Author: Michael Sankey

Michael is currently a Professor and Director, Learning Futures at Charles Darwin University and is also the Recent Past President of the Australasian Council on Open, Distance and eLearning (ACODE). He specialises in technology enhanced learning and teaching, multimodal design, visual and multiliteracies. He has worked in Higher Education for over 30 years and is particularly interested in how constructively aligned and aesthetically enhanced learning environments can better transmit concepts to students, particularly those from diverse backgrounds.

Embracing the technological evolution in education

Professor Michael Sankey – June 2025 Recent waves of technological disruption in the education space have resulted in major changes in online learning and the how and when should students and staff work remotely. The rise of Generative AI (GenAI) has heightened significant security issues and created a widening in the digital divide between the […]

Walter Benjamin on Instagram in the age of digital reproduction

Originally published August 16, 2016 on LinkedIn and reproduced here to allow free access. Please cite: Sankey, M. (2016). Walter Benjamin on Instagram in the Age of Digital Reproduction. Michael Sankey: Thoughts – Ideas – Images. (16 Aug). Retrieved from: https://michaelsankey.com/2024/09/02/walter-benjamin-on-instagram-in-the-age-of-digital-reproduction/ DOI:10.13140/RG.2.1.1806.6169 On this the 80 year anniversary (contestably) of German philosopher Walter Benjamin’s classic piece, ‘The Work […]

Generative AI and ePortfolio for Program-wide Assessment

Two strains of thought coming together First, I was in a meeting with Associate Deans L&T and Heads of Program yesterday from one of our Faculties, and I was talking about the TEQSA publication Assessment reform for the age of Artificial Intelligence and one of the suggestions in the paper that, “Assessment should emphasise…a systemic approach to program assessment aligned […]

Authentic assessment in the age of generative AI

Authentic Assessment in The Age of Generative AI Michael Sankey We have all struggled with the advent of Generative AI in higher education, and the last 10 months has been quite the ride, particularly in terms of how quickly this has evolved. But we are starting to see some clean air as the dust starts […]

Social media in higher education: Lessons from a pro-learning person’s lunchbox

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Associate Professor Steve Wheeler from Plymouth University in the UK on his thoughts about the future of the VLE (virtual learning environment) and how Social Media now fits within the Higher Education picture moving forward. As with many of us, Steve started his journey with social media playing with wiki’s, blogs and by […]

Some authentic assessment activities for technology enhanced learning: Part 1

Professor Michael Sankey This work is an extrapolation of work originally published in: Sankey, M. D. (2022). The state of Australasian online higher education post-pandemic and beyond. Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice, 19(2), 14-26.https://doi.org/10.53761/1.19.2.2 Assessment Tools and tips for use Create an online social media advertisement on the topic you’re learning Most students today […]

The changing face of technology enhanced learning

Professor Michael Sankey. Griffith University This article was first published in the APAC CIOoutlook Magazine in December 2020. Please cite: Sankey. M. (2020). The changing face of technology enhanced learning. APAC CIO Magazine. December. Available from: https://education.apacciooutlook.com/cxoinsights/the-changing-face-of-technology-enhanced-learning-nwid-7862.html The digital ecologies we employ are changing because the way we are teaching is changing. As we have […]

Digital learning down-under

Professor Michael Sankey – Griffith University 1 November 2020 Digital learning has evolved somewhat differently in Australia than it has in many other developed nations, primarily because of the physical distances involved on this sizeable continent. This has led to, on average, Australian institutions being bigger than those in the UK and US, and this […]

Instagram in Plato’s Cave: Part 2

First published in LinkedIn 29 November 2019 If you missed Part 1 please first see: Instagram in Platos’ Despite the confluence of digital medias, image manipulation (though not a new phenomenon), and the ubiquitous availability of representations, the photograph has shown an astonishing resilience to still be seen as evidence. We evidence the fact that we […]

Instagram in Plato’s Cave: Part 1

First published on LinkedIn 30 September 2019 Michael Sankey with the help of Richard Avedon In homage to Susan Sontag’s ‘On Photography’ some 42 years on As humanity moves from lingering on in Plato’s cave to creating new visions, or representations of so-called truth, by representing ‘the moment’ millions of times an hour, it potentially […]