Visiting Professor at Arden University

Over the summer I was nominated by Professor Duncan Cross to become a Visiting Professor at Arden University. Duncan is a Professor of Learning and Teaching and the Director of CELT at Arden University. In June I received an email from the Professorial Conferment Panel (PCP) for Arden University to say they had received a nomination form for you for the title of Visiting Professor. As part of the application process, I was asked to submit a copy of my CV. In July I received a Letter of Conferment of the title Visiting Professor from Professor Carl Lygo, Vice Chancellor, Arden University and Professor Brian Smith, Deputy Provost. 

 

Celebrating the announcement below. I’m absolutely thrilled to become one of Arden University’s first Visiting Professors! 

This was the announcement from Arden University on LinkedIn: 

We’re delighted to announce Arden’s first Visiting Professors, an exciting new chapter for Arden:

Dr. Earle Abrahamson, – University of Hertfordshire
Sue Beckingham NTF IFNTF PFHEA CMBE SFSEDA – Sheffield Hallam University
Charles Buckley – University of Liverpool

Their expertise and passion for advancing teaching and learning will enrich our Centre of Excellence in Learning & Teaching (CELT) and strengthen Arden’s commitment to innovation, excellence, and student success.

The International Assessment in Higher Education Conference

In early October 2024 I received a surprise email from Professor Pete Boyd inviting me to lead a Master Class at the International Assessment in Higher Education Conference which was taking place in Manchester 19-20 June 2025. Pete asked if I might lead one of the pre-conference workshops, on theme 2 below. Within that broad theme he said "you can focus in on something and we are hoping it might be related to AI and assessment." 

The pre-conference workshops for 2025 will focus on five themes:

1.    Designing evaluation and research methods for assessment and feedback policy and practice.

2.    Practical ideas for enhancing the staff and student experience of assessment and feedback.

3.    Leading institutional change in assessment and feedback policy and practice.

4.    Working for social justice through assessment and feedback policy and practice.

5.    Supporting development of research informed practice in assessment and feedback within the higher education community.

He also said we want an AHE committee member to co-facilitate each workshop, so you would have a buddy to plan and work with. I want you to take a lead but we think by involving a committee member we can generate some collaborative magic. I of course said yes! 

I didn't have to wait long as Pete followed up the next day to say that I would be supported by the amazing duo Emerita Professor Sally Brown & Professor Kay Sambell. For me this was a match made in heaven. That evening the theme of the weekly LTHEchat was Let’s teach and learn about power! Exploring Powergogy and during this Kay Sambell in a tweet provided the inspiration for the focus of the Masterclass with a tweet sharing what her superpower would be. 

My superpower would be Assessment Alchemist!. Ability to turn mundane assessment tasks into powerful and transformational learning experiences!  

AHE Master Classes

To be headlined alongside this collection of amazing academics was an absolute privilege but also somewhat terrifying! 

The conference offers themed workshop style Masterclasses from leading experts in the field of assessment in Higher Education.

You only need to visit the full programme to get a feel for the level of quality of the contributions. Suffice to say months of work went into preparing the masterclass and I was so lucky to have the guidance of Sally and Kay along the way. We wanted the focus of the session to be informative but also creative. We settled on the title below

Assessment Alchemist 101: How to use GenAI to turn mundane assessment tasks into powerful and transformational learning experiences!

https://ahenetwork.org/masterclass-workshop-sue-beckingham/

Abstract

Just as an alchemist seeks to turn base metals into gold, an ‘assessment alchemist’ reimagines traditional assessment practices to create transformative and meaningful learning experiences. In the context of higher education, an assessment alchemist would be someone who is highly innovative, adaptive, and skilled at transforming traditional assessment methods into more dynamic, inclusive, and significant activities. This metaphorical “alchemist” would not just rely on conventional exams, essays, and rigid rubrics, but would blend various tools, approaches, and techniques to assess student learning in a more creative, and impactful way.

The alchemist is adaptive, experimenting with new tools, technologies, and methods such as generative AI (GenAI) to enrich learning and engagement. Integrating GenAI into assessment design can provide inspiration for both creativity and clarity with the potential to develop new ideas to enhance how students both understand and engage with assessment tasks.

This workshop will be a hands-on, collaborative experience that blends practical applications of GenAI with creative thinking about how to transform assessments and how these are communicated to students. Participants will have the opportunity to learn about multimodal generative AI tools and discuss how to apply them in ways that could be more impactful and meaningful.

By the end of the masterclass workshop participants will learn about how GenAI can help them to:

• Develop engaging and clearer assessment criteria.
• Consider alternative multimodal assessment tasks
• Develop creative ways to present assessment briefs beyond traditional written formats.
• Design activities to help students’ understanding of assessment requirements. 

Getting ready

#aheconference25 it’s Today! So looking forward to this conference where I and @kaysambell.bsky.social will be assisting @suebecks.bsky.social with her master class on AI wizardry

— Sally Brown (@profsallybrown.bsky.social) June 19, 2025 at 8:54 AM

Sally actually brought me her magnificent wizard cape and the three of us wore wizard hats during the Master Class.  

The session was interactive and was a combination of me sharing examples of using Generative AI and those attending discussing in pair show they might apply in their own context. 

• The Illustrated Brief
• Video Assessment Explainers
• Role-Play Brief Creation Using ChatGPT Personas
• Musical Micro Moments
• Audio Enhanced Criteria
• Moodboard Your marking Criteria

The resources used in the session are in the Padlet below. This contains:

• The Alchemists Grimoire of Assessment Transformation - a summary of each of the activities
• The Alchemists Cupboard of Curiosities - a selection of GenAI tools
• The presentation slides and the ficticious module, assessment brief and assessment criteria we used as examplars.   

Suffice to say this was the most wonderful experience and one I will never forget. I am so grateful to Pete Boyd for the invitation and the amazing support from Sally and Kay. Thanks also to the brilliant particpants who contributed to the discussion and the padlet activities.

Shining the Spotlight on Scholarship SOS Project

 

In 2024 a group of academics from eight different universities who are passionate about scholarship including the scholarship of learning and teaching got together to create a website to bring together a useful resource that could be shared with other educators. 

https://scholarshipspotlight.uk/

The Shining the Spotlight (SOS) project funded by the ANTF CIP fund, provides an inclusive web platform designed to support the scholarly development of teaching-focused academic staff. To ensure inclusivity and diversity, we recruited 2 student interns: a web designer and an accessibility officer who helped shape the website’s accessible design and ensure it promoted varied definitions and applications of scholarship in HE settings.

At the 2025 Association of National Teaching Fellow Symposium in June 2025 we presented this work. In this session we walked through the website, highlighting each section and explaining the resources such as, case studies, and networking opportunities, all centred to foster collaboration and enhance scholarship. By showcasing these resources and the team’s efforts, we demonstrated how the site could act as a central hub for academic staff to develop their scholarship in a meaningful and inclusive way. 

The project members are: Earle Abrahamson, Sue Beckingham, Hannah Cobb, Rose Gann, Julie Hulme, Dawne Irving-Bell, Iain Wilson, Peter D’Sena, Emma Gillaspy, Susan Smith, (Martin Ozarek, Sukhada Nagpure, Paulina Milewska)

Principal Fellow PFHEA

 

I finally pinned down some time to reflect and finish writing my PFHEA application. So very happy to receive my official Advance HE certificate stating that I had achieved the status of Principal Fellow. 

I would like to thank my Sheffield Hallam University colleagues Dr Christine O'Leary and Paddy Turner for their inspiring writing retreats, all my peers who engaged in these and provided mutual support, and my three advocates who supported and endorsed my application. 

My feedback

The panel commended your impact on the learning of others and the student experience, through your extensive experience, commitment to best practices, and dedication to developing and enhancing educational experiences for learners. The panel also commended on your passion for building relationships with others (both online and face-to-face) and support provided through innovative approaches to learning and teaching. Your sustained impact through academic development networks was clearly inclusive and wide reaching across the sector, both nationally and internationally.

International Assessment in Higher Education Conference - Best Poster

In June 2023 I attended the Assessment in Higher Education Conference in Manchester and presented the above poster. I was delighted to be awarded Best Poster at the event. 

I posted this on Linked and received a comment from Ron Barnett, Emeritus Professor at University College Institute of Education

"Wow! There's more than a book here ..."

Beckingham, S. (2023) From monologue to dialogue: Scaffolding multi-perspective and co-constructed formative and summative feedback. Assesment in Higher Education (AHE) Conference. https://doi.org/10.25416/NTR.24315064.v1

Abstract

As educators we want to encourage our students to react to and enact upon feedback given. However for students to benefit from feedback they need to understand the components of feedback literacy (Carless and Boud, 2018), the value of feedforward (Sambell et al, 2012) and how to connect the dots between different types of feedback.

Supplementing one-way monologic feedback with interactive and dialogic feedback, provides students with opportunities to make sense of it. Furthermore it provides tutors with feedback on how students negotiate the meaning of not just the feedback but also the assessment guidance and marking criteria (Bloxham and West, 2007). Being able to ask questions and engage in conversations about their feedback, enable students to take ownership of their own development whilst feeling supported. However we know that students are not always proactive receivers of feedback (Winstone et al, 2017). Whilst the role of the tutor in this process is important, there’s a place for others to contribute. Yang and Carless’s (2013:287) feedback triangle makes a valuable connection between the content of feedback, the social end interpersonal negotiation of feedback, and the organisation and management of feedback. Yet unless the student is guided and supported to understand how to recognise the many different ways feedback can be given and develop trust in those giving feedback, they may find it hard to engage with any feedback and the value of ongoing social learning relationships. As McArthur and Huxham (2013) argue, the use of dialogic feedback should be introduced from the start and become an ongoing practice the students develop confidence in.

The aim of my poster will be to visualise the interconnected components that can impact on the effective use of feedback. Based on an evaluation of practice, a case study of a second-year elective module will be used to demonstrate how scaffolding a variety of feedback mechanisms can help build feedback literacy, provide clarity of what is expected from students and identify pinch points. During the module ongoing formative feedback is given to students not only by their Tutor, but also their peers and the Clients students work with on an applied project. This includes verbal and written dialogic formative feedback and the integration of peer led social media and collaborative technologies for interactive and reflective feedback. The outcomes of the students’ final piece of summative assessment are greatly enhanced.

References 

Bloxham, S. and West, A. (2007) Learning to write in higher education: Students’ perceptions of an intervention in developing understanding of assessment criteria. Teaching in Higher Education, 12(1): 77–89. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562510601102180 

Carless D. and Boud D. (2018). The development of student feedback literacy: Enabling uptake of feedback. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 43, 1315–1325. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2018.1463354 

McArthur, J. and Huxham, M. (2013) Feedback unbound: from master to usher. In S, Meery, M. Price, D. Carless and M. Taras (eds), Reconceptualising Feedback In Higher Education: Developing Dialogue with Students. (pp. 92-102) Routledge. 

Sambell, K., McDowell, L. and Montgomery, C. (2012) Assessment for Learning in Higher Education. Routledge. 

Winstone, N.E., Nash, R. A., Rowntree, J. and Parker, M. (2017) ‘It'd be useful, but I wouldn't use it’: barriers to university students’ feedback seeking and recipience. Studies in Higher Education, 42(11), 2026-2041. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2015.1130032

Yang, M. and Carless, D. (2013) The feedback triangle and the enhancement of dialogic feedback processes. Teaching in Higher Education, 18:3, 285-297. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2012.719154

Guest interview on TalkingHE Podcast: Social Media for Learning in HE

 

TalkingHE is a podcast for higher education led by Santanu Vasant bringing you perspectives and insights into the sector. In each episode Santanu talks to people working in and with higher education, including academics, researchers, support staff, consultants and senior leaders to get expert analysis of the issues effecting them. You can follow the podcast on Twitter @TalkingHEPod 

In this episode I was invied by Santanu to talk about Social Media for Learning. 

Email salutations - how do people like to sign off their messages these days?

The blessing gesture which is the inspiration for the Vulcan salutation

My students are shortly going to be working with Clients from external organisations. In preparation for the initial meetings I like to go through a few professional protocols. These include: 

• Dressing smartly and wearing clean shoes/trainers
• Introducing themselves and handshakes
• Sending a thank you email after the meeting (with examples of what an email should not look like - casual, grammatical errors etc. and then how it could be presented more professionally)

As I was planning for the class, I added to the slides some suggestions for starting a professional email and how to end it. I suggested that Hi [add name] or Dear [add name], were both good to start an email. To finish the email I suggested Regards, Best regards or Kind regards as there are frequently used. 

From my own experience, I also see Best and Cheers used by people I tend to know; and sometimes where appropriate Thanks. I wondered if there were other alternatives, so decided to put out a quick poll on Twitter and set it to be open for 7 days. 

Which do you consider to be the most professional way to end a work related email? Please add alternative salutations in the comments.

— Sue Beckingham (@suebecks) January 24, 2020

I have to say I was surprised by both the number of responses to the poll and the comments/discussions that accompanied this. By the end of the week, 612 voted. According to the poll Kind regards was the most popular with 57.4% of the votes and Ward regards least popular with just 3.4%. 

There were numerous comments tweeted and it was fascinating to see how strongly some felt about particular salutations. One tweeted:

"I did research this a little and Best wishes seems the best option. I’ve never said “regards” to anyone in my life! And “best” sounds like a 19th century English eccentric saying goodbye to a bar full of people after an evening of sharing thespian anecdotes"

Another highlighted that they no longer used email and had moved to using Microsoft Teams. I asked how users typically signed off messages in that space. His reply was:

"It's constant ongoing dialogue so never really need to end it. If you send a lot of emails it's amazing how much time you waste with pleasantries. I sometimes just reply by liking a message as acknowledgement"

Alternatives included Cheers, Sincerely, Thanks/Thank you/Many thanks, Kindest and Sincerest Regards.

Maybe we should just use the Vulcan salutation emoji and "live long and prosper"

🖖

This was popularised long before email of course. The Vulcan "salute" is attributed to Leonard Nimoy, who was the half Vulcan character Mr. Spock on the original Star Trek television series.

https://emojipedia.org/vulcan-salute/

And if you are going use this you need to do it correctly! 

A raised hand, with the fingers separated between the ring finger and the middle finger.

http://archive.li/3bK5

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulcan_salute

Tweetchats, Personal Learning Networks and CPD.

Personal Learning Networks

Last summer Laurie Phipps got us thinking once again in response this time to the tweet from @EdTechPossum below. I started writing this post and then somehow the holidays followed by the autumn semester took over and it remained in draft. Now the start of a new year and just before I return to work, it was my intention to reflect on the past decade. Having re-discovered this draft I thought it was time to finish it.

Enough with your Tweetchats already! pic.twitter.com/lwgEkfFbBR

— Ed Tech Possum (@EdTechPossum) July 31, 2019

Tweetchats

Lawrie reached out to his connections to ask them what they felt about Tweetchats through Twitter and two Jiscmail lists. For the record a tweetchat is a conversation that takes place on Twitter with a bespoke hashtag. Usually a series of 5-8 questions over the space of an hour are posted with the hashtag to stimulate a discussion around a chosen topic. Participants include the hashtag in their answers. If you search for the tweetchat hashtag you then get to see the conversations taking place. 

Also I posted to a mailing list and had people feel the need to respond and assert that they don't do Twitter...

— Lawrie (@Lawrie) August 6, 2019

True to his word Lawrie did write this up titled 'Inspired by a Possum' and makes it clear that this is just a quick capture and is limited by the sample size and the nature of the collection. It made for an interesting read for different reasons. One was perceptions of what people liked or disliked about tweetchats and the other was around what personal development is considered to be.

Likes and dislikes

Unsurprisingly the respondents included ideas, feedback and opportunity to learn in relation to what they liked about tweetchats. During a tweetchat it is usual for participants to discuss and question, as well as to share links to further related resources. I frequently participate in tweetchats and always come away learning something. 

In answer to what was the main dislike, the responses included people not feeling they had a way in, and people wanting a way of breaking the ice or being introduced. As an introvert I often feel all of these in face to face group conversations. Whereas online I have gained confidence I think through observing how others interact and realised that it's fine to just jump in and contribute to the chat despite not knowing the people taking part. Perhaps more importantly it is also ok to take time to think and then respond as and when you wish to as a dialogue can take place over time. The time lapse to respond may just be a few minutes or it may be longer. You get to choose. 

Taking part in online small group webinars which involves real time conversations however does take me out of comfort zone. In these situations I often have to challenge myself to contribute. Facilitators like Maha Bali in the Virtually Connected online conversations have helped to draw me and many others into conversations and it makes such a difference. I need to think about how we could replicate this in tweetchats, to help people new to the concept find a way in. Asking people to introduce themselves just before the chat starts could be one way. The difference with the tweetchats is that unless you participate even if this is just a like or retweet, no-one knows you are even listening. 

Personal development

One of Lawrie's questions related to the timing of some of the cited tweetchats as these take place in the evening. He asked: Do you take the time “back”? (e.g. if you participate outside of working hours do you try and take some time off in lieu of participation). He specifically wanted to question why a CPD activity took place out of working hours. This surprised me as I have always taken the stand that my own personal development is something I choose to do and that this is different to the CPD training I am required to undertake as requested within my workplace. For example courses like fire awareness and unconscious bias, or as members of the Department Leadership team we all had to take a series of eight management development workshops. These are undertaken during work time. I would expect time in lieu if I was asked to take a work related course in the evening or over the weekend. 

For me my personal development is not always essential for my role, but it is something that continues to help me to grow as an individual. I do strongly believe that my online connections who I may or may not have met in person have contributed to my learning and therefore advocate the term 'personal learning network'. Many of my connections are just that - people I personally choose to connect with, interact with, and learn with. I hope over time I have also been able to contribute to others development in some small way. These conversations and learning opportunities mostly take place through Twitter. Tweetchats are just one example that contribute to my CPD. I frequently use my commute to and from work to catch up on news and through the use of Tweetdeck and the free version of Hootsuite, I can filter tweets by groups or hashtags, allowing me to focus on many different conversations. I choose when and what I want to engage with. 

For a long time now it has become second nature to share things I have found interesting by tweeting a link or retweeting what others have shared. I don't feel I have to engage constantly with others and refer to positive silent engagement (as opposed to the term 'lurking' which for me still has negative connotations) where I can choose to simply 'listen in'. As I have said many times, as children we all learned through listening and observing. It is no different online. 

It saddens me deeply that there are people that use these online spaces to spread hatred and misinformation. I hope in time there will be ways to eradicate this. It should go without saying, but if there are tweets in your stream that offend or upset you, then you can choose to unfollow those responsible, block accounts that you don't want following you, or mute conversation threads. This aside, I do feel it is important however to listen to different viewpoints and make my own decisions. I don't always agree with what others might say and yet I don't feel I have to make that known. 

My network includes people from many different countries and it is fascinating to learn about different cultures and also through shared interests. From a personal development perspective I think we can learn so much from each other through the sharing of our ongoing lifelong learning journeys. As an educator I gain so much from those who reflect on the process of that learning. I need to become a better open reflector and look up to the likes of Maren Deepwell and Sheila MacNeill. So in 2020 I must endeavour to do this and share more of my own learning experiences. 


Image credit: ijmaki from Pixabay free for use

Reflecting on #altc 2019

Assocation for Learning Technology

On the 4th February 2019 I received an email from Maren Deepwell titled Keynote invitation: ALT Conference 2019. It said:

Dear Sue 

Together with the Conference Co-Chairs, Melissa Highton, Louise Jones and Keith Smyth, I am now writing to invite you to keynote at ALT's 2019 Annual Conference, which takes place 3-5 September in Edinburgh, UK - https://altc.alt.ac.uk/2019/. 

We think what your work and what you have to say would really resonate with our community and contribute to the critical dialogue we seek to foster on technology in education and its political, social and economic context. We are particularly keen to look at the big picture across sectors and find common challenges.  

Previous keynote speakers include  Tressie MacMillan Cottom, Peter Goodyear, Siân Bayne, Bonnie Stewart, Audrey Watters, Ian Livingstone, Josie Fraser and Laura Czerniewicz. 

My initial reaction was that Maren had accidently sent this to the wrong Sue and I did respond to check with her! She quickly confirmed the email was meant for me, and I told her I would be honoured to accept the invitation. In a follow up call with Maren and Martin Hawksey, I was blown away when I saw the venue for the event. 

The conference was to be held at McEwan Hall in Edinburgh, which is an exceptionally beautiful building and also very big!

ALT Conference 2019

My keynote had the title "Revisiting the affordances and consequences of digital interconnectedness and socially mediated publicness" (Note to self: choose a short snappy title I can actually remember for future talks!). Below is the slide deck used during the presentation. 

revisiting-the-affordances-and-consequences-of-digital-interconnectedness-and-socially-mediated-publicnessfrom Sue Beckingham

Below is a recording of the keynote

Highlights of the conference

Frances Bell was awarded Honorary Lifelong Member of ALT for the amazing work she has done for ALT and the community.

Our newest honorary life member @francesbell #altc pic.twitter.com/Wx4Um5hTge

— ALT - alt.ac.uk (@A_L_T) September 4, 2019

The amazing #shoetweets of which there were many!

About time that we had another #shoetweet #altc pic.twitter.com/xfoKmdZl8o

— ALT - alt.ac.uk (@A_L_T) September 4, 2019

Chris Bull took so many exceptional photos which captured the heart of the conference. The full album of photos expertly taken by Chris can be found in the ALT Conference 2019 Flickr album 

Suffice to say this was an experience of a lifetime and I am so grateful to Maren and colleagues for giving me this opportunity and having such faith in me to deliver a keynote. 

In conversation with Maren Deepwell

I recently had the privilege to be invited to take part in a short interview with Dr Maren Deepwell - a new series of 'In conversation with' posts that can be found on the ALT Blog. 

Having read previous posts where Maren has talked to Melissa Highton, David Hopkins, Elizabeth Charles and Maha Bali, it is fascinating to see the variety of responses to the same set of questions. I find it so interesting to hear about what others are working on. The #altc community have a common interest in the use of learning technology but the members have a wide range of roles. I think this is what makes it such a rich network and as I mentioned in one of my reponses, it is a very generous community that provides support and shares a wealth of information through the Jisclist, Twitter and events. 

Never sure who reads posts like this I was over the moon to find that Stephen Downes had picked up on this one and wrote a short post on his own blog. 

Maren Deepwell has posted a number of these conversations recently. The questions are pretty light ("Current recommended reading?", "In work travel, you are never without..?") and though we don't get to see a lot of substance, we get... some. For example: "The SMASH (Social media for Academic Studies at Hallam) team formed in in 2016 will be looking to share an open web site of resources and activities they have co-created." And "a weekly conversation on all things learning and teaching... take a look at  https://lthechat.com."

Thank you Maren for inviting me to take part in this. 

You can read the full post here: https://altc.alt.ac.uk/blog/2019/08/maren-deepwell-marendeepwell-in-conversation-with-sue-beckingham-suebecks/. 

The ALT Conference Preview - Radio EDUtalk

Radio #EDUtalk 10-07-19 Data, Dialogue, Doing #altc

I was thrilled to be asked by Maren Deepwell to take part in a ALT Annual Conference 2019 Preview  on Radio #EDUtalk, alongside Maren and Martin Hawksey. John Johnston one of the hosts of EDU talk led the interview and the conversation flowed. I couldn't believe how fast the time went!

We talked about the themes of the conference and how these were developed by the conference chairs. I love how they engaged in 'Visual Thinkery' with the very talented Bryan Mathers which led to the beautiful Celtic inspired conference logo below.

The conference themes are:

• Student data and learning analytics
• Creativity across the curriculum
• Critical frames of reference
• Learning Technology for wider impact

We talked about the use of social media and Martin described its use as "turbo charging the power of the event". At last year's conference over 18k tweets were shared during the three days. The use of live streaming and recordings on YouTube of the keynotes and other talks certainly opens the conference up to those that are unable to make it and also presents the opportunity to rewatch. 

The conference programme is very exciting with a great selection of sessions to choose from. I'm really looking forward to learning more about how holograms and chatbots are being used. 

You can listen to the whole interview on Radio #EDUtalk

More about the conference

ALT’s Annual Conference 2019 is seeking to confront and challenge established assumptions, approaches and accepted truths in relation to key dimensions of digital education, and to advancing our practice and thinking through critical dialogue and reflection, closer scrutiny of evidence and theory, and a stronger commitment to values including creativity, community, social good, openness and porosity, and more democratic access to knowledge and learning.

You can read more about the conference themes here.

The conference will be hosted at the University of Edinburgh and co-chaired by:

• Melissa Highton, Assistant Principal and Director of Learning, Teaching and Web Services, University of Edinburgh
• Louise Jones, independent
• Keith Smyth, Professor of Pedagogy at the University of the Highlands and Islands. 

The conference venue
If I was a little nervous before, finding out where I will be presenting has sent my heart racing! I am experiencing feelings of both fear and excitement in equal measure. A sneak peak at where the keynotes at this conference will take place!

https://www.edinburghfirst.co.uk/venues/mcewan-hall/

Becoming a Certified Management and Business Educator #CMBE

I am delighted to now be a CMBE! 

The Chartered Institute of Business Schools launched a new scheme called the Certified Management and Business Educator (CMBE). This provides business school educators (and those subjects that include business) with a framework for continuous professional development and a designation recognising their commitment to excellence in teaching. It focuses on ongoing development and complements the HEA Fellowships and the PGCert in HE, giving educators a platform to continuously develop their practice as well as providing a recognised designation when this has been achieved. It also demonstrates a commitment to the quality of learning and teaching. Educators need to commit to 40 hours of CPD a year. 

Like other schemes such as SEDA and HEA there is an option for those who don’t currently meet the criteria. They are able to join the scheme through the Associate Management and Business Educator (AMBE) route. Individuals on the AMBE route can then qualify as CMBE after completing three years’ CPD.

The framework supports educators to develop their practice according to their development needs across enhancing teaching and learning practice; scholarship of teaching and learning; and academic leadership. What I like about this scheme is the need to record your CPD, and that this can be done in a way that suits you. Secondly the very process of doing this will be useful to reflect on at annual appraisals/PDRs. Thirdly and for me most important is that by becoming a Certified Management and Business Educator, I will demonstrate to my students that I value reflecting on my own practice and the need for continuous professional development and lifelong learning. 

Furthermore I hope to connect with other educators in the community who are also involved in the scheme and listed in the CMBE Directory. I have added my certificate to my LinkedIn profile and shared via Twitter tagging @CharteredABS and #CMBE. Having been a member of the SEDA (Staff and Educational Development Association) and ALT (Association for Learning Technology) for many years, I very much value the learning that can take place within these communities where the open sharing of our practice is so beneficial.   

To find out more about this scheme go to: https://charteredabs.org/cmbe/

Edge Hill University SOLSTICE Conference #SOLSTICE19

One of the highlights of my year as a Visiting Fellow at Edge Hill University is being invited to speak the annual two day SOLSTICE Conference. I feel so priviliged to be speaking alongside the other Visiting Professors and Fellows, as well as other international guests speakers sharing their practice. I can't thank the EHU CLT team enough for the warm welcome we received on arrival.  

2019 Guest Speakers:

• Sue Beckingham – Sheffield Hallam University and Visiting Fellow
• Professor Sally Brown – Visiting Professor
• Dr. Mark Childs – The Open University and Visiting Fellow
• Professor Keith Smyth – University of the Highlands and Islands and Visiting Professor
• Simon Thomson – University of Liverpool and Visiting Fellow
• Professor Peter Hartley – Visiting Professor
• Professor Phil Race – Visiting Professor
• Professor Pauline Kneale – University of Plymouth and Visiting Professor

The Programme

There was a rich and varied programme over the two days which included a great session led by Prof Sally Brown who asked us "Who are you and who do you want to be?" Sally reminded us that professional identity is not a fixed entity: we are likely to have a number over the course of our careers and often hold several simultaneously, so how can we manage these and maintain balance in our lives? It was a both a fun session (which involved designing our identities on a t-shirt) and an opportuity to explore these questions. Keith Smythe presented his work on the Digitally Distributed Curriculum which is based on the values of praxis, participation and public pedagogy, and which is constructed around the four dimensions of co-location, porosity, co-production and open scholarship. 

The wonderfully creative Sarah Wright led an active session on the creative deployment of technologies to enhance the student experience; Dawne Irving-Bell a hands on beginners guide to sketchnoting; Sarah Mersic a session on AR learning; and Suzanne Faulkner on the use of Snapchat for student tutorials. They all got me thinking about new ways to enhance my teaching with alternative approaches. That's why these events bring so much value to educators. It's not just hearing about new or different ways to do things, it is also the time to ask questions, reflect and consider how you might adopt something different. Making conections with people outside of your subject group or immediate teaching team allows you to learn from others, share your own innovations and potential develop new collaborations.  

This year I presented with my colleague Prof Peter Hartley a workshop on 'Communication revisited – new perspectives and their implications for our practice in learning and teaching.' More to come on this topic as we have been accumulating evidence and research findings to inform our revision of a text on interpersonal communication which was published before the avalanche of new technology and social media (Hartley, 1999). 


This is Your Life

A favourite part of the event was surprising Prof Phil Race with a 'This is Your Life' to celebrate his 75th birthday. The tweets during and after the event are captured in this Wakelet.