November 29, 2023

What Debbie Did … 001

Thanks to Ken Bauer and Ben Werdmüller for the idea and questions ! My previous blog post explains the background to this. The core questions: I’m not sure I will make an entry every day and if I will do the stretch questions each time but I really like the thought of answering question prompts so we will see how we go … I wanted to time myself on this but forgot. I don’t really want to spend long on doing this as a general rule of thumb but as this is my first attempt it will no doubt take me longer. Deb Entry 001 Journal Entry for Monday 3 August 2020 What did you do today?  Today (Monday 3 August – oh my word it is August already where has the year gone ) was a typical busy day at work. We are gearing up for our Online Summer …

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Journaling / Writing Aspirations …

I must try and get into the habit of writing regularly and I am thinking that journaling might be the way to go … There are two main reasons for this: a) as a PhD candidate it is really kind of a good idea to practice ! Clearly my blog is a different sort of writing but I figured any attempt at regular writing just might help and b) I don’t think I am particularly good at being reflective and by writing a regular journal might help with that and of course it will probably be good for me in other ways ( eg mental health and well being etc ) I really like the idea of journaling … I used to keep a journal as a kid back in the prehistoric days before t’internet, computers and my probably poor attempts at adulting … but that was really only for …

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PhD

The PHD Elephant in the Room

In a great blog post today called How not to be an Academic Asshole during COVID the amazing Inger Mewburn of @thesiswhisperer fame (btw who I am very proud to be a patreon supporter of ) talks about the prevelance of ‘Toxic Positivity ; not showing weakness and pretending everything is ok when its really not’ in the academic world , and that this can stop people from admitting that they are struggling with things. Inger is completely open and honest about her own struggles in many of her posts but this one really struck a chord with me …well worth a read. I remember at one of our residential courses, the lovely Brett Bligh gave us a presentation where he asked each one of us to think about why we were doing a PHD… I didn’t really have an answer then and a couple of years down the line …

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PhD

Virtual Hugs

I came across this blog post that the lovely Maha Bali wrote on her blog “Digital Affect (Emotional Presence?) and Continuity with Care during COVID-19. In her post, Maha mentions that the social distancing aspect of the current COVID19 situation ‘makes the need for digital affect (emotional presence?) so much more important’ This really resonates with the stuff I’m hoping to research. Maha also shares two recordings of some online conversations where the participants talk a lot about the concept of care particularly during COVID-19. I remember seeing tweets about both of these happening but as ever life got in the way and I didn’t get to take part in them and I still haven’t caught up with them. So I am putting the direct links here to the video’s that Maha mentions, so that I can try to make sure that I watch them both as I bet they …

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Authentic Experiences in Online Learning : Look Behind you !

This post was triggered by an opinion piece entitled ‘ Instructors please wash your hair’ that I read in Inside Higher Ed that wound me up a bit. I am definitely not alone in feeling this way, as there is certainly an interesting exchange of comments below the article. The author of the piece has provided an explanation that it was written before all the COVID-19 stuff happened and seems to recognise that it is ill informed. The piece itself is more aligned to a commentary that advocates for the need for educators to ‘exhibit professionalism’ and relates this mostly to the appearances of educators and how they are dressed, a line of argument for which I just have no words for given the current situation I am afraid, however, it did make me think about online social presence and how this relates to the environment that we find ourselves …

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Online Learning and Teaching Useful Resources (#COVID19)

There have been so many really helpful resources shared over the last week or so in relation to learning and teaching online. I’ve put the ones that I have come across on this PADLET as I keep losing track of what I have seen and where in all the noise. I also wanted somewhere to keep track of the compilations that others have made and developed too. Sharing it here in case others find it helpful 🙂

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