The day I was awarded a National Teaching Fellowship #NTFS2017 #NTFS17

31st August was the day many of us have been waiting for. The day the 55 successful National Teaching Fellows would be announced. I'm delighted to say that I was one of them.

Huge congratulations to all new NTFs and CATE finalists on their fantastic achievements #NTFS2017 https://t.co/KCWT0lI497 pic.twitter.com/3vmAkFMpts

— HEAcademy (@HEAcademy) August 31, 2017

I have had so many wonderful messages of congratulations on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. Too many to share them all here, but you know who you are and I want you to know how grateful I am. I've shared a few further down and explain why. 

The press release from my university 'Hallam academics recognised for teaching excellence' includes my inspirational colleagues Dr David Smith and Dr Kim Bower. There are 53 others recognised and the full list can be found on the Higher Education Academy website. 

David Smith, along with our colleagues David Eddy and Julie Gillin and myself (the four musketeers) have inspired each other over the years and our mutual encouragement has seen us take innovative approaches to teaching and learning. I thank you for all of our shared experiences. 

I'd like to thank my mentors Stella Jones-Devitt, Juliette Hinrichsen, Mike Bramhall and Richard Hill who over the years have helped me to realise my own potential and to believe that I can achieve things once thought out of my reach. Also Prof Peter Hartley with whom I share a deep interest in research on interpersonal communication. He constantly helps me to expand my thinking and challenges my ideas and new approaches. Huge thanks also must go to Professor Sally Brown and Professor Phil Race who not only believed in me but helped me believe in myself. 


A small selection of the valued tweets I received:

Professor Sally Brown

Congratulations to our own @suebecks doyenne of the @LTHEchat community on becoming NTF in 2017. Welcome to the @NTF_Tweet community!

— Sally Brown (@ProfSallyBrown) August 31, 2017

I'll be honest I had to look 'doyenne' up. Having the respect of Sally Brown means the world. I have learned so much from her over the years and know I will continue to do so. 

Eric Stoller

Massive congratulations to @SheffHallamUni's @SueBecks 😀 on being awarded 🎖️🎓 an @HEAcademy National Teaching Fellowship 🧡🎉‼️ #NTFS2017

— Eric Stoller (@EricStoller) August 31, 2017

Eric has been such an inspiring friend over the years. We connected back in 2010 when he was living in the US. I'd come across his blog and through Twitter continue to learn from him. He knows more about social media than most of us put together. His posts encouraged me to implement innovative approaches in my teaching and staff development activities. I finally got to meet him in 2016 when he was keynote for our Social Media for Learning Conference at Sheffield Hallam University. If you are looking for a keynote speaker this is your man!

Chrissi Nerantzi

Huge congratulations to all #NTFS and especially Sue @suebecks & Dave @dave_thesmith

— Chrissi Nerantzi (@chrissinerantzi) August 31, 2017

Chrissi and I clicked instantly and we have shared multiple projects, each contributing different perspectives. I have learned so much working with her.  


And now I have to wait until November 1st to officially receive my award in London and have the opportunity to meet the other 54 recipients. 

Celebrating innovative scholarship through social media #ESLTIS17

In July I presented at the Enhancing Student Learning Through Innovative Scholarship Conference which was hosted by the University of Sheffield and organised by Dr Sam Nolan and team. 


Abstract 

The focus of my paper considers the increasing relevance of digital and social scholarship, and why this should be encouraged. Teaching focused academics who practice the scholarship of teaching, share reflective practice in order to enhance the teaching and learning of others. Traditionally this may be shared through publications and conference presentations. However, digital technology and social media has the potential to extend the reach of these outputs enabling the dissemination of an individual's work to reach a much wider audience. 

Open reflective practice through social media allows scholars to make their work more visible, findable and easily shared. Whilst the ripple effect may be far reaching, in order to enhance learning it is important to also provide forums for discussion and question asking, inquiry and investigation, which are subjected to critical evaluation. Engagement in this scholarly process can encourage innovation and changes in practice that span different disciplines and geographical locations. 

The very nature of social media as an open space also serves to celebrate teaching excellence – both the scholarship and practice – in a variety of formats.


Digital Scholarship

Drawing upon Smith Rumsey's work I shared this quote to define digital scholarship and gave examples of esteemed colleagues and Digital Scholars Catherine Cronin and Laura Pasquini. Both utilise a variety of social media to share their work openly. For example through blogging, Twitter, SlideShare, YouTube, Google+, Academia.edu and ResearchGate. 

We are seeing a shift away from disseminating scholarly work via mass 'all staff' emails to open blogging where it can be tagged and searched by topic. A ripple effect ensues as it can easily be shared through automated dissemination via Twitter and other social media channels, and also by those who read the posts. 

From my own personal perspective I value the opportunity to learn from other academics. Those that share their scholarly activity and the work of others though social media help me find this work. Often serendipity comes to lay and I come across fascinating work that I would have not found otherwise, simply because I wouldn't have been looking for it. I've extended my informal learning through digital scholars from a wide range of disciplines in this way. In turn I share my own work through social media and hope this is helpful to others. I give my work a Creative Commons licence so that other educators can use it as they wish to. 

Celebrating innovative scholarship through social media #ESLTIS17 from Sue Beckingham


#ESLTIS17

Background
To raise the profile of teaching only academics in the research intensive climate, it is vital to shine a spotlight on the innovative learning and teaching they undertake. The best way to achieve this is through the promotion of the innovative scholarship of learning and teaching being driven by this subset of the academic community. This third meeting of a national teaching fellow network is therefore a forum to share innovative scholarship across disciplinary boundaries and to develop a national voice for teaching focussed academics.

The programme of abstracts can be found here.

Dr Luisa Wakeling has written a great post about the conference https://ncleducators.wordpress.com/2017/08/16/stop-collaborate-and-listen

The associated journal is Practice and Evidence of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (PESTLHE)

Social Media for Academic Studies (SMASH)

SMASH logo created by the students

In December 2016 four of my IT with Business Studies students from Sheffield Hallam University attended the SocMedHE16 conference at Sheffield Hallam University (having individually applied for one of 10 free student places). The students are:

• Corran Wood – @CorranSHU
• Jess Paddon – @JessPaddonSHU
• Ola Mazur – @SheffAleksandra
• Sher Khan – @sherr94

After attending this event I approached the students to see if they would be interested in taking these conversations forward. Under my guidance they formed a student-led group and met weekly. They named the group SMASH (Social Media for Academic Studies at Hallam) and created their own logo.

The focus of the group was to look at how social media could be used in enhance learning and teaching. They set out to achieve the following objectives in relation to social media use at Sheffield Hallam University (SHU):

• Learning ActivitiesHelping staff to identify and use social media tools for communication and collaboration within and beyond the classroom.
• Organising LearningHelping students and staff to identify and use relevant social media tools to curate and organise information relating to learning.
• Showcasing LearningHelping students to prepare digital portfolios to openly share outcomes and projects to develop a professional online presence.

The students have created an infographic and written a guest blog post providing examples of how social media can be used to meet these three objectives. Below is a slideshow of the infographic. 

SMASH Infographic from Jessica Paddon

I have shared the students work through social media and was delighted to find that Eric Stoller mentioned it in his keynote at the University of Staffordshire's Learning and Teaching Conference #StaffsLT17. This was tweeted by Sarah Knight 

Great to see how @suebecks students are sharing their ideas on how they use social media #staffsLT17 pic.twitter.com/6yJ0FRrcYt

— sarahknight (@sarahknight) June 20, 2017

Eric also included a link to my student's blog post at the HEA Conference in his keynote there.

Aside from producing this work, my hopes were that the students would gain confidence through leading such a project and further develop the skills they have. The experience can be added to their LinkedIn profile and may provide an example to refer to as they undertake interviews for future graduate roles. I'm looking forward to seeing how this group will be taken forward by Corran. Sher has now graduated and both Jess and Ola are out on placement for the next academic year. She already has other students interested in joining her. 

Visiting Fellow at Edge Hill University

I was delighted to receive a letter from Edge Hill University to confirm that the Standing Professorial Conferment Panel of Edge Hill University has agreed to offer me the title of Visiting Fellow within the Centre for Learning and Teaching at the University.

This is is a wonderful opportunity to work with Professor Mark Schofield and others at the University. 

In addition I am looking forward to attending the SOLSTICE Conference as a guest speaker June 4-5 2017. 

My presentation is titled: The Project Based Learning (PjBL) Toolkit: Integrating digital and social media to enhance meaningful reflective practice in project based learning.

Abstract: 
Projects may be carried out by both individuals and within groups. The outputs might include a report, presentation, poster, artefact or prototype (physical or digital). Project based learning is “a teaching method in which students gain knowledge and skills by working for an extended period of time to investigate and respond to an engaging and complex question, problem, or challenge.” (BIE 2015).

When undertaking a project, seven distinct stages have been identified that the project owner(s) go through. These are: the question, plan, research, produce, improve, present and evaluate. At each stage students may engage in a variety of activities. This multifaceted form of learning presents opportunities to participate in authentic and meaningful problems and to develop a range of skills along the journey. Reflecting upon these experiences, can encourage students to reconstruct what they have learned, and go on to confidently articulate the skills they have developed (or have yet to develop), and how they can apply these in other situations. Learning how to self-reflect on these experiences and developing a habit of doing so, can have a profound impact on learning. However for some this does not come easily and is often undervalued.

In my talk I will share the Project Based Learning (PjBL) Toolkit and how resources within this can be used to scaffold effective and meaningful multimedia reflective practice, develop confident communication skills and digital capabilities.

The LearningWheel: A Model of Digital Pedagogy

I was delighted to be invited by Deborah Kellsey and Amanda Taylor to write the Foreword for their book The LearningWheel: A Model of Digital Pedagogy. Having been a LearningWheel contributor on a number of occasions I was familiar with and a great admirer of Deborah's work (and have written about this previously).

The pair met through the inaugural Social Media for Learning in Higher Education Conference in December 2015 at Sheffield Hallam University. Deborah was there presenting a paper on the 'LearningWheel' and Amanda a paper on 'When Actual Met Virtual' which was about the use of book groups in Social Work education. A serendipitous mix-up in train journeys on their way home led to further conversations and the successful collaboration leading to this book. 


DESCRIPTION

Given the influence of digital technologies on the world at large education and educators are yet again being forced to consider their educational practices.  Not all educators have been socialised professionally to use technologies and therefore knowledge gaps exist.  This book adds to emerging conversations about the use of technologies to support and indeed replace traditional teaching methodologies in a range of educational settings.  It offers an example of innovative approach ‘LearningWheel’ to bridge the aforementioned knowledge gap and provides an opportunity for readers to engage with technologies for teaching and learning purposes.


Beginning with an outline of how technologies are shaping the learning landscape more broadly each subsequent chapter takes on a layer of the LearningWheel and sets it in context from a theoretical position. An example wheel is included in each chapter, as are stop and pause questions to prompt educators to engage with the content in a very real sense.  By the end of the book, readers will have had the opportunity to connect with the LearningWheel (VCoP) in the development of a Learning Wheel unique to this book.



BOOK REVIEW

Denise Turner has written a review of the book in Social Work Education. Amanda alerted me to the mention of my Foreword contribution. A welcome addition to my 'happy file'.  

BUY THE BOOK

You can purchase a copy of the book from Critical Publishing here:
http://www.criticalpublishing.com/the-learning-wheel

OER17 and Virtually Connecting #OER17VC

I attended #OER17 in London just for the day, having been invited to co-present with Maha Bali (who was also the keynote) and friends about Virtually Connecting. Having been an onsite VC buddy and participant I was really excited to contribute to this talk and share my own experiences of how Virtually Connecting has extended my learning experiences and my network. It was my first time at an OER conference, an event focusing on open education. I was not disappointed and had the opportunity to meet old friends and new, some of these I've known through Twitter but not previously had the chance to meet in person. 

The theme for this year's conference was 'The Politics of Open'. OER17 was billed as presenting an opportunity for open practitioners, activists, educators and policy makers to come together as a community to reflect on ‘The Politics of Open’. What are our current key challenges and strengths – locally, nationally, and  internationally? What are our priorities – in terms of political governance, organisational and personal politics? What are the changes that we want to effect together? 

Our presentation was titled 'Breaking the Physical Barrier: Virtually Connecting as an approach to open, inclusive conferences'. 

Authors: Maha Bali, Sue Beckingham, Mia Zamora, Autumm Caines, Rebecca Hogue, and Martin Weller

Description

Academic conferences are sites of power and privilege. There are multiple ways in which privilege and social capital are reproduced in these events. Choices of location, speakers, reviewers, formats and topics are political and have potential to influence disciplines in particular directions. Virtually Connecting (VC) is one attempt to challenge the ways in which conferences privilege particular voices to be heard, while marginalizing others from learning and from speaking. Caines (2016) calls VC a “movement of digital educators subverting time and space to come together for informal conversations at these formal gatherings of knowledge sharing”. She reminds us that “we have to use our privilege to create the spaces for those lesser heard voices”.

Volunteers doing VC continually question the alternative kinds of power our initiative produces and how well it succeeds in subverting the status quo as we strive towards more equitable access to conferences and more participatory, inclusive professional development.

As described in Bali, Caines, DeWaard & Hogue (in press), VC “was created to engage individuals and groups in  virtual participation at  academic conferences thus widening access for those who cannot be physically present. VC is a grassroots connected and connectivist learning movement powered by a team of volunteers”. In this session, we will highlight the ways VC embodies open, connected learning practice, but also focus on how our practice addresses the first two items in VC’s manifesto:

• VC’s motivation is “a desire to improve the virtual conference experience for those who cannot be present at conferences for financial, logistical, social or health reasons” (Virtually Connecting, undated)

• VC strives for inclusion even while knowing it is elusive.

VC can be seen as an example of an open education practice, by going beyond simply streaming conferences, and allowing remote participants to engage with online participants constructing an authentic dialogue. As conferences seek to accommodate the political dimensions of inclusivity, VC can act as a meaningful way to broaden the range of voices that participate at events, promoting more equitable access to professional development, and enriching both the onsite and virtual experiences while also promoting digital literacies of participants and especially volunteers.

Using feedback from a 2016 survey and from social media, we will explore the ways VC’s practice has been inclusive and invite the audience to recommend possible solutions for aspects we have identified as wanting, ones we strive towards but have not yet resolved/reached. We will discuss this in terms of VC’s internal and external processes addressing onsite guests, virtual participants and conference organizers. We will will share our hopes for the future of VC as an approach to opening up conferences.

References

Bali, M., Caines, A., DeWaard, H. J., & Hogue, R. J. (in press). Ethos and Practice of a Connected Learning Movement: Interpreting Virtually Connecting Through Alignment with Theory and Survey Results. Online Learning Journal. (due out December 2016).

Caines, A. (2016, August). The praxis of Virtually Connecting. Digital Pedagogy Lab. Retrieved from http://www.digitalpedagogylab.com/praxis-virtually-connecting/


Virtually Connected Manifesto. (n.d.) [website]. Retrieved from http://virtuallyconnecting.org/virtually-connecting-manifesto/

Below is the fun promo video for OER17 in London, England. Created by Virtually Connecting volunteer video producers.

International Women's Day #IWD2017 #BeBoldForChange #IWDSheff17

International Women's Day (March 8) is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity. 

This year the theme for International Women's Day 2017 is #BeBoldForChange. I was invited to contribute a workshop to the event led by Sheffield Hallam University and University of Sheffield with Kirsty Bowen. We'd never met before but hit it off straight away, both sharing a passion for using social media as a communication channel and a means of developing valued learning networks. 

Our workshop focused on using social media to create a professional online presence. Kirsty and I shared our own experiences and some good practice tips. The workshop element provided an opportunity for participants to explore a variety of social media tools and discuss how these can be used to connect, communicate, curate, collaborate and create. The session was delivered twice (as were the other options) so it was interesting to see the different questions that emerged. Feedback was positive via the post-it notes collected and demonstrated that staff development sessions like these are valued. Not just from what you can learn in a workshop, but the rich conversations that emerge as a result of bringing people together. 

Developing a ‘professional online profile’ #IWD2017 from Sue Beckingham

Keynotes

At the event there were two truly inspiring keynote speakers. Both shared their career paths in an honest and open way. Unsurprisingly their progression took grit and resilience. Being a leader is with any doubts hard, and with the role comes the responsibility to make hard decisions. Hard because they involve people - and people matter, people's lives matter. 

I wish the keynotes had been recorded. I'd love to listen to them both again. Below are just a few quotes from both Natalie and Christina. 

Natalie Bennet - Former Leader of the Green Party

"Everyone together can make a difference" @natalieben #IWD2017 #IWDSheff17 pic.twitter.com/6pCh1ZPkbV

— Sue Beckingham (@suebecks) March 8, 2017

My favourite quote from Natalie was taken from the sash she brought with her, which said: 

"Well behaved women seldom make history"  

Professor Christina Hughes - Pro Vice Chancellor Student Experience at Sheffield Hallam University

Talkin Bout a Revolution - Tracy Chapman. It starts with a whisper. Fab start to PVC Christina Hughes keynote #IWD2017 #IWDSheff17 pic.twitter.com/zAKCv0Bh62

— Sue Beckingham (@suebecks) March 8, 2017

Christina's advice to us all was:

"Be the brightest shade of you that you can possibly be" 

International Women's Day website

I recommend taking a look at the International Women's Day website and follow @womensday on Twitter to read about the many inspiring stories. 

The ethos is to work together to help forge a better working world - a more gender inclusive world. Consider how you might contribute. Suggestions made include challenge bias and inequality, campaign against violence, forge women's advancement, celebrate women's achievements, and champion women's education. 

At my own university there were also events going for students and a rich collection of stories of inspiring women https://www.shu.ac.uk/iwd2017. At the University of Sheffield take at look at https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/womens-network/iwd 

Read more at www.internationalwomensday.com

Follow on Twitter @womensday #IWD2017 #BeBoldForChange

Make a pledge for parity

Note: Responses are captured by https://www.internationalwomensday.com