ThingLink Spotlight! Lighting Up Immersive Learning with Gareth Green
ThingLink Luminaries is a series of guest blog posts highlighting certified trainers who are creating interactive and immersive experiences to make learning more engaging, accessible, and meaningful. Our educators and learning designers bring a thoughtful approach to immersive learning, and their work reflects a deep commitment to creativity, pedagogy, and innovation.
In each profile post, we’ll explore their background, teaching philosophy, and favorite ThingLink projects offering insight into how they’re making a lasting impact in their classrooms, organizations and communities! Enjoy!
Introducing Gareth
I am a Digital Education Developer at the University of Birmingham where I provide pedagogical and technical support in the design and delivery of learning programmes using learning technologies. I previously worked in the banking sector where I developed training courses for onboarding and upskilling colleagues.
Gareth’s Incredible ‘Watergate’ ThingLink Project
I created this resource to help learners actively explore the Watergate scandal, rather than simply presenting them with historical facts.
I’ve used active and experiential learning to move learners beyond passive reading, to independently making connections between different pieces of information. This helps students evaluate relationships between events and begin to form their own opiniouns and conclusions.
I’ve encouraged curiosity and learner agency by creating a non-linear path through the content, so students can actively explore the material in any order they choose. I’ve also added additional reflective questions to help students evaluate complex problems that don’t have a simple, true or false answer.
Explore Watergate – That Scandal that brought Down a President
What inspired you to create this?
I recently bought the board game Watergate for my wife and I to play on holiday. It sparked my curiosity about the historical events behind the game and so I began to do more research. I love the way that ThingLink facilitates independent discovery and investigation so I thought it would be an excellent way to model the way the journalists uncovered the pieces of the story themselves and help learners feel immersed in the events. Rather than simply presenting the facts, I wanted learners to follow the events much like the journalists did, allowing them to experience the investigation as it unfolded and turning curiosity into active learning.
What do you love about ThingLink?
I love being able to facilitate students learning journeys and even take them on a learning adventure. ThingLink also makes working with 360 video and images really easy, you can make some really impressive content with it.
Do you have any other ThingLink projects in the pipeline?
We recently finished working on the Universities Virtual Library Tour!
Wow! Check this out!
Fun Fact and Connect with Gareth!
I enjoy skateboarding, film making and boardgames. I am passionate about Home Education and Educational Philosophies such as: Charlotte Mason, Milieu Teaching and Gamification. One of my favourite quotes is: “Anyone who tries to make a distinction between education and entertainment doesn’t know the first thing about either.” — Marshall McLuhan (1967)
A huge thank you and warm welcome to Gareth, one of our newest ThingLink Certified Trainers!
We’re delighted to have Gareth joining our growing global community of educators and immersive learning enthusiasts who are helping others discover what’s possible with ThingLink.
🔗 Connect with Gareth on LinkedIn
🚀 Fancy becoming a ThingLink Certified Trainer too? We’d love to welcome you! Our application process is simple and straightforward. We’re just looking for people who understand the potential of immersive learning, enjoy using ThingLink and feel confident helping others develop their skills.
💡 Find out more and apply here: ThingLink Certified Trainers Programme
