Philosophy and science

A question was put to me yesterday in a session on Philosophy and Policy of Higher Education about the universality of Popperian positivism (a position I think I was unconsciously and unintentionally promoting). The discussion subsequently led me to read Paul Feyerabend. So far I have only dipped my toe in through this very accessible … Continue reading Philosophy and science

Resilience: Or, the dog ate my homework?

On Wednesday my laptop failed. I was teaching all afternoon and couldn't do anything about it. Yesterday afternoon, Thursday, under warranty, following diagnosis by Brookes Help Desk and, Apple Support, it was delivered to Western Computer in Oxford for repair. Estimated time 10 working days. I need a temporary replacement machine. I work across three campuses. … Continue reading Resilience: Or, the dog ate my homework?

What you get? Tea Lab

What you test. You get what you inspect not what you expect. That said, tonight I tested my webcam and the podium computer in Brookes Boardroom 1 where we are hosting Tea Lab tomorrow. I was fully expecting it not to work on at least three fronts: the composite USB webcam/microphone, the room audio output … Continue reading What you get? Tea Lab

Assault on the Hill. I’ll y a des cons dans le monde, bien sur!

I was assaulted on Harcourt Hill this morning by a runner wearing cycling lycra because I choose to ride my bike up the pavement on that hill. I was nearly at the top, out of breath and hot. Buses and cars take the hill at speed and the bumps and margins of the road are … Continue reading Assault on the Hill. I’ll y a des cons dans le monde, bien sur!

Musing on simultaneous remote presence for T-Lab

We (OK, I) made a bold (OK, foolish) assertion that T-Lab meetings would be live broadcast for those who wanted to participate remotely. This could be achieved with various solutions: a Wimba Classroom in a Moodle site as long as the kit in Boardroom 1 can handle it. AND as long as people could get … Continue reading Musing on simultaneous remote presence for T-Lab

New Lecturers 2013-14 Introduction Day

Fifty or sixty people attended the introduction to the New Lecturers Programme today. Biggest intake in my experience. There was a good buzz throughout the day. This year we quite significantly revised the way the session is run. Less talk from us. More activity for the participants. And a shorter day, as well. Scanning the … Continue reading New Lecturers 2013-14 Introduction Day

A note on content, courses/curricula, and credentials

This note recounts a potted recent history of developments to do with online content and courses and speculates about the future of credentials in respect of the purpose of a university. When learning management systems (LMS) or virtual learning environments (VLEs) were in their infancy around the turn of the century, faculty opposition to their … Continue reading A note on content, courses/curricula, and credentials

Learning design for open online courses – part 1

Further to my previous post, Learning design principles: educational pragmatists, which was an abstraction of our beliefs about teaching, this post is an attempt to set out some practical implications for designing open online courses, following from our key assertion: Change is brought about through critical, experiential, social learning activity in connected communities where people … Continue reading Learning design for open online courses – part 1

A note on badges

On FSLT13 Badges were awarded for completion of each of the four activities. Participants who wanted to collect the FSLT13 badgesl needed to register and enrol on the Moodle – AND needed to sign up for a Mozilla Backpack. Badges do not carry any academic credit but are a fun way to signal engagement with … Continue reading A note on badges

Learning design principles: educational pragmatists

I am trying to write a proper academic paper about the principles we used when developing FSLT12&13. But, as I do I find myself getting bogged down. So in the spirit of Digital scholarship (Weller 2011) I am going to exercise some of the ideas here. We are educational pragmatists. Change is brought about through … Continue reading Learning design principles: educational pragmatists