Jacquie McDonald is a Learning and Teaching Designer at the University of Southern Queensland (USQ) Australia. She has worked with higher education academics designing online and distance learning courses and programs for over 24 years. Her experience and research demonstrate the value of Communities of Practice (CoP) in building the learning and teaching capacity of educators, and contributing to scholarly practice and publications.

Since 2006 she has led the successful implementation of communities of practice at USQ, which was recognised by a 2009 Australian Universities Quality Agency commendation and 2009 Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC) Citation. She has led a number of institutional and national fellowships and grants to research and provide resources for leadership of communities of practice within the tertiary education sector.

She has been invited by national universities to facilitate Community of Practice workshops and contribute to CoP initiatives. Jacquie is participating in a Social Learning Leadership Certificate program conducted by the international leaders of Communities of Practice – Etienne and Bev Wenger-Trayner.