A tale of two conferences

This week, I was involved in two conferences, TEALfest and ucisa Spotlight on Digital Capabilities. This post is a reflection, therapy, warning and advice for anyone considering organising their own conference. Don’t do two conferences at the same time This ought to be obvious but it bears repeating. Do not schedule two conferences at the […]

Academics are for life…

not just for Christmas. That should have been the title of the presentation I gave to the IT Services department at Leeds Beckett University last December. Instead, I called it “It’s all Academic”. Serious title regret. I was asked to talk to the department about how to work better with Academics. First of all, I […]

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 […]

Losing my ALTc virginity

I have just returned from my first Association of Learning Technologists conference, so I thought I’d write a little blog about the experience. There was a lot of choice and I saw a lot of presentations so forgive some of the vague descriptions. As an aside, I loved ALTc. I genuinely enjoyed it. Although the […]

Jisc Connect More 2016 – Nottingham

There is so much brilliant practice going on around the UK. It was great to hear from the FE and skills sectors as they are often neglected. This was my first Jisc Connect More event and I hope it won’t be the last. Connect More was opened by John Potter, head of Jisc south and east. John […]

UCISA SSG16 Day 1: People, Service, Duty

This is my first UCISA Support Services Group conference. It has always been, in my mind, “not for me”. It has always struck me as being for ICT professionals. That the presenters and attendees will not speak my language. I imagined it being full of tedious sessions with people droning on about their latest implementation […]

Live blogging: Genius or Madness?

I have owned these domains for years and yet I have never got around to setting it up. Chiefly because there is always something else I should be doing. So why have I finally got round to enabling this website? Well tomorrow I will be attending UCISA Spotlight on Digital Capabilities 2 conference and thought […]

Xerte Conference 2016

Yesterday, I attended the 2016 Xerte conference at Nottingham University. I had been invited to present with the Making Digital History project team and two students. It was a really interesting day and I’ve reflected on a few of the presentations. Students as Producers of Digital History: Using Xerte at the University of Lincoln. I […]

Spotlight on Digital Capabilities

On 5th and 6th June I attended the UCISA Spotlight on Digital Capabilities event in Media City, Manchester. We were honoured with two days of sunshine (a rare occurrence in Manchester I am told), a delicious meal with quiz in the incredible Imperial War Museum North and a fascinating programme of talks. I could write several […]