Tony Adams was an Australian Computer Scientist and leading figure in the internationalisation of higher education.

Adams began a career in computer science as a computer programmer with Monash University in 1964. In 1978, he took up the role of Lecturer in the Department of Computer Science at RMIT in 1978 and was later appointed Head of Department of Business Computing, a role he held from 1984 until 1990.

Through the 1980s, Adams was as a key player in the development of educational computing in Victoria and Australia. In 1982, he became the editor of COM-3, an important early Australian educational computing journal that informed research, policy and practice in Australia. Between 1984 and 1986 he was President of the Computer Education Group of Victoria (CEGV), an organisation that ran the first national computing education conferences and helped shape State and Federal policy.

Adams played a particularly significant role in the propagation of Logo in Australia, programming language software which had been designed to support learning. With his wife, Pauline Adams, a teacher, and Anne McDougal, an education academic based at Monash University, Adams co-authored the 'Learning Logo' educational book series. Four Learning Logo titles were published between 1982 and 1986, providing educators in Australia and beyond with an introduction to the Logo programming language. Notably, at least one title, Learning Logo on the Apple II, was translated into German, French and Chinese. Adams made a range of other significant contributions supporting the educational use of LOGO including writing procedures for the Apple version of the software to control the Tasman Turtle, a robot developed in Tasmania that was used with Logo in Australian schools.

In 1992, Adams took up the role of RMIT Dean International Programs, moving down a pathway that would see him become a leading figure in the internationalisation of higher education. He played a key role in the creation of the International Education Association of Australia, the industry's professional body, and was joint editor of the Journal of Studies in International Education. In 1997 he was awarded the inaugural IDP award for excellence in international education and in 2006 was recognised by the Association of International Education Administrators. After a stint with Macquarie University (1998-2007) Adams and his wife Pauline formed the international education consultancy Tony Adams and Associates.


References

Adams, T., McDougall, A., Adams, P. Adams (1984). Learning LOGO on the TRS-80 color computer. Sydney, Prentice-Hall.

Deardorff, D., de Wit, H., Heyl, J., and Adams, T. (Eds.) (2012). The SAGE Handbook of International Higher Education. Thousand Oaks, Sage.

McDougall, A. Adams, T., Adams, P. (1982). Learning LOGO on the Apple II. Sydney, Prentice-Hall.

McDougall, A. Adams, T., Adams, P. (1984). Learning LOGO on the Commodore 64. Carlton, Pitman.

McDougall, A. Adams, T., Adams, P. (1986). Learning Logo on the BBC micro. Sydney, Prentice-Hall.

Olsen, A. (2011). Key player in global networking (Obituary - Tony Adams), The Australian, 25 May 2011, p.35.

Richardson, J. (1999). Logo in Australia: A Vision of Their Own, in 'Logo Philosophy and Implementation', Logo Computer Systems Inc., pp.97-105.

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