Watching the Facebook feed is a beautiful thing. It twists and turns and pulls you in directions like a swirling river current, going you-know-not-where, endlessly flowing, eternal and irresistible. It consumes all before it, devouring knowledge relentlessly and regurgitating every piece, big or small, serious or trivial, into equal prominence in space and time. Like the nano-bots we read about… Read more →
Another article about the desperate need for coders in the job market. Another article about not needing a degree – in this case a computer science degree – another article about learning online and not in a college (or any other place of learning). I read this today with new eyes and new thoughts, as I had made a big decision over the… Read more →
In a recent blog post I mused on the deep problems of academic careers and staff development for adjunct and fractional (permanent) staff, and shared the post in a discussion I started in the LinkedIn Higher Education Learning and Teaching group. While it is a hotly debated topic my post didn’t attract much discussion as likely touched on familiar ground… Read more →
After several recent conversations about social media at our university I find myself in familiar territory once again. It’s almost like groundhog day to experience the endless cyclical repetition of early semester academic keenness, quickly followed by mid semester lethargy and scepticism due to teaching exhaustion, with a finishing flurry of resounding I told you so from Marketing who always insist it’s their job. The… Read more →
After writing (yet) another proposal for our university’s social media initiatives to help (yet) another strand of activity at the uni to reach out to its core audience, I am struck by just how easy most people think this is. Everyone wants more out of social media – lecturers, community outreach, student support, staff support, marketing, faculty news delivery… whatever…. Read more →
We’ve been having a few interesting conversations about Ron Barnett. He’s the man of the moment, standing fast against the dark forces of moribund sameness that pervade the halls and low budget coffee areas of higher education. [rssless]The philosophy of higher education that he builds and tears down and rebuilds is more relevant now than it might ever have been… Read more →
I have just submitted a paper for my ‘Theoretical Perspectives on Learning and Teaching in Higher Education’ module, part of the MA in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education: “Changing Purposes and Priorities in Higher Education”. It’s a 5500 word essay on the university in a supercomplex age, Ronald Barnett provides core theory while other voices babble around him. Plagued… Read more →
As I watch numerous presentations from ‘leaders in the field’ of ‘elearning’, or ‘technology enhanced learning’ or even ‘blended learning’, or just about any term of learning that hints at using a computer, I am increasingly frustrated at the sheer repetition of it all. Those who are obviously in the thrall of The New, i.e. great new devices and technologies… Read more →
‘Knowledge’. With a capital K, specific Knowledge and Skills, not the general concept of knowledge. Knowledge is only as valuable as the market dictates. What about ‘pay peanuts, get monkeys’? Recently I said I wasn’t prepared to keep sharing my Knowledge for little or no reward, and certainly no recognition or opportunity for forward progression. A senior colleague told me that… Read more →
[This post was originally part of a post graduate degree coursework, though afaik was never looked at by any examiners…I have left it available for public access as it includes some useful reference material for others, and has been viewed quite a bit.] A critically reflective report on the experience of designing, delivering and facilitating online learning Overall Comments I… Read more →