburne Online: Sorting activity in PSY20016. The task was to create an interactive, non-scored sequencing activity for the Foundations of Public Health subject, avoiding the limitations of H5P Drag and Drops which always implied correctness.

My solution, originally created for a Social Psychology unit, utilised Canvas' 'enhanceable_content' and 'sortable' tools. This approach allowed for an interactive, drag-and-drop experience without any scoring mechanism, perfectly aligning with the activity's metacognitive goals.

The activity enables students to prioritise and sequence items based on their own context and values, supporting key subject intended learning outcomes. By eliminating any implication of 'correct' answers, it encourages critical thinking about how personal perspectives might influence public health practice.

This quick, effective solution demonstrates my ability to leverage existing tools creatively, adapt past innovations to new contexts, and rapidly respond to emerging learning design challenges.

Shoutout to Leigh and Andrea for answering my birthday present call – Leigh's [sorting activity] option is the winner!

MO Senior Learning Designer
February 2026

Spark AI: AI Studio

In a Learning Design weekly catch-up, I delivered a demonstration on leveraging Spark AI's AI Studio feature to generate Professional Development goal statements. The presentation showcased an innovative approach to developing new content from existing material using Spark AI's Projects and Data Sets features. This method enables the generation of tailored material with specific included information, allowing for more efficient and targeted content creation.

I emphasized that Spark AI is a powerful tool available to us, and we should be utilising it to its full potential in our work. The demonstration highlighted how this AI-assisted approach could streamline our content development processes while maintaining quality and consistency.

The Learning Designers in attendance embraced the concept enthusiastically, immediately recognising its potential applications for subject design. This led to collaborative discussions on how to implement similar AI-assisted techniques in various aspects of learning design.

Importantly, this demonstration complemented ongoing conversations within the LD team about enhancing our storyboarding and content mapping processes. The use of Spark AI aligns with our goals to improve efficiency and innovation in our workflow, potentially transforming how we approach subject development and content creation across Melbourne Online's offerings.

Great ideas Marissa and Leigh, thank you for sharing and for everyone else's contributions. What an exciting area to be exploring.

MO Head of Learning Design
January 23, 2026

Managing information and cybersecurity (2026)

Subject Launch: Programming for Cyber Security

In December 2025, I delivered a comprehensive presentation for the Subject Launch of Programming for Cyber Security at Melbourne Online's Teaching & Delivery forum. This presentation showcased my deep understanding of the subject's structure, content, and innovative features. I effectively communicated the course's learning outcomes, assessment structure, and weekly content breakdown, demonstrating a clear grasp of the subject's progression from foundational to advanced concepts in Python programming for cybersecurity.

My presentation highlighted several special features of the subject, including advanced code highlighting capabilities, an in-built Python interpreter for interactive learning, and the integration of expert insights through embedded videos. I emphasized the course's practical approach, showcasing how students would engage with real-world cybersecurity scenarios and utilize tools like PyCharm IDE.

By presenting this information clearly and concisely, I contributed significantly to ensuring a smooth launch of the subject. My presentation helped build confidence among the Subject Coordinator and Online Educators, anticipating potential challenges and clarifying the student journey through the course. This achievement underscores my ability to effectively communicate complex technical concepts and contribute to the successful implementation of new online learning initiatives at Melbourne Online.

Thank you for jumping in on getting a ppt going for our Pre-run Subject Launch and for starting to populate it with details and slides...

MO Academic Product Manager
December 17 2025

Spark AI

I have developed and sustained innovative practices in the use of generative AI to enhance learning design. This work was initially inspired by my participation in the University of Melbourne’s 2024 Teaching and Learning Summit, Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Higher Education, and first put into practice later that year when I applied generative AI tools to support the development of teaching and learning materials for the Doctor of Clinical Dentistry program at Melbourne Dental School. That early experimentation established a rigorous, pedagogically grounded approach to AI-assisted design that now continues and has matured in my role at Melbourne Online through the use of the University of Melbourne’s SparkAI platform.

At Melbourne Online, I utilise SparkAI as an integrated design partner across complex and technically demanding subjects. I use Spark’s Projects feature to organise work into topic-based chat threads, enabling iterative refinement of materials while maintaining clarity, continuity, and version control. I prompt Spark with large, dense inputs – including lecture slides, transcripts, and published material – to rapidly synthesise content that would otherwise be impractical to process manually, supporting effective collaboration with subject matter experts.

SparkAI is embedded into my workflow for structuring LMS pages from SME-approved content maps and generating LMS copy aligned with editorial standards, significantly reducing downstream editing time. In technically complex subjects, Spark assists by:

• identifying appropriate uses of LaTeX notation to clarify mathematical concepts, 
• generating and explaining Python code examples, 
• proposing illustrative examples, visualisations, and interactive activities.

Across subjects, SparkAI enables me to focus less on mechanical production and more on pedagogical design, coherence, and learner experience.

Leigh has worked on several complex subjects, such as AI Planning for Autonomy and Security, Privacy and Ethics.

In these subjects he navigated unstructured, content-heavy material and created learning resources by sorting through multiple sources and extracting and consolidating into a design information from lengthy lecture recordings using SparkAI and other AI tools.

MO Senior Learning Designer
February 2026