Jorge Reyna Portfolio - Jorge Reyna | Lecturer in Higher Education, Learning Design

Welcome to my website

My latest musical production dedicated to my mother.

My name is Jorge Reyna; I am a Peruvian of Inca ancestry. I left my family, friends, and customs and emigrated to Australia to follow my dreams. I have been living here for twenty years now, and I am very proud to be Australian by choice. I made this beautiful country my home, and I consider lucky to be living here.

I hold a PhD in Science Education, a Masters in Veterinary Science (Sydney University) and a degree in Animal Science (UNALM, Lima-Peru). Twelve years ago I decided a career change to maximise my creative side. I completed a Digital Media Certificate IV at TAFE Randwick with distinctions. I also have a Certificate IV in Small Business Management as well. My life has been between science, digital media, learning design and educational technology. I am a Senior Learning Designer working in medical education. In my current position, I integrate my learning design and digital media expertise, pedagogical approaches of learning, teaching, and research skills to improve the new generation of ophthalmologists.

Before, I was working as a Senior Lecturer in Higher Education at the University of Technology Sydney. Previously I was an Educational Designer for the Learning and Teaching Centre (LTC) at Macquarie University, Blended Learning Advisor for the School of Social Science and Psychology (Western Sydney University). I also worked for NPS MedicineWise and the School of Education (Western Sydney University). I was freelance running my own business (Artminds Digital Media). My experience is broad, covering web design, motion graphics, digital photography, audio/video capture and edition, multimedia and graphic design. As a digital photographer, I have been working for the last 15 years and exhibited my work at the Art Gallery of the University of Sydney and also at Frogmore House Art Gallery in Werrington (Western Sydney University). I do consider a multi-task creative person doing painting, drawing, sculpture, furniture design and poetry. I used to play in a band in Lima when I was living there.

I consider I made the right move from animal science to educational technology. The present convergence of three key trends, the growing demand for rich media, the exploding availability of affordable Internet anywhere, and the large development of smart phones and tablets are causing higher education institutions to utilise digital media resources and Web 2.0 tools in blended learning to enhance the learning experience. In this context, there is an exciting opportunity for learning designers to implement, evaluate and research these new technologies.

I was awarded my PhD after two years and three months in Science education at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS). I completed it in Dec 2018 and it took a year for the reviewers. I output 11 publications. I looked at the designing, implementation, evaluation and research in the area of Learner-Generated Digital Media (LGDM) Assignments and how undergraduate science students self-regulate their learning in this type of innovative assignments. As a result, my approach to digital media assignments in Higher Education has been taking by many universities in Australia, the USA, Europe, the UK and Scandinavian countries. If you are an educator and want to implement digital media assignments systematically, you can visit www.digitalmediaforlearning.com. The site also have free modules to scaffold your students preparing their digital media projects. I am an active researchers in educational technology and my papers are gaining citations, you can visit my Google Scholar page for the latest articles I wrote. To check my photography work, visit surfphotographyau Instagram page.

I like to be in a challenging place to work to continually reinvent myself. I am not comfortable with the status quo. I am willing to change, willing to examine how I am doing things, and I constantly want to raise the bar using my creativity and my initiative. I am always looking to create the future and change the world of education with passion, ethics, and I have the will to work hard for that. I love what I do, and I push myself further to be here. I want to be in a place where I can become energised by people who want to push further. I would like to be able to reinvent education and be able to impact so many lives and help so many people, that is why I like to work in university settings.

Finally ... "No matter what technology you use, as long as simplifies your life and give value for the people you interact ... it is not about technology ... it is about using it in meaningful ways ..." Enjoy your visit!

Adios,
Dr Jorge Reyna