Joshua Long

Sheldon College

Joshua Long is using digital technologies to imagine new ways of teaching the Humanities and Senior History.
 
The Sheldon College teacher’s passion for delivering lessons that are highly responsive to the needs of 21st century learners has seen him embed electronics, robotics, virtual and augmented reality, and gamification into his teaching of the Humanities curriculum.
 
“Josh’s commitment to developing highly engaging and challenging lessons has resulted in excellent student outcomes and an increased number of students seeking subjects within the Humanities faculty,” colleague Catherine Heiner said.

A true champion of new ideas among his colleagues, Joshua has led the development and adoption of a wide range of learning activities to engage his students; he has arranged an archaeological dig, a trench warfare re-enactment, and various project-based learning experiences that successfully engage learners of all abilities and interests.
 
Joshua has also enthusiastically taken on the responsibility of developing new longitudinal curriculum plans, year level unit plans, and targeted, authentic assessment tasks for his colleagues.
 
His expertise in using digital tools and platforms to engage students in quality learning experiences has been acknowledged within his professional network repeatedly. Josh has been invited to present at conferences of the Queensland History Teachers’ Association, the History Teachers’ Association of Australia, and the Australian Council for Health, Physical Education and Recreation.

In addition to his passion for creating innovative learning experiences, Joshua has shown a wholehearted commitment to organising and supporting a wide range of extracurricular pursuits within the school, including the Duke of Edinburgh Awards, Clean Up Australia Day, Positive Postcards, and even a community service trip to Borneo with a small group of Sheldon College students.
 
Congratulations Joshua on your nomination.
 
By Claudia Farhart.