I completed my PhD in Technology Enhanced Learning and E Research at Lancaster University in the U.K.. I am interested in the potential for changing practices in education, the significance of social class in education, the transformation of the role of student and teacher and the search for openness and collaboration in learning outside, as well as inside, the institutions. I continue to work on community learning online, through COOCS (Community Open Online Courses). The goals of the project are to create a space in which the roles of teacher, student and knowledge are distributed beyond professional and institutional roles. I am interested in what people do when there are no institutional imperatives, what we choose to learn, how we choose to interact and what role technology plays.I have recently led a HEFCE Catalyst project in the use of student-as-researchers in the development of Interactive Essays. Our focus was on creating an ethical framework that allows students to share their work prior to submission. This allows students to gain feedback and advice on their concepts from practitioners in the educational sectors they are interested in.My latest work is around developing the profile and impact of working class academics. This includes developing a working class academics conference (https://www.workingclass-academics.co.uk) and sharing the experiences and research of working class educators from across the world.
This is a 'go do' session rather than a 'how to' session
Outcomes are yours - what I would lov... more This is a 'go do' session rather than a 'how to' session
Outcomes are yours - what I would love to give is:
1. an idea that you can do things you think are worth doing
be part of a day in which we celebrate that we are creators not
transmitters
2. Work from authentic positions of engagement - I am here to show some stuff, not show off - you don't have to agree with me or like what I bring.
3. Talk - based on dialogue not debate - I want to shut up as soon as I can so you get to talk, plan, do
Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education , 2024
This paper presents three case studies of educators pioneering transdisciplinary project work wit... more This paper presents three case studies of educators pioneering transdisciplinary project work within a UK College-Based Higher Education Institution, focusing on Education Studies, Counselling, and Fine Art. Through the CollaborArt Blackburn initiative, educators facilitated gallery visits, encounter spaces, and collaborative creation opportunities for students across these disciplines. These case studies highlight the educators' roles in fostering a transdisciplinary approach that transcends traditional disciplinary boundaries, emphasising experiential learning and collaborative engagement. The narratives illustrate the transformative impact of integrating diverse perspectives and methodologies, enriching both educators' and students' understanding and practice. The paper argues for the intrinsic value of educators' insights and expertise in initiating and sustaining transdisciplinary projects, encouraging peers to embrace innovative approaches in their pedagogical practices. This work contributes to the discourse on transdisciplinary education, advocating for its potential to create dynamic, inclusive, and holistic learning environments.
This article considers the ways in which a far-from-neutral ecology of educational technology ser... more This article considers the ways in which a far-from-neutral ecology of educational technology serves to further marginalize minoritarian knowledges. A persuasive push towards increased technology use is considered as a result of capitalist EdTech promotion of commodities. This challenges concepts of technology as an emancipating presence that acts neutrally in concerns over social justice. The article includes discussion around the ways in which knowledge itself is framed by the technologies that are used to share it. The culmination of the article is the presenting of alternatives that allow technology to be conceptualized as a means of emancipating knowledges and encouraging diversity of who creates knowledge and how this is shared and developed using technology.
Mixed Economy Group Small Scale Research projects , 2023
This is the summary report of a project we named CollaborArt Blackburn that was funded by the Mix... more This is the summary report of a project we named CollaborArt Blackburn that was funded by the Mixed Economies Group (MEG). Our focus was on creating a space for inter-disciplinary work around art that incorporated students from three distinct areas – Fine Art, Education and Art Therapy/ Counselling. This project was a response to the frequent marginalisation of the arts in policy discussion and in subsequent practice in Further and Higher Education, and beyond. As practitioners, academics and artists, the core team that started the project believed that their work was far more than the achievement of qualifications. We considered the breadth of our use: of art as pedagogy; as fine art and careers in a wide and diverse world of creative industries; of art as a key practice in therapy, wellbeing and recovery. These suggested we explore more how the students on each course might benefit from exposure to other students and course teams using art in different ways. We all work in a Further education college in what is often described as a deprived area and that is listed as a priority place for Arts Council England, based on lack of engagement with the arts. Much of our early discussion recognised that we have significant artistic and cultural events in the area, such as the Festival of Making, the British Textile Biennial and organisations such as Prism Contemporary, the Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery, Uncultured Creatives and The Bureau Arts Centre. While each has significant success there is less evidence of the wider impact of arts and culture as they play a part in some non-art based educational programmes. These reach out in different ways to the communities in which we live and we wanted to see what it was that linked us, that separated us, what we could learn from each other and how we might collaborate to grow across and between disciplines. The project consisted of three cultural activity events and ongoing communication, feedback and conversation. The project highlighted that exposure to cultural events and venues is often restricted and while interest was there, opportunity to engage was not. This was true for many on our project who are themselves involved in art-related courses. The detailed report uses qualitative research practices, including a human algorithm tool, to reveal rich and nuanced approaches to art amongst the group. We were open about our working-class identities and found a number of responses, collective and individual, that recommend how we might do things differently. This involves first recognising the need for more exposure to the arts, and then prioritising the facilitation and funding for these opportunities.
This article considers the ways in which a far-from-neutral ecology of educational technology ser... more This article considers the ways in which a far-from-neutral ecology of educational technology serves to further marginalize minoritarian knowledges. A persuasive push towards increased technology use is considered as a result of capitalist EdTech promotion of commodities. This challenges concepts of technology as an emancipating presence that acts neutrally in concerns over social justice. The article includes discussion around the ways in which knowledge itself is framed by the technologies that are used to share it. The culmination of the article is the presenting of alternatives that allow technology to be conceptualized as a means of emancipating knowledges and encouraging diversity of who creates knowledge and how this is shared and developed using technology.
Journal of Perspectives in Applied Academic Practice, 2016
This case study explores what happens when a cohort of second year undergraduates on a BA in Educ... more This case study explores what happens when a cohort of second year undergraduates on a BA in Education Studies are given open access to create a learning object using any technology, and any pedagogical approach they choose. The focus of the project is on establishing the extent to which technology leads to transformative approaches to pedagogy. A Taoist perspective demonstrates the tension of a ‘yin’ approach to collaborative learning with yang reflecting teacher-led instruction. Back Channel learning highlights behind the scenes use of technology that suggests study practices have altered despite, not because of, institutional influence.
This paper begins with a playful contention that visions of future Martian colonies provide us no... more This paper begins with a playful contention that visions of future Martian colonies provide us not only with spaces for imagining extraplanetary activity. These futuristic considerations also offer us opportunity to reflect on education and technology in the here, planet Earth, and now. The focus of this research was the creation of a learning and teaching platform that was offered freely to anyone with the contention that ‘anyone can teach, anyone can learn’. The platform itself was created using Moodle, as an open-source technology, and WordPress. The focus was on creating a space in which any individual, or group, might create learning spaces for free to share with others, based on social justice and challenging often exclusive, marginalising institutional practice. The project began as a critical response to institutional Massive Open Online courses (MOOCs) that promise widened access to knowledge, while rooted in conventional roles of where knowledge comes from and who teachers...
This research employs a phenomenographic methodology to explore the variation in the views of a g... more This research employs a phenomenographic methodology to explore the variation in the views of a group of lecturers to the plagiarism detection system, Turnitin. The system was being considered as a mandatory route for all written assignments at the time of the research and the purpose of the enquiry was to uncover some of the ways in which Turnitin was viewed, experienced and had meaning to those expected to use it. Semi-structured interviews were use to gather data, and the results of the analysis highlighted the focus of these lecturers as being largely student centered. The lecturers largely appeared to be advocates of the system; they did recognise that Widening Participation and internationalisation had altered the student demographic, and that some issues may arise with a new cohort perhaps less familiar with academic integrity. In addition there was some concern over the way that management viewed the system, and the dangers of it being used for quantitative monitoring rather...
The values of an academic conference might best be defined by the themes of that conference, the ... more The values of an academic conference might best be defined by the themes of that conference, the disciplines covered and the intended level of delegation. In almost every case we had experienced as a working-class academics organizing group, these were only surface changes, and the entire conference process remained the same across disciplines. Such academic process and practice appear rooted in an archaic series of expectations and conventions that insist on a certain way of being in the Academy. To create an inclusive space in practice and process that goes beyond inclusion as merely themes, but exclusion as actual practice, took reimagining. This article outlines the ways in which we attempted to shift beyond the conventional to create an alternative conference approach that challenged exclusion, actively sought meaningful inclusion and disrupted a culture of conformity. Our focus was on working class academics, as a body of people huge in number, diverse in background but continually obscured in language, policy and practice.
The rapid development of Web 2.0 technologies has created excitement and opportunity alongside fe... more The rapid development of Web 2.0 technologies has created excitement and opportunity alongside fear and confusion. It seems no part of society, culture, economy and human life generally has been untouched as a new sense of chaos emerges. Across all sectors change has been experienced with a mixture of terror and exhilaration as disruption offers opportunity while often creating more oppressive structures than before. Alongside technological development has been the proliferation of a neoliberal takeover of the ways we live, work and educate; A social condition that Mark Fisher (2010) calls capitalist realism. The impact of this growing sense of chaos on education seems significant if uncertain, generating transformative rhetoric if often ambiguous around what has been transformed. This paper looks at adult education as a space being fought over by increasingly corporate institutions and sees one thread of resistance, connectivism – a ‘new learning theory for the digital age’ introdu...
Higher Education as it is experienced by practitioners and students seems often to be driven by c... more Higher Education as it is experienced by practitioners and students seems often to be driven by competing ideas about technology, pedagogy and employability. Often these are drawn together as the dawn of a new technological age suggests new ways of teaching and learning, utilising different tools and approaches are required to prepare students for life in an information age. Increasingly, concepts of a new generation, a net-generation, are cited as drivers for change, demanding greater use of technology and innovative pedagogical applications to reflect these technological developments. This case study explores what happens when a cohort of second year undergraduates on a BA in Education Studies are given open access to create a learning object using any technology, and any pedagogical approach , they choose. The focus of the project is on enhancing learning through technology; as all the students would fit Prensky’ s (2001) contentious label of digital natives to what extent do the...
This research employs a phenomenographic methodology to explore the variation in the views of a g... more This research employs a phenomenographic methodology to explore the variation in the views of a group of lecturers to the plagiarism detection system, Turnitin. The system was being considered as a mandatory route for all written assignments at the time of the research and the purpose of the enquiry was to uncover some of the ways in which Turnitin was viewed, experienced and had meaning to those expected to use it. Semi-structured interviews were use to gather data, and the results of the analysis highlighted the focus of these lecturers as being largely student centered. The lecturers largely appeared to be advocates of the system; they did recognise that Widening Participation and internationalisation had altered the student demographic, and that some issues may arise with a new cohort perhaps less familiar with academic integrity. In addition there was some concern over the way that management viewed the system, and the dangers of it being used for quantitative monitoring rather...
This paper is based on the development of a Popular Education inspired approach to online learnin... more This paper is based on the development of a Popular Education inspired approach to online learning. The concept was a free to access web platform that suggested 'anyone can teach, anyone can learn, anything at all, for free'. This paper reflects on the experiences of an 18 month partcipatory action research project looking at the early stages of the project through to an emergent maturing of the web platform. The project had the intention of finding out what possibilities, what challenges, arise when value-laden emancipatory practice is enacted in the world of web 2.0 technology. Often resonant with the language of emancipation and empowerment, of being a universal good, the web is also a space characterised by corporate ownesrhip and a competitive market-driven ethos. Based in the UK, the COOCS project challenged the elitism of the institutionally driven MOOCs and asked what happens when anyone is given the opportunity to teach. Courses were created by individuals and ...
This is a 'go do' session rather than a 'how to' session
Outcomes are yours - what I would lov... more This is a 'go do' session rather than a 'how to' session
Outcomes are yours - what I would love to give is:
1. an idea that you can do things you think are worth doing
be part of a day in which we celebrate that we are creators not
transmitters
2. Work from authentic positions of engagement - I am here to show some stuff, not show off - you don't have to agree with me or like what I bring.
3. Talk - based on dialogue not debate - I want to shut up as soon as I can so you get to talk, plan, do
Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education , 2024
This paper presents three case studies of educators pioneering transdisciplinary project work wit... more This paper presents three case studies of educators pioneering transdisciplinary project work within a UK College-Based Higher Education Institution, focusing on Education Studies, Counselling, and Fine Art. Through the CollaborArt Blackburn initiative, educators facilitated gallery visits, encounter spaces, and collaborative creation opportunities for students across these disciplines. These case studies highlight the educators' roles in fostering a transdisciplinary approach that transcends traditional disciplinary boundaries, emphasising experiential learning and collaborative engagement. The narratives illustrate the transformative impact of integrating diverse perspectives and methodologies, enriching both educators' and students' understanding and practice. The paper argues for the intrinsic value of educators' insights and expertise in initiating and sustaining transdisciplinary projects, encouraging peers to embrace innovative approaches in their pedagogical practices. This work contributes to the discourse on transdisciplinary education, advocating for its potential to create dynamic, inclusive, and holistic learning environments.
This article considers the ways in which a far-from-neutral ecology of educational technology ser... more This article considers the ways in which a far-from-neutral ecology of educational technology serves to further marginalize minoritarian knowledges. A persuasive push towards increased technology use is considered as a result of capitalist EdTech promotion of commodities. This challenges concepts of technology as an emancipating presence that acts neutrally in concerns over social justice. The article includes discussion around the ways in which knowledge itself is framed by the technologies that are used to share it. The culmination of the article is the presenting of alternatives that allow technology to be conceptualized as a means of emancipating knowledges and encouraging diversity of who creates knowledge and how this is shared and developed using technology.
Mixed Economy Group Small Scale Research projects , 2023
This is the summary report of a project we named CollaborArt Blackburn that was funded by the Mix... more This is the summary report of a project we named CollaborArt Blackburn that was funded by the Mixed Economies Group (MEG). Our focus was on creating a space for inter-disciplinary work around art that incorporated students from three distinct areas – Fine Art, Education and Art Therapy/ Counselling. This project was a response to the frequent marginalisation of the arts in policy discussion and in subsequent practice in Further and Higher Education, and beyond. As practitioners, academics and artists, the core team that started the project believed that their work was far more than the achievement of qualifications. We considered the breadth of our use: of art as pedagogy; as fine art and careers in a wide and diverse world of creative industries; of art as a key practice in therapy, wellbeing and recovery. These suggested we explore more how the students on each course might benefit from exposure to other students and course teams using art in different ways. We all work in a Further education college in what is often described as a deprived area and that is listed as a priority place for Arts Council England, based on lack of engagement with the arts. Much of our early discussion recognised that we have significant artistic and cultural events in the area, such as the Festival of Making, the British Textile Biennial and organisations such as Prism Contemporary, the Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery, Uncultured Creatives and The Bureau Arts Centre. While each has significant success there is less evidence of the wider impact of arts and culture as they play a part in some non-art based educational programmes. These reach out in different ways to the communities in which we live and we wanted to see what it was that linked us, that separated us, what we could learn from each other and how we might collaborate to grow across and between disciplines. The project consisted of three cultural activity events and ongoing communication, feedback and conversation. The project highlighted that exposure to cultural events and venues is often restricted and while interest was there, opportunity to engage was not. This was true for many on our project who are themselves involved in art-related courses. The detailed report uses qualitative research practices, including a human algorithm tool, to reveal rich and nuanced approaches to art amongst the group. We were open about our working-class identities and found a number of responses, collective and individual, that recommend how we might do things differently. This involves first recognising the need for more exposure to the arts, and then prioritising the facilitation and funding for these opportunities.
This article considers the ways in which a far-from-neutral ecology of educational technology ser... more This article considers the ways in which a far-from-neutral ecology of educational technology serves to further marginalize minoritarian knowledges. A persuasive push towards increased technology use is considered as a result of capitalist EdTech promotion of commodities. This challenges concepts of technology as an emancipating presence that acts neutrally in concerns over social justice. The article includes discussion around the ways in which knowledge itself is framed by the technologies that are used to share it. The culmination of the article is the presenting of alternatives that allow technology to be conceptualized as a means of emancipating knowledges and encouraging diversity of who creates knowledge and how this is shared and developed using technology.
Journal of Perspectives in Applied Academic Practice, 2016
This case study explores what happens when a cohort of second year undergraduates on a BA in Educ... more This case study explores what happens when a cohort of second year undergraduates on a BA in Education Studies are given open access to create a learning object using any technology, and any pedagogical approach they choose. The focus of the project is on establishing the extent to which technology leads to transformative approaches to pedagogy. A Taoist perspective demonstrates the tension of a ‘yin’ approach to collaborative learning with yang reflecting teacher-led instruction. Back Channel learning highlights behind the scenes use of technology that suggests study practices have altered despite, not because of, institutional influence.
This paper begins with a playful contention that visions of future Martian colonies provide us no... more This paper begins with a playful contention that visions of future Martian colonies provide us not only with spaces for imagining extraplanetary activity. These futuristic considerations also offer us opportunity to reflect on education and technology in the here, planet Earth, and now. The focus of this research was the creation of a learning and teaching platform that was offered freely to anyone with the contention that ‘anyone can teach, anyone can learn’. The platform itself was created using Moodle, as an open-source technology, and WordPress. The focus was on creating a space in which any individual, or group, might create learning spaces for free to share with others, based on social justice and challenging often exclusive, marginalising institutional practice. The project began as a critical response to institutional Massive Open Online courses (MOOCs) that promise widened access to knowledge, while rooted in conventional roles of where knowledge comes from and who teachers...
This research employs a phenomenographic methodology to explore the variation in the views of a g... more This research employs a phenomenographic methodology to explore the variation in the views of a group of lecturers to the plagiarism detection system, Turnitin. The system was being considered as a mandatory route for all written assignments at the time of the research and the purpose of the enquiry was to uncover some of the ways in which Turnitin was viewed, experienced and had meaning to those expected to use it. Semi-structured interviews were use to gather data, and the results of the analysis highlighted the focus of these lecturers as being largely student centered. The lecturers largely appeared to be advocates of the system; they did recognise that Widening Participation and internationalisation had altered the student demographic, and that some issues may arise with a new cohort perhaps less familiar with academic integrity. In addition there was some concern over the way that management viewed the system, and the dangers of it being used for quantitative monitoring rather...
The values of an academic conference might best be defined by the themes of that conference, the ... more The values of an academic conference might best be defined by the themes of that conference, the disciplines covered and the intended level of delegation. In almost every case we had experienced as a working-class academics organizing group, these were only surface changes, and the entire conference process remained the same across disciplines. Such academic process and practice appear rooted in an archaic series of expectations and conventions that insist on a certain way of being in the Academy. To create an inclusive space in practice and process that goes beyond inclusion as merely themes, but exclusion as actual practice, took reimagining. This article outlines the ways in which we attempted to shift beyond the conventional to create an alternative conference approach that challenged exclusion, actively sought meaningful inclusion and disrupted a culture of conformity. Our focus was on working class academics, as a body of people huge in number, diverse in background but continually obscured in language, policy and practice.
The rapid development of Web 2.0 technologies has created excitement and opportunity alongside fe... more The rapid development of Web 2.0 technologies has created excitement and opportunity alongside fear and confusion. It seems no part of society, culture, economy and human life generally has been untouched as a new sense of chaos emerges. Across all sectors change has been experienced with a mixture of terror and exhilaration as disruption offers opportunity while often creating more oppressive structures than before. Alongside technological development has been the proliferation of a neoliberal takeover of the ways we live, work and educate; A social condition that Mark Fisher (2010) calls capitalist realism. The impact of this growing sense of chaos on education seems significant if uncertain, generating transformative rhetoric if often ambiguous around what has been transformed. This paper looks at adult education as a space being fought over by increasingly corporate institutions and sees one thread of resistance, connectivism – a ‘new learning theory for the digital age’ introdu...
Higher Education as it is experienced by practitioners and students seems often to be driven by c... more Higher Education as it is experienced by practitioners and students seems often to be driven by competing ideas about technology, pedagogy and employability. Often these are drawn together as the dawn of a new technological age suggests new ways of teaching and learning, utilising different tools and approaches are required to prepare students for life in an information age. Increasingly, concepts of a new generation, a net-generation, are cited as drivers for change, demanding greater use of technology and innovative pedagogical applications to reflect these technological developments. This case study explores what happens when a cohort of second year undergraduates on a BA in Education Studies are given open access to create a learning object using any technology, and any pedagogical approach , they choose. The focus of the project is on enhancing learning through technology; as all the students would fit Prensky’ s (2001) contentious label of digital natives to what extent do the...
This research employs a phenomenographic methodology to explore the variation in the views of a g... more This research employs a phenomenographic methodology to explore the variation in the views of a group of lecturers to the plagiarism detection system, Turnitin. The system was being considered as a mandatory route for all written assignments at the time of the research and the purpose of the enquiry was to uncover some of the ways in which Turnitin was viewed, experienced and had meaning to those expected to use it. Semi-structured interviews were use to gather data, and the results of the analysis highlighted the focus of these lecturers as being largely student centered. The lecturers largely appeared to be advocates of the system; they did recognise that Widening Participation and internationalisation had altered the student demographic, and that some issues may arise with a new cohort perhaps less familiar with academic integrity. In addition there was some concern over the way that management viewed the system, and the dangers of it being used for quantitative monitoring rather...
This paper is based on the development of a Popular Education inspired approach to online learnin... more This paper is based on the development of a Popular Education inspired approach to online learning. The concept was a free to access web platform that suggested 'anyone can teach, anyone can learn, anything at all, for free'. This paper reflects on the experiences of an 18 month partcipatory action research project looking at the early stages of the project through to an emergent maturing of the web platform. The project had the intention of finding out what possibilities, what challenges, arise when value-laden emancipatory practice is enacted in the world of web 2.0 technology. Often resonant with the language of emancipation and empowerment, of being a universal good, the web is also a space characterised by corporate ownesrhip and a competitive market-driven ethos. Based in the UK, the COOCS project challenged the elitism of the institutionally driven MOOCs and asked what happens when anyone is given the opportunity to teach. Courses were created by individuals and ...
The rapid development of Web 2.0 technologies has created excitement and opportunity alongside fe... more The rapid development of Web 2.0 technologies has created excitement and opportunity alongside fear and confusion. It seems no part of society, culture, economy and human life generally has been untouched as a new sense of chaos emerges. Across all sectors change has been experienced with a mixture of terror and exhilaration as disruption offers opportunity while often creating more oppressive structures than before. Alongside technological development has been the proliferation of a neoliberal takeover of the ways we live, work and educate; A social condition that Mark Fisher (2010) calls capitalist realism. The impact of this growing sense of chaos on education seems significant if uncertain, generating transformative rhetoric if often ambiguous around what has been transformed. This paper looks at adult education as a space being fought over by increasingly corporate institutions and sees one thread of resistance, connectivism – a ‘new learning theory for the digital age’ - intr...
Higher Education Advanced Practitioner at UCBC COOCs replace the Massive with the Community, but ... more Higher Education Advanced Practitioner at UCBC COOCs replace the Massive with the Community, but more than that they replace the insistence of tradition, on hierarchy and on establishment with a re-energising of those long excluded, marginalised and (frankly) bored by the narrowing economic and cultural imperatives of the institutions. Community Open Online Courses are seeking to invert not only the what, and the how, but the 'who'. Recognising that MOOCs are asking questions of the academy, COOCs asks if online learning can create a new space for learners often dismissed as autodidacts, those not included even in the discourse of the resistance. The development of ideas comes from the feverish passions of all, of the individual, coming together in collectives, but not mediated by the institution. The ways to develop the popular education approach generates its own problems, outside the purpose built platforms of the university, the college or the VLE, where to? From a DIY promotional video we started with a launch at a conference room in a local charity building and found our technology to share by borrowing and begging from others. Later we moved to the back room of a pub for the excellent Ragged University collaboration event. The concept of technology, online space, was there from the very start. What was not anticipated was the risks of entering the commercial realm to have the technology platform developed. The paid for, commissioned, website was difficult to create it seemed, but most significantly the difficulty came from a lack of communication-a very real and immediate understanding that the developers, once they had received the commission, lost all interest and the 'signing off' of the project was their only goal. Naively, we concurred, we thought nothing of approaching afterwards to get fixes and problems addressed. Our simple view was that this was
Centre for Educational Research CERES), Liverpool John Moore's University
Over a period of several months between November 2019 and July 2020, we created a working-class a... more Over a period of several months between November 2019 and July 2020, we created a working-class academics conference. This began with a modest expectation of a few academics in the college-based HE sector fighting back against continual put-downs, marginalisation and othering by middle class representatives. It also began with a clear vision that this was BY Working Class Academics not about them. The emphasis was captured in this initial website call to action, that we wanted, a working class conference, because we do not want to be like the folks on the hill.
The goal of our coming together is simple enough. We want to create a conference, a get-together, a celebration of working class people doing excellent things. Too often, it seems the only route open is one of assimilation into middle class society. Even when the focus of our work is working class in origin, reflection, focus and purpose it is recognised only when accepted by another strand of our messy but vibrant society.
This was rooted in a dream of a celebration, that our marginalisation and humble characteristics could be made strengths, not weaknesses. That by representing ourselves we would generate recognition and solidarity, make something powerful and share our knowledge – as academic strength not as marginalised, nuanced ephemera. The conference emerged from a dream, a catalyst, an atomised moment of inspiration and within 6 months had 700 registered attendees, presenters form three continents and delegates from five. We had several thousand social media followers and a blog that attracted over 25 thousand views. It has spawned a future book and a journal edition, a writing retreat and international invitations to presenters to write and speak.
This was all achieved with the power of a collective, and operated using principles of involvement that put positivity and support above status and fees. It was a success and a foundation. I will talk about what we did in the seminar.
Community Open Online Courses
COOCs, replace the Massive with the Community, but more than that... more Community Open Online Courses
COOCs, replace the Massive with the Community, but more than that they replace the insistence of tradition, on hierarchy and on establishment with a reenergising of those long excluded, marginalised and (frankly) bored by the narrowing economic and cultural imperatives of educational institutions. COOC's are seeking to invert not only the what, and the how of learning, but the ‘who'. The development of ideas comes from the feverish passions of all the individuals in a COOC community, coming together in collectives, that determined their own learning pathways which are not mediated by the institution.
5th International Plagiarism Conference, Newcastle, 2012, 2012
This research employs a phenomenographic methodology to explore the variation in the views of a g... more This research employs a phenomenographic methodology to explore the variation in the views of a group of lecturers to the plagiarism detection system, Turnitin. The system was being considered as a mandatory route for all written assignments at the time of the research and the purpose of the enquiry was to uncover some of the ways in which Turnitin was viewed, experienced and had meaning to those expected to use it. Semi-structured interviews were use to gather data, and the results of the analysis highlighted the focus of these lecturers as being largely student centered. The lecturers largely appeared to be advocates of the system; they did recognise that Widening Participation and internationalisation had altered the student demographic, and that some issues may arise with a new cohort perhaps less familiar with academic integrity. In addition there was some concern over the way that management viewed the system, and the dangers of it being used for quantitative monitoring rather than qualitative feedback.
This Participatory Action Research(PAR)project beginsby positing that online networks bring the... more This Participatory Action Research(PAR)project beginsby positing that online networks bring the possibility of meaning-making and knowledge creation developing outside institutions.The project has lasted for fouryears (and continues as a ‘live’ project) and this researchcovers the first 18 months of that period. This project considers what happens when online learning is made possible on a non-institutional platform with roles of teacher and student made open to anyone. The tag line of ‘anyone can teach, anyone can learn, anything at all, for free’ provides a platform for open access that will create opportunities at the heart of the action of this research. It seeks to explore not only ‘how’ learning takes place, but also ‘who’ is involved, ‘what’ in relation to how knowledge is defined and ‘why’ that questions common-sense assumptions of the purpose of education. Findings reveal complex identities of formal educators seeking space, free of institutional constraints. Community learning approaches reveal groups seeking spaces that avoid community gatekeepers and a desire for nuanced perspectives. Technology is encountered as a complex ecology in which institutional approaches suggest limited use as a deficit yet where project users define it in terms of privacy, ownership and appropriateness.My original contribution to knowledge is found in the revealing of outsider spaces that are at leastas rigorous, reflective and powerful as those located within institutions. The findings reveal contested spaces and a willingness to -iv-develop ideas and networks that educate and inform. This is true of those with no links to institutional learning and makes clear the breadth of meaning-making that exists beyond the ‘usual spaces’. Findings also reveal that those working within educational institutions seek out spaces beyond often restrictive standardisation to create new thinking spaces, empower others and distribute opportunities to contribute. My original contribution comes also through the creation of an authentic learning space that proved an effective, if complex and often difficult to maintain, online space. Much of the value of the research comes through the originality of an online platform developed beyond institutional ownership. Participation rather than representation was a key component of this innovation. The alignment of theoretical positions that seek becoming, Deleuzo-Guattarian rhizomatic principles and Freirean popular education approaches, offer a strong foundation that challenges convention while providing a clear and coherent discourse. The location of the research is crucial in establishing originality ofpurpose. This research develops the discourse around MOOCS to include those voices beyond the institution. Here, they are not voices on the margins but voices from the centre.
Uploads
Videos by Peter Shukie
Outcomes are yours - what I would love to give is:
1. an idea that you can do things you think are worth doing
be part of a day in which we celebrate that we are creators not
transmitters
2. Work from authentic positions of engagement - I am here to show some stuff, not show off - you don't have to agree with me or like what I bring.
3. Talk - based on dialogue not debate - I want to shut up as soon as I can so you get to talk, plan, do
Papers by Peter Shukie
Outcomes are yours - what I would love to give is:
1. an idea that you can do things you think are worth doing
be part of a day in which we celebrate that we are creators not
transmitters
2. Work from authentic positions of engagement - I am here to show some stuff, not show off - you don't have to agree with me or like what I bring.
3. Talk - based on dialogue not debate - I want to shut up as soon as I can so you get to talk, plan, do
The goal of our coming together is simple enough. We want to create a conference, a get-together, a celebration of working class people doing excellent things. Too often, it seems the only route open is one of assimilation into middle class society. Even when the focus of our work is working class in origin, reflection, focus and purpose it is recognised only when accepted by another strand of our messy but vibrant society.
This was rooted in a dream of a celebration, that our marginalisation and humble characteristics could be made strengths, not weaknesses. That by representing ourselves we would generate recognition and solidarity, make something powerful and share our knowledge – as academic strength not as marginalised, nuanced ephemera. The conference emerged from a dream, a catalyst, an atomised moment of inspiration and within 6 months had 700 registered attendees, presenters form three continents and delegates from five. We had several thousand social media followers and a blog that attracted over 25 thousand views. It has spawned a future book and a journal edition, a writing retreat and international invitations to presenters to write and speak.
This was all achieved with the power of a collective, and operated using principles of involvement that put positivity and support above status and fees. It was a success and a foundation. I will talk about what we did in the seminar.
COOCs, replace the Massive with the Community, but more than that they replace the insistence of tradition, on hierarchy and on establishment with a reenergising of those long excluded, marginalised and (frankly) bored by the narrowing economic and cultural imperatives of educational institutions. COOC's are seeking to invert not only the what, and the how of learning, but the ‘who'. The development of ideas comes from the feverish passions of all the individuals in a COOC community, coming together in collectives, that determined their own learning pathways which are not mediated by the institution.
-iv-develop ideas and networks that educate and inform. This is true of those with no links to institutional learning and makes clear the breadth of meaning-making that exists beyond the ‘usual spaces’. Findings also reveal that those working within educational institutions seek out spaces beyond often restrictive standardisation to create new thinking spaces, empower others and distribute opportunities to contribute. My original contribution comes also through the creation of an authentic learning space that proved an effective, if complex and often difficult to maintain, online space. Much of the value of the research comes through the originality of an online platform developed beyond institutional ownership. Participation rather than representation was a key component of this innovation. The alignment of theoretical positions that seek becoming, Deleuzo-Guattarian rhizomatic principles and Freirean popular education approaches, offer a strong foundation that challenges convention while providing a clear and coherent discourse. The location of the research is crucial in establishing originality ofpurpose. This research develops the discourse around MOOCS to include those voices beyond the institution. Here, they are not voices on the margins but voices from the centre.