Matthew Kearney is an Adjunct Professor of Education in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) at UTS.

His research interests focus on innovative technology-enhanced learning in teacher education and school contexts. His research projects with colleagues have provided fresh insights into the use of learning technologies in pedagogically transformational ways. He has led or participated in numerous collaborative funded research projects (see Funded Research tab) investigating digital pedagogical practices. Outputs include models of exemplary practice, principles of innovation, validated instruments for researchers and educators’ professional learning, and over 80 refereed publications (see Research Outputs tab, or Google Scholar link - LH column). Journal papers are in leading journals such as Computers and Education, Australasian Journal of Educational Technology (AJET) and Research in Science Education, and he is the lead author of a recent Springer book, Theorising and Implementing Mobile Learning.

Kearney’s collaborative research with colleagues has achieved high impact in education and has contributed to curriculum initiatives and resource development. He led the conceptualisation and development of a highly utilised digital pedagogical framework (known as iPAC), co-authoring the associated foundational academic paper with Sandy Schuck, Kevin Burden and Peter Aubusson (see links in LH column to access iPAC website & paper). He was a core member of an international team (with Burden & Schuck) recognised for the global impact of the iPAC framework and related research-inspired resources (2019 European e- Learning Excellence Award, Copenhagen). His research was also recognised for its impact at the prestigious NSW Universities’ Research Impact Showcase at Sydney’s Parliament house in 2019, and he was recipient of the 2019 FASS Excellence in Research Awards (Impact category).

Sample projects have examined innovative pedagogical practices with digital devices. He was a chief investigator on an ARC Discovery Grant, Optimising Mobile Learning in Maths and Science; and was the Australian lead researcher on 2 European Erasmus+ funded projects exploring the innovative use of mobile digital technologies in school and teacher education. He also led a project exploring teachers' online professional learning networks (PLNs) - see PLNs website link in LH column; and led a research project with AISNSW investigating teachers’ innovative digital practices during and beyond the pandemic-related remote teaching periods - see https://bit.ly/aisnswcases

He worked for a decade as a secondary school teacher in government and non-government schools in NSW and ACT prior to joining UTS as a FT academic (1999 - 2023). He now works in the not-for-profit sector.