I spent some time over Christmas reflecting on digital education and the post I wrote about digital capabilities and climate back in July, mostly because I was sat in a “bomb cyclone” in New England – another of the extreme weather events which are becoming more regular. I’m not sure what direction I am taking…
Read moreAuthor: Lawrie Phipps
Accounting for the climate in digital capability: initial thinking
Right now in the UK we are focused on climate change. Why? Because we just broke previous temperature records – we hit 40°C– for colleagues in the US, that’s 104°F. I’m not going to debate climate change here; it’s real and if you think it isn’t you’re an idiot, or you’re an idiot and you’re…
Read more
Zoom and Room: hidden labour
We need to recognise the labour involved in these emerging practices; existing teams are great at making things happen, making it feel possible, and making it as simple as they can for those of us who are experiencing it as users. But if the practices are to be embedded and widespread, that extra labour needs to be recognized and accounted for. People often can’t just turn up and flip a switch. And those who are told it’s just that easy are being sold something. In some institutions I am seeing a lot of recruitment in learning design and technology enhanced learning roles, in some I am seeing restructures with no overall increase in numbers, and of course some are either not changing or even reducing their numbers.
Read more
Chasing Unicorns: how the EdTech Unicorn Pin came to be
Three of us sat together at “yet another edtech conference” we were probably listening to a wild-eyed techno-solutionist deliver an “ode to the new LMS”, or newly converted academic to the cult of VR, or it may have been the “and now a word from our sponsors” session, where another company starts telling academics how…
Read more
Reflecting about adopting more technology
This is just me thinking out loud… My wife went for a run at the weekend. She does that. I do not run, for the record. She’s an orienteer (running with a map and compass), she’s also a former British Champion at night orienteering. Orienteering is a very social sport, so the pandemic had an…
Read more
Looking Ahead!
St Lubbock’s Day! Well one of them. One of the things about bank holidays that come after a long break is that I always feel that it’s like a “get ready for work day”. I’m lucky, often I am recovering from jet lag from a skiing holiday, in readiness to get ready for the first…
Read moreIn Support of our Trans Colleagues
We would like to thank colleagues who collectively helped us draft this letter. The recent surge in long-standing prejudice against trans people in the UK (some of which we are also seeing in the US and Canada) is worrying and infuriating in equal measure. We the undersigned are stating our unequivocal support for the trans…
Read more
Learning from students and staff during the pandemic: A talk for #ESLTIS21
The #ESLTIS21 (Enhancing Student Learning Through Innovative Scholarship) conference took place on 10th September, I was privileged to be invited to speak about some of the research that I have done during the Pandemic. I also want to give a shout out to colleagues who I’ve worked with on that research including Donna Lanclos, Jasmine…
Read moreWhat does the premium on “presence” actually cost?
Joe Biden’s recent pronouncement on “broadband is infrastructure” amplifies the message that our lives are connected in significant ways in digital systems. And, in a report, the United Nations Human Rights Council said: Given that the Internet has become an indispensable tool for realizing a range of human rights, combating inequality, and accelerating development and…
Read more
Stop normalising pandemic practices!
Robin De Rosa tweeted out a link to an article, and her comment tells you all you need to know about the article. But, as I was waiting to see the dentist, I thought I’d read it anyway. The article is effectively an interview with a Marketing Professor, it reads like the journalist sent a…
Read more