I am concerned

I am 66 with a history of pneumonia x2, once with the nee naw up to the John Radcliffe and about 8 hours in A&E. And that was two years ago. I have had bronchitis many times until I started getting the flu jab: winter chest infection free for the past 2 years. I am … Continue reading I am concerned

Reflection in action: professional development study visits

How close to the moment can you get? "Be here now," urges 1960s psychologist Richard Alpert. A mythical Google aspires to a perfect concurrent rendering of this reality: in real-time, in software. How much rewinding can we do before anyone notices the pause for thought? Reflection in action often has the effect of: "Oops! Don't … Continue reading Reflection in action: professional development study visits

One notebook warning

One notebook I write. Not as much or as well as I should. But I write. Two very broad forms interest me: poetry and philosophy of learning, knowledge, theory. What is true and good? Do these concepts mean anything? I believe they do. My job, and much of this writing, here, has to do with … Continue reading One notebook warning

Last of the summer wine

Took my last day of annual leave before the new leave year today. So, I spent several hours moving this domain from Gandi.net to WordPress.com and then importing the posts from "My work blog", rworld2.brookesblogs.net. I previously lost about 20 posts two years ago from the previous host of the rWorld2.net domain and personal blog. … Continue reading Last of the summer wine

Shaping an Identity: hacking the human?

Higher education shapes identity on many levels. We can readily identify three: the individual student/academic; the institutional characteristics of the higher education sector; and wider transnational cultural-historical activity. This slicing into comprehensible tranches is characteristic of my pragmatic approach to knowing, characterised by a logic of effectiveness in the present: sure, it is a continuum, … Continue reading Shaping an Identity: hacking the human?

Knowing authentic learning experiences

Evidence is one truth condition. There are at least three others. These give us a way of knowing authentic learning experiences and provide indicators of engagement, participation and outcomes. They are, also unsurprisingly, aligned with conceptions of authority and power. Badiou (2014) recognises four truth conditions: four ways that truths or a truth may be … Continue reading Knowing authentic learning experiences

Scaffolding Ed Dev conversations: a response to Roxå, T., & Mårtensson, K. (2017)

Roxå, T., & Mårtensson, K. (2017). Agency and structure in academic development practices: are we liberating academic teachers or are we part of a machinery suppressing them? International Journal for Academic Development, 22(2), 95–105. https://doi.org/10.1080/1360144X.2016.1218883 Roxå and Mårtensson (2017) argue that the discourses of academic development as mediated through formal education and training programmes by … Continue reading Scaffolding Ed Dev conversations: a response to Roxå, T., & Mårtensson, K. (2017)

Is the machine us?

Wait a minute. Learning analytics are always mediated by a human, or by humans (plural). Sheila MacNeil, in a thought provoking post subtitled ... analytics of the oppressed, launches into "... the learning analytics interventions should always be mediated by a human debate later this week at Digifest." Software and machinery always embed human values and beliefs about … Continue reading Is the machine us?

Fudge?

When the tin of TEF was first opened a few days ago with all the shiny gold, silver and bronze foil-wrapped toffees, chocolates and what nots, it was entertaining and galling in measures to see who got what and what my own gaff got. Although I had been given a steer away from expecting gold, … Continue reading Fudge?

QAA Quality Enhancement Network 12/11/2015

Fiona Handley from University of Brighton uses the term "Graduate Attribute" for digital literacy, where blended learning is the starting point. Focus on the learning and then ask about the technology that "suits me". As an aside, it is interesting to note that at an event devoted to digital literacies, the connection to the internet … Continue reading QAA Quality Enhancement Network 12/11/2015