Calibrating? Connecting? Consistently? (1)

On one level. that is what we do. All the time. We are planners, time and distance travellers. How much? Will it get us there? Every time? That is what we mean. But where is the "there" to which we want to get? And for whom do we want to get there? And who we? … Continue reading Calibrating? Connecting? Consistently? (1)

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

A hidden curriculum

Published on: Jan 18, 2018 I examine two related concepts: hierarchised identity formation and the enclosure of desire as a hidden curriculum. A hidden curriculum is, I suggest the collection of assumptions, often about power (Brookfield 2017, chapter 2) that is communicated alongside and through the practice of overt curricula. A hidden curriculum is conveyed … Continue reading A hidden curriculum

Back to the really hard stuff

I am doing, in a way, what I have always wanted to do: teaching in a university, running an academic conference, editing a journal, supervising dissertations, some consultancy. And now I seem to have found the time and space to develop the two items that have been hardest for me to achieve and for which … Continue reading Back to the really hard stuff

Lots to do: thoughts on the task ahead

The task, for me, the lots to-do is to transform theory to practice. That is, education development aims not just to bring about correct understanding but to create social and political conditions (that is, community) more conducive to human flourishing than the present ones. I became a Football Coach last winter and now help run … Continue reading Lots to do: thoughts on the task ahead

Learning design: heroic goal in a held space

What was I trying to do in my talk to the Solstice conference 2016? In the talk, I analysed learning using metaphors of “Held space” (Plett 2015), The romantic or heroic quest (Wikipedia for summaries) And “heartwork” (Hogan 2011) or the concept of “emotional labour” (Koster2011). I wanted these to be seen in the light … Continue reading Learning design: heroic goal in a held space

Backpacks, badges and epistemology: an interesting conversation that leads to happily ever after

Grant (2014) asks in the title to her book about digital badges, "What Counts as Learning?" This succinctly expresses the question of higher education and explains the continuing interest in badges, and in learning technologies in general. The fact this is less explored, gives me an opportunity to explore both learning technology and epistemology. I have developed … Continue reading Backpacks, badges and epistemology: an interesting conversation that leads to happily ever after

Academic multimedia is where TEL becomes real

Learning technologies and technology enhanced learning are not quite the same thing. The position and semantic force of the words is different. Learning as adjective and learning as noun; technology as nominal object and technology as agent of change: learning enhanced by technology. There is a greater degree of abstraction in TEL, somewhat more particularity … Continue reading Academic multimedia is where TEL becomes real

Academic Multimedia

Academic multimedia. Something other than marks on paper or that virtual page.  Academic multimedia covers a range of practices across a spectrum of technologies, which may include: automatic recording (audio and sometimes video) of an event primarily designed for a face-to-face audience (e.g. a “normal” lecture, visiting or guest lecture). Desk based podcasts, screen casts, … Continue reading Academic Multimedia

FSLT16 Joining Instructions

First Steps into Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (#fslt16) 20 January - 26 February 2016 Hello all Thank you for your interest in First Steps into Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (#fslt16). Welcome to the course. These "Joining instructions" should help you to get started. Because this is an open course, available to … Continue reading FSLT16 Joining Instructions