Curriculum Vitae:
Associate Professor Matthew Allen (PhD ANU 1991) established the Internet Studies program in the Division of Humanities at Curtin University of Technology in 1999, attempting to provide arts-based education that would provide applicable skills and knowledge for those wanting to understand and exploit new network technologies of information and communication. Dr Allen has taught online since the mid 1990s, being recognised for the quality of his teaching, in all forms, through winning a national Award for University Teaching (category social sciences) in 2000. He is also an active researcher of the Internet in society, currently being president of the Association of Internet Researchers. He recently contributed to the International Handbook of Virtual Learning Environments, regularly presents papers and workshops on internet-related research and online learning, and is a co-editor of the forthcoming International Handbook of Internet Research (Springer).

Main Research Interests:

• Online social networking as a form of knowledge network
• E-learning, particularly in relation to the effects of network technologies on distributing learning in time and space
• relationship of social and cultural adoption of technologies with the impact and use of those technologies within educational institutions and for learning