Dr. Jake Rowan Byrne is an Educational Technologist and Assistant Professor in Contemporary Teaching & Learning and Computing and course coordinator for the Postgraduate Certificate in 21st Century Teaching and Learning at the School of Education, Trinity College Dublin. Jake is also the Academic Director of Tangent, Trinity’s Ideas Workspace, overseeing the undergraduate and postgraduate course in Innovation and Entrepreneurship being delivered by this unit. Jake has years of experience using the Bridge21 learning models to teach teamwork, programming, problem solving, design thinking, game design and other digital media projects.
In 2017 Jake was commissioned by the NCCA to help write the new Computer Science Leaving Certificate course, helping to integrate both skills development and domain knowledge into the specification.
For 2016 and 2017 Jake was the Creative Technology Curator at the dlr LexIcon Library. Responsible for the development and curation of workshops in 3D design/printing, Electronics, programming and hardware development with Arduino and Raspberry Pi. He has continued to engage with public libraries in the delivery of maker education and developing maker spaces.
Since 2019 Jake has been the Pilot Work Package leader for CHARM-EU, a European Commission funded initiative to explore the establishment of transnational European Universities. The CHARM-EU (Challenge-driven, Accessible, Research-Based and Mobile European University) is an initiative formed by five research-based universities (University of Barcelona, Trinity College Dublin, Utrecht University, Eötvös Loránd University Budapest and University of Montpellier). CHARM-EU’s vision is to have an innovative university model which embraces the change needed to meet society’s challenges, breaking down borders and linking local and global solutions.
Jake is a DCU graduate in Mechatronic Engineering and completed both a Masters in Science in Technology and Learning and a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Trinity College Dublin. He also has experience designing innovative technological solutions for industry and is a named co-inventor on a patent.
These experiences have provided him with the opportunity to pursue his passions for innovation, technology, design thinking, educational reform and civic engagement.
Jake welcomes queries from prospective Masters and Ph.D. students who are interested in the following topics: Transdisciplinary, Computer Science Education, Learning Technologies/Tools, Approaches to Teamwork and 21st Century Skills Development