Team

Founder and Principal - Robin Petterd

Image of Robin

Robin has worked in interactive digital media since 1993 and has been training people in the field since 1995. He has been involved in all parts of the education sector. During the mid ‘90s Robin coded thousands of web pages by hand and was a wizard at perl coding. During this time, as well as doing a lot of web design, he spent time visualising ocean currents in 3D, and reworking and redeveloping PowerPoint presentations for senior public servants. Part of his services was to train clients in how to update the sites, which, at the time, often meant showing people how to hand-code HTM. Before the dot.com crash, Robin went back to university to undertake a PhD in interactive digital media art. His thesis was titled ‘Liquid Sensations: Evoking sensory experiences with interactive installation art,’ which meant he spent a lot of time dipping expensive video cameras and microphones into water and hours of coding and video-editing. During this time, he started teaching at the University of Tasmania and TAFE Tasmania and discovered a real passion for learning. He was the main teacher of digital media/multimedia at TAFE Tasmania in Hobart from 2003 to 2007. During his time, the course achieved a transformation in students gaining  work in the industry, from about 20% before his time, to 100% of the students being employed in the industry, some even before they were finished with their studies.  Robin also did lots of eLearning things like podcasting, screen casting and online conferences, and blended learning and staff development in eLearning for other teachers. During 2007 he received an Individual Learnscope project to explore game-based learning. When Robin left TAFE Tasmania, he was acting Team Leader of Art, Craft and Design(south), which meant leading a program with more than 300 students.

Sprout Labs is another way Robin can help learning develop.

For more about Robin's art practice, see http:.//www.otheredge.com.au

In addition to Robin, there is a network of people behind Sprout Labs, working in areas like writing, illustration, sound recording and editing, and photography and web development.