Ballarat, Victoria, Australia
Associate Professor Matthew Harrison (he/him) is an experienced teacher, researcher and digital creator who is an advocate for utilising technology to support social capacity building, belonging and inclusion in education. He has taught in Australia, South Korea and the United Kingdom at primary, secondary and tertiary levels. Matthew is currently a member of the Learning Intervention team a founding member of the University of Melbourne Neurodiversity Project, and previously served as the Director of Professional and Continuing Education (PACE) at the University of Melbourne Faculty of Education. He was awarded the Dyason Fellowship in 2020, and both the GEM Scott Teaching Fellowship and the International Society for Technology in Education 'Making IT Happen' award in 2023. In 2025 he co-led the application for the first successful Genesis Pre-Seed Investment in a social enterprise at the University of Melbourne (through University of Melbourne/Breakthrough Victoria). Matthew has a wide and growing portfolio of research publications with a global profile. His research primarily focuses on neurodiversity, inclusive education and the effective use of digital technologies as teaching and learning tools. As a gamer, he has a particular interest in digital games-based learning and social support programs. Matthew's PhD thesis examined how cooperative video games can be used as spaces for developing social capabilities for students with disabilities and neurological differences. Building from this innovative research he co-founded the social enterprise Next Level Collaboration, an inclusive community for neurodivergent children that uses cooperative video games to build confidence and social capabilities. He also proudly served as the Vice President of Digital Learning and Teaching Victoria and on a number of other boards.
Next Level Collaboration is a research-based social capacity building program for children aged between 8 to 15 years old that uses their interest in gaming to meaningfully develop collaborative social skills. Combining video modelling and feedback with collaborative play, this new digital games-based intervention is the first of its kind in the world. Building from the work of Dr. Matthew Harrison’s research this structured program is designed specifically to support children with social-emotional challenges, including individuals with autism, intellectual disabilities and ADHD.
I was privileged to serve as Vice President of Digital Learning and Teaching Victoria, working with a number of other leading academics and educators in the digital space. We share a passion for using technology as a tool for enriching our students' lives.
Together with Shahed Kamel we founded our EdTech startup CollabHero - "Smarter Data, True Collaboration".
Matthew founded Hatt Designs to develop applications that had practical applications in real classrooms both in Australia and around the word. Hatt Designs applications are currently being used in over 80 countries.