CTLC Staff

Qualifications

• BA(Hons) LaT, MA(research) LaT, Grad Dip IT Swin, PhD Melb

Awards

• David Myers Medal as the most outstanding La Trobe University Humanities honours student 1981

Professional Involvement

• Dr David Hirst joined the Curriculum, Teaching and Learning Centre in January 2008. His role is to work collaboratively with academic teaching staff and staff from other support services on developing high quality applications for teaching and program awards, provide informed advice and support to groups of staff, schools and faculties the development of applications for funded projects designed to enhance the learning experiences of LTU students, to contribute to the communication of initiatives in blended learning and teaching and the use of educational technologies to the wider university community, and to work on learning and teaching related projects.

• David came to La Trobe University from the University of Melbourne where he was a Senior Lecturer in Education Design, serving as the Head of Courseware Development Section, Manager of the Educational Technology Services unit and contributing to the development of the Guidelines for the Development of Online Subjects, as a member of an Academic Board working party. David played a leading role in the creation of the Courseware Design and Development Program which combined professional development for academics with curriculum enhancement projects that utilised learning technologies. He was the coordinator of this program from 2003 to 2007 and personally participated in over 30 curriculum enhancement projects as project manager and educational designer from 2000 to 2007.

• David recently coordinated the establishment of a Sakai-based online collaboration environment to support research projects called MUSE, the Melbourne University Shared Environment. Another major project completed in 2007, managed by David Hirst and programmed by David Vasjuta, was the PRAZE online peer review system, created for Dr Raoul Mulder and  Dr Jon Pearce. In 2007, David became an honorary Senior Fellow with the Auditory Neurocognition and Music Research group, based in the Psychology Department at the University of Melbourne, working on Digital Tools in the Analysis of Timbre-Based Music.

• David has had extensive teaching experience as Lecturer in Electronic Music and Composition at the University of Tasmania for three years, and Senior Lecturer in Contemporary Music Technology at La Trobe University for ten years, where he was Head of the Music Department from 1993-1996.

Research Interests

• David holds a PhD in auditory cognition, musical analysis and composition from the University of Melbourne. His research interests are in several fields: music technology and perception; educational technology; and academic staff development. Current research interests in educational technology include creating effective learning designs, e-Research, e-Portfolios, Web 2.0 technologies, online collaboration environments, and ‘digital inequality’.

Recent Publications and Presentations

• Publications (PDF 27KB)
• Projects (PDF 22KB)