Do academics dream of electric sheep?

Field of Dreams and other EdTech fallacies

This was the presentation I did, alongside fellow learning techs Rosie Hare and Marcus Elliott, at the Association of Learning Technologists (ALT) conference 2017. The full title was Kevin Costner is a liar: Field of Dreams and other EdTech fallacies. The session culminated in a discussion around the question: Is limited innovation, impact and staff engagement…

A woman in tech

I am a woman in tech. Despite having boobs, I am just about able to use a computer and, despite my gender, am able to spend my days at the office free of neuroses and hysterics. Although, the temptation to do a Mrs Rochester is always bubbling below the surface. I felt compelled to write this having…

ICT vs The World #ussc17

I was invited to present at the UCISA Support Service Group #ussc17 conference in Bristol. I went to the conference last year with some IT colleagues and we presented a 20×20 called ICT vs Academics and I wrote a blog post whilst there called ICT vs Educational Technologists. This year I was invited to expand on…

Canons Ashby

A sunny afternoon spent at Canons Ashby. These images were taken on my Canon EOS 1200D. I am licensing these images as creative commons so feel free to use them but remember to attribute! This work by Kerry Pinny is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

I am not your enemy

I am not your enemy. I’m the mug who has been thrown into the lion’s den covered in rump steak, to demonstrate the VLE. I don’t know what I’m walking in to. I do not make decisions. I do not create policy. Frankly, there are times I don’t care if you use the VLE. I’m just here to…

Jack of all trades…

“What do you do?” *Deep breath*, “I’m an academic technologist”. *Blank stare*, “So, what do you do?”. *Deep breath* [attempts to explain]. I have had this conversation regularly with family, friends and people who work outside of the ‘biz’. If I had a pound… That, I find, is increasingly difficult to define. “I help teaching…

Mastering your DSLR

I spent the day learning how to use my camera. I know what a lot of the words mean but not necessarily how to use it properly. Our instructor was Kate Green, you can see her work here. Today was great fun and I learnt a lot. My photos are definitely going to be improved!…

The trouble with Moodle…

I ought to have called this post ‘The trouble with VLEs’ as everything here applies to the VLEs I have experienced. This post has arisen from my moving institutions, and VLEs as a consequence, and attending MoodleMoot last week. It was my first Moot and an ‘interesting’ experience. MoodleMoot 2017 This was my first visit to…

The criticism of criticism

When is critique just negativity? Is criticism banned? Is technology above reproach? Do we have to constantly espouse its virtues? Is there no room to consider negative aspects? This post relates strongly to my previous post In defence of technology in which I rant on about the attitudes of ed tech people around evidence. I will endeavour…

We got 99 problems…

and the TEF is one. Disclaimer: this post has nothing to do with the TEF. Sorry if you came here looking for a scholarly article on the TEF. I’m afraid you will not find that here (or anything scholarly for that matter). Instead I will reflect on my Higher Education journey. I’ve recently moved institution…