About US
Who are we?
All members of our Australasian-based small international team have extensive tertiary sector teaching experience .
Between us we have higher degrees in Psychology, Education and Design. We have been involved with creating and teaching online courses for many years.
What is our mission?
Our mission is to introduce learners to an alternative, practical, research-backed model of acquiring knowledge (AKA learning) and to propagate it as widely as possible.
We’re taking essential cognitive tools to the people, particularly students and tutors.
Most learning focuses on subject content, what is to be learned. Our interest is in how subject content gets picked up and used. This process is known as learning how to learn.
When learners become familiar with our design their mental skills develop and improve. We also include the other side of the coin, namely teaching. It’s the integration of teaching with learning that’s known as pedagogy.
Why do we care?
Education is one of the largest industries on earth.
Millions of articles have been written about education, some have been research based, others theory driven and multiple opinions continue to appear in popular press and social media outlets.
Few of these publications have made any difference to the struggle many learners experience.
We care because we have the essential tools for passing on to make a positive difference to pedagogy.
And we have a shared passion to drive this venture forward.
Yes, please join us on this adventure.
Bio sketches
John Kirkland
Hi, I’m John Kirkland. After collecting BA and MA Education degrees in New Zealand my Psychology PhD was completed at University of Missouri-Columbia.
During a 40+ year academic career I’ve taught many distance courses, been an author to over 100 academic papers and as well as New Zealand I’ve taught courses in North American, UK and Middle Eastern universities.
I’m currently an Honorary Research Fellow at Massey University. Many students who’ve already taken JK courses will attest, “They are not like any others”. As you’ll find out, this course has also been crafted to be enjoyably different.
I am the architect of 6LL, its primary designer and author.
Mike Saywell
Hello it’s Mike Saywell here. After graduating from university and working in the private sector, I managed a tertiary-level Design School in New Zealand for five years and have now been its CEO for over 15.
This school offers design courses at five sites. Our teaching team has always been at the forefront of innovative methods and we continually field-test different approaches for assisting students to become sustainable learners.
Check us out at www.designschool.ac.nz
Mike Smith
Mike Smith here. With a background in military aviation, science, project engineering, workplace training and assessment, English (ESL) teaching, I’ve long been active in training and teaching – both face-to-face and online.
Most in the web design industry are self-taught and I’m no exception, however my training experience lends a particular perspective to web design.
On this project I’m helping with the technical site functions and learning management system.