Mike Dickison
Position
Learning Advisor
Qualifications
- Ph.D (Zoology, Duke)
Thesis: The allometry of giant flightless birds - BSc (Hons) (Biology, Victoria)
Thesis: Are island tuatara representative? - BSc (Philosophy and Biology, Victoria)
Room
77 Clyde Road, Room 201
Contact Details
Phone: +64 3 364 2987 ext 4138
Email: mike.dickison@canterbury.ac.nz
Twitter: @adzebill, @getnetsavvy
Blog: www.wikiteach.info
Skype: uc_mike_dickison
Postal address:
Learning Skills Centre
University of Canterbury
Private Bag 4800
Christchurch 8140
New Zealand
Background
Mike joined the Learning Skills Centre in 2008, after completing his PhD study of fossil bird bones at Duke University in North Carolina. He had previously worked as a graphic designer at EOS Ecology, ran the inaugural Desktop Publishing and Design programme at Whitireia Polytechnic, taught writing and computer skills to immigrants and long-term unemployed, and was an assistant curator at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. He consults on information design, posts tips on data presentation for scholars at Pictures of Numbers, and recently wrote a book on how to play the ukulele.
Mike is interested in ways technology can help students learn, with tools like blogs, online collaboration, Flickr, Zotero, wikis, and social networking. He teaches Science Writing from Start to Finish, as well as running workshops on wrangling long Word documents, giving better presentations, lab-report writing, and poster design. Get Net Savvy is his lunchtime seminar series on digital literacy.
Recent Publications
Dickison, M. 2009. The asymmetry between science and traditional knowledge. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand 39(4):171–172. Link.
Presentations
“Embracing Wikipedia.” ATLAANZ, Christchurch, November 2010.
“The role of learning advisors in teaching information technology skills.” ATLAANZ, Auckland, November 2009. Link.