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Universities interpret change as harm… but that’s probably ok
We were discussing the new Open University strategy recently, one strand of which calls for innovation in teaching. This has been a constant thread in nearly all strategies that I can recall in my 27 odd years at the OU. And, to be fair, it is something the OU and colleagues have largely delivered on. However, based on my own experience and that of nearly all colleagues I speak to, the university (and it would seem, all universities), often acts to counter and thwart such innovation. From delivering all online courses in 1999, to establishing the VLE in 2004, to introducing Learning Design, to trying to establish microcredentials more recently,…
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Metaphors of Ed Tech – coming June!
My next book, Metaphors of Ed Tech has got a release date – June 2022 from the awesome Athabasca University Press. It’ll be open access again, CC licensed. It can be seen as a sort of companion piece to 25 Years of Ed Tech, but stands alone. It’s a collection of metaphors about ed tech, but also a plea to reframe how we think about technology in education. It is also, I think, erm, fun. Mainly though it is a vehicle to get Bryan Mathers to draw a Jaws-inspired cover. I love this so much that I have set up a Spreadshirt shop where you can buy mugs and t-shirts…
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OER22 – the GOGN penguins cometh
In case you’ve missed it, OER22 is back with a mix of face to face, online live and asynchronous online this year. Everyone’s favourite conference (yes it is), is co-chaired by our lovely GO-GN team of Rob Farrow, Beck Pitt, Paco Iniesto, Kylie Matthews and me (although I’ve been firmly in the slacker category over the past month). The papers are in, the reviews have been done and the decisions sent out. It’s going to a great event, so I’d encourage you all to register. The themes are: Theme 1 – Pedagogy in a time of crisis: what does an ‘open’ response look like? How has the word of open education…
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I’m back! (sorta)
I know you hadn’t noticed I was gone – there has been rather a LOT else going on after all. But after a bijou, hipster style breakdown, I’ve been offline (and off work) for about a month. During this time I did use a different blog as a kind of therapy, based around walking my dog. So if you like reading the thoughts of a self-pitying, middle aged man (it’s an undercrowded field after all), then you can at Walking with Teilo. Anyway, some things I (re)learned in my absence: It’s ok to not be ok. I have a strain of that protestant work ethic, British stiff upper lip thing…
