Writing
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Monthly round up November 24
(My post-apocalyptic survival skill is making pies) I’ve been trying, unsuccessfully, to avoid the whole US election fallout this month. So let’s get that out of the way. Amongst many depressing things that has been noticeable since that night in November is the complete failure of traditional political commentating. They are still applying the idea of the rational voter, so end up effectively asking questions such as “what policy of the deranged, self-declared tyrant really appealed to you?” or “where did the Democrats campaign go wrong in failing to appeal to the supporters of a man who thinks Hannibal Lecter is real?” I’m no US political analyst but this doesn’t…
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Monthly round-up October 24
We went on holiday to Crete this month, and hired a car to do some trips including to the ex-leper colony of Spinalonga, (pictured) and inland villages. I already miss the sunshine and the food. As I mentioned in my previous post, I’ve been doing actual work this month, writing a report. It’s involved, inevitably, researching AI in education. With all the hype it was interesting to find lots of thought pieces about potential uses, reviews of how students are using it, but very few actual case studies of it being applied in education. And often it was an extension of existing practice, such as learning analytics, with a layer…
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Monthly round-up Sept 24
(A sketch of my Galway keynote) As the new academic year started, and lots of my peers were back on campus, I was… walking my dog on the nature reserve at Kenfig Sands. The summer is generally quieter, so this was the first time I really noticed my post-OU status. And it felt good. I’ve kept my toe in the academic waters however, giving a keynote at the Digital Ed Conference in Galway, at the (fairly) newly consolidated Atlantic Technical University. They are at an interesting position in their development, having brought together different technical colleges under one banner and now implementing a new learning environment. If you had a…
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August 24 round up
I’ve been attempting to get some momentum into those fun projects I promised myself I would undertake when I left the OU. It’s been a bit stop/start, I just seem to get going with one when something derails it. My planned running schedule has stalled but I have been taking Teilo on a weekly hike. I have combined this with another side project, which is to set up a vinyl Instagram account of photos of album covers in the wild in Wales (rather like podcasts, these are something that all men of a certain age seem to feel the world needs). It’s useful because it acts as an impetus to…
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July 24 Round up
One month into leaving the OU, and I have been trying to establish some new pattern for the days. It’s been disrupted by parental care (or maybe that is the new pattern), and getting stuff sorted, but it’s beginning to settle down now. The most significant personal event this month has been my daughter’s graduation. She was part of that Covid cohort, who had it rough so it’s been a privilege to witness her growth as a scholar. I just need to persuade her to take up blogging now. As I mentioned last month, I’ve joined the Board of Trustees for the National Extension College, and it was great to…
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Sasquatch hunting in Ed Tech
As a horror reader, cryptids (animals that some people believe exist, but whose existence is disputed) feature a lot in the literature. I mean, who doesn’t find the idea of rampant weird creatures descending on an annoying bunch of privileged American teens appealing? The archetypal cryptid is Sasquatch (Bigfoot), who many people firmly believe exists. I came across a free Audiobook, purporting to examine the evidence impartially (reader, he is not impartial). I came away less convinced of their existence than I did going in, which was pretty low. But of all the cryptids, Sasquatch is the one that makes me think there is maybe 1% chance it actually exists, compared…
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June 24 roundup
I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it, but I left the Open University this month. I had a lovely leaving party with colleagues (funded by ourselves I hasten to add). Maren and I marked the end of that era with a holiday in Sardinia. Since I’ve returned I’ve blogged some thoughts about the OU, and am now busy setting other activities in motion. I have joined the board of Trustees for the National Extension College and have my first board meeting next week. It’s largely been a period of establishing a new working environment. I handed back my university Macbook and bought myself a nice shiny iMac. I’ve been setting…
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The Misery of narrative
I’ve been re-reading Stephen King’s Misery recently. For those of you who don’t know the story, it features a writer, Paul Sheldon, who after a car accident finds himself in the isolated house of his “number 1 fan” Annie Wilkes. Wilkes is psychotic, and becomes enraged when she reads the latest of his Misery historical romance books, in which he has killed off the main character. She tortures him and forces him to write a new Misery novel, just for her. It is foremost a great horror novel, but it also acts as an obvious allegory for the relationship between writer and their audience and their own work. From a…
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May 24 roundup
(I’ve been going through some old photos – I’m the little blond one in the above, where it appears that I grew up in the 1930s) I’ve been having a “Month of Lasts” as my OU clock ticks down: Last Open Programme meeting, last JIME meeting, last Applaud Steering committee, last research theme meeting. Shedding all those roles and activities one accumulates like burrs on a poodle running through a field of burdock feels liberating. I’m not quite sure what will replace the interaction, structure and activity that meetings provide though. We do of course like to portray the meeting as the irritating guest at our work wedding, but across…
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April 24 round up
I was looking forward to April, I had booked study leave and had a number of small, fun projects I wanted to get started. Well, it transpired that April had other plans. For no particular reason I had a mental health wobble in the first week, and was just getting over that when an elderly parent emergency arose, which necessitated several trips and stays in Bedfordshire. This included missing the much anticipated hockey playoff weekend in Nottingham with my daughter, and abandoning a holiday in West Wales. Add in an emergency dental appointment, and yes, April can do one. I looked back at my google doc for plans for this…
