Learning Technologies online and reality, another time warp

It turns out that Learning Technologies is online as well as actual. Online in Feb , 15th - 26th , then again as a real face to face in June. That is assuming everything changes by then. My guess is something else may happen. Virtual drupa in April and later face to face in Dusseldorf. Perhaps. But meanwhile there is a free version and a conference version. In normal times Learning Technologies is a follow up to BETT. They used to be in Olympia, now in ExCEL.

It looks as if the academics are not involved much. Previously the MOOC platforms have attended to reach a corporate audience. Futurelearn and Coursera both may be now well known enough not to bother. Coventry University had a stand at least once. O'Reilly started as a book subscription, turns out to be more or less a platform. I am not sure what academics think about this.

#SiegeK continues as a drama representation of how the campus may or may not respond to online. Academics may just see Learning Technologies as part of EdTech, distant from the proper scope of study. But sometime before June there may be a theory of learning that works for organisations and vocational skills, plus a stable set of technology standards. This is worth a look.

So this blog will try to link via Twitter to other topics.

By the way, Barco is a sponsor. I think they linked to Purup at one time. So they were at earlier drupa events. I will try to find out more detail. They now concentrate on video conference kit, still a form of image processing.

Voice Text Loop in Time Warp

 I am still puzzled that #Bettfest was not a major news item. BETT is a major UK show for schools tech. this year online only but that is the point. It worked really well as presentations. So the tech is viable as education. I thought the most theory came from Sir Anthony Seldon. He mentioned HE also. My guess is that for a normal BETT at ExCEL quite a lot of the people there are from HE. The range of tech is not on show anywhere else.

But not much through search on Google news or Twitter. I did get a reply from Donald Clark.

So this may be the answer. I will go back to comedy as drama and only later to some formal presentation style. Myth as in the history of the Fortress University. More later. India has potential but I need to do some research. Clues welcome.

So far no problems with borrowing slides. So I may put more into tweets later. Another one on print. My take is that many academics do not realise how much they relate to technology that happens to be print at this time. Anyway I got a reply from Adam Matthews ( he managed to cover the last 200 years or so in half an hour for a recent talk at Lancaster so not surprising he missed out earlier times ) . He points out how slow change can be. 

So perhaps #Bettfest will get more attention sometime later. Online events are discovered indirectly stored away somewhere. The same could be true for #virtualdrupa , online version of print tradeshow. Officially in April but maybe starting round about now. You might think this is obviously news- a show dedicated to print but not needing any. Although there may be some round the edges, possibly a postcard to promote a particular video. 

Couple of things I remember - print technology was not static. Industrial strength in nineteenth century including cheaper paper. Also print took about 100 years to reach England from continent. 

Continues as radio / drama show on Phonic FM. this is also in flux, a collection of clips some of which are repeats. 

Radio studio temp in shop window

 Lockdown at home I cannot check things out in person, also one week much the same as another. Prerecorded show for Thursday is uploaded. Also a clip of ramble in second hour ( look for Clip 26 #SiegeK on YouTube ) . The rambles in the first hour are jumbled up as sound so trying again as text.

Last year there was a possibility of funding for art in shop windows. I spoke to JD the Producer, also Chris and Jon from shows on @PhonicFM. But it turned out spec was for flat art. @ExeterCultural pinned tweet.  So far I cannot find news on what happens but I thin Story Telling Week was a deadline. Not much of Jan still left.

I can find the Maketank has something in window. Is this the same?  Mark Parry  https://twitter.com/MaketankExeter/status/1335252884640976897

Seems to include sound. Is it possible to find mp3 that could be played on FM as in @PhonicFM ?

So proposal for JD is more general and speculative. Suppose there is another time that empty retail space has some funding attached for special event. We want a radio studio with easy access for wheelchairs. ( We still want to get back into Phonic studio btw it is wonderful, not complaining but just a bit obscure)

If there is a budget of say £2k for production and £500 for tech assistance why not spend £2k on a studio and £500 on pre-recorded content?

#Bettfest last week was an online version of BETT show, tech for schools. I tried to find out about Windows sound settings. I find that Audacity can only record either stereo mix or the external mic. Not both at once. So putting shows together is slow. ( Premiere Elements still a mystery I could not cope with full version ).You would think around BETT there was some Microsoft help available. But so far only Russell Prue has come forward to let me know I need an external mixer, software cannot cope.

Anyway, subject to budget kit can be rented. Another cost would be whatever Visible Girls would want to recreate the teenage bedroom from the Phoenix show. When JD and myself visited we realised the teenage bedroom should become a radio studio. Mentioned on Twitter, no cease and desist letter so far. But some sort of budget would help. @Visible_Girls

Also JD, at some point I think we should involve Kaleider. You are the Producer but never travel outside Devon. We may need production methods for any city. There could be several empty shops.

#BETTfest notes

 The online version of BETT starts tomorrow. Previously I have visited with Jon Mahy and Chris Norton from Phonic FM. we phone back to JD in studio. so some of this will be a version of this for social media. Some clips may turn up on the drama show.

The drama show is a version of what the storyteller was doing. Now pre-recorded with a selection of clips, some actual drama. I am trying to develop forms of drama around the situation on campus. in Exeter there is much concern with student accommodation, recently taking over the city. So there is interest in how this may change as learning moves online. The drama has several forms, recently set in a siege of the Fortress University. Kendal has the ruins but it is imagined as s secure at this time. Follow tag #SiegeK for more.

BETT is mostly about schools but HE has always been involved, partly because the range of tech is not available anywhere else. There probably is some policy consideration happening with HE. But not much is public as far as I know. The schools debate could be better reported. so I will be looking for clues that could be worked into the #SiegeK plot.

With the Wild Show on Phonic FM we follow a sort of pattern of staring with Special Educational Needs, then the Art in STEM -  STEAM Village. Then Netsupport Radio , once known as BETT Radio. Recently we find a smaller space or none for SEN / STEAM but this is still the aim of what to look for. If Apple turns up there is a strong basis for access. Also creativity. There are two presentations at BETTFest , one based on the iPad.

I may look up what is happening with Adobe. They have been back at BETT in recent years following a gap. I used to go to print shows but Adobe now cover a range of forms of communication. This will gradually merge with how educational content is presented.

We look in on King's Cross on the way back to Paddington. this could happen in a virtual sort of way next week. Google is part of BETTFest but no mention of YouTube. Usually at BETT there is at least a notice about online safety but nobody to talk to. The YouTube studio is not easy to access but one day we will visit the Google desk and ask about copyright, Creative Commons and remix for text. Then video or sound / radio.

No NetSupport  Radio through the official site that I can find. But lots to check out via Twitter.

I found this on YouTube

Couple of things so far

27 minutes in 15% of students are on mobile phones. Should they be allowed in school?

39 minutes welcome for "independent learner, critical thinkers who will rise and flourish. We have to embrace this when we get back". This relates to concerns in the HE Manifesto for Teaching Online.

More from BETTfest will appear eventually.

Schedules and Radio / BETT

 It could be just the lockdown in general but I am losing track of time and not sure how sound  could be arranged over time. Previously I collect bits and pieces to take to a studio. Now I edit a pre-recorded show on a Sunday for broadcast on a Wednesday or Thursday. Something may happen on a Monday or Tuesday so I am now thinking of uploading the clips anyway. To Twitter or via a tweet. Radio should have exclusives but maybe this is not going to happen as clips turn up online anyway.

Time is also stretched by the format of drama or attempts at drama as a way to contain clips. The Siege of Fortress University at Kendal is still continuing. There may be signs of life in the Vice Chancellor Tower. Probably a link to something from BETT, online this week. University interest in BETT has always been high as the tech is on a massive scale compared to any other event. I may just repeat some or all of John D. Crouch at BETT five years ago. This includes remarks about how expensive degrees are in USA. Similar in UK. There may be other clips during the week.

But if I end up using a clip from five years ago I will stop worrying about linking before the radio time.

#A3process Story So Far

 I find working with tags is very interesting. Sometimes in a casual random sort of way. Later there will be more detail on the A3 form and how to sequence the stages. "process" is added to the tag as "A3" finds all sorts of things. The A3 format started with Toyota but there are now several associated ideas.

But for this post just quick notes on how this came about. A sequence of things not really working, then trying something else. As part of Like Minds conferences in Exeter the Digital Marketing University has presented on analytics. I realised there should be some way to understand how promotional tweets related to any sort of consequence. ( A local radio show is not to scale for this sort of thing but a benefit needs to sell 300 - 400 tickets ) So  how many tweets/ how many views of a video?

I have noticed that Exeter Street Arts Festival actively promote their tags in print. #ExeStreetArts was on fliers a couple of years ago. this may be because of smaller poster budgets than other promoters. I find the #tag is not always included. So I started to use this in tweets and also video. I am @will789gb and the We Don't Know show is @wenotno . But then things seemed to move onto Instagram the next year which I do not understand. In 2020 there was less use of tags. I am told in a tweet from @DigitalExeter that recently tags are more for people who are actively following an event. Not used for getting wider interest. Also I think the AI can pick up on words without a specific tag but anyway I still see them as a base.

Then the Exeter Street Arts Festival was cancelled. It might have worked on a smaller scale during the pandemic but got too much interest so would have been a problem. Unfortunately the launch of MIDI TV  - @MidiTvUK - was scheduled for the same time. So this has been postponed. Music In Devon Initiative is working on both. Every so often it seems the MIDI TV channel will actually happen on YouTube. I try out #ExeStreetArts but then things are postponed again. I managed to do a few videos on the saturday planned for the festival. Some buskers still turned up. So there is video to relate to tweets. 

Meanwhile I have been trying to interest people from the Deming SIG of the CQI. They know about for example construction or food manufacturing. So there are production models of input and output. I obviously need help to work out how tweets relate to video views or ticket sales. Everything could be in a reverse order. Repeats from previous live event or something. Anyway on Twitter I have found Peter Leeson and Alan Clark -  @PeterLeeson @SimplyManageGuy  - and found that they are also trying to work out what happens with social media. Stats analysis requires large numbers. So far it seems we can only get signals of spikes when someone else takes an interest. So you might as well look at it as communication between people. this is ok so far, stats something to come back to.

Strategy in HE, the return of "managerialese"

 Today started with the first drama show for 2021. Pre-recorded, mostly repeat clips from last year, new content on #SiegeK - the Siege of the Fortress University based on a set around Kendal Castle.

Then a tweet linked to a Times Higher Education story about more universities ready to drop lectures after the pandemic. Mostly this is based on Australia - Curtin, Monash, Murdoch, Victoria. But this a blog based in UK so I am struck mostly by the mention for Leeds and an earlier interview with vice-chancellor Simone Buitendijk. ( Sept 2020 )

She said most universities were “looking at their online provision very much still in the emergency mode”, but institutions needed to ensure that “we match our pedagogy to the hybrid and online model much better than we are now doing”.

“The 45-minute lecture – it’s so outdated, its pedagogically not sound, it’s not evidence-based…And if you put that kind of delivery online, it’s even worse than when you do it in a lecture theatre. For me, that would be the worst of both worlds – to put 45-minute lectures online and say, ‘Here’s your university education,’” she said.

“So lectures will go at the University of Leeds, but they’ll be replaced with lecturing in shorter chunks, some of which will be watched by students before they come to the classroom, so while they’re together they can actually use the knowledge, the facts, the materials and become more creative and engaged with their teaching.”

So things may have started to change from September last year but I am going to leave the siege as it is. There is nobody in the VC Tower. The character is not formed. No dialogue required at this time.

But there is also mention of  "Neil Morris, Leeds’ interim deputy vice-chancellor for digital transformation" . ( @NeilMorrisLeeds on Twitter ) . His blog has a small section at the end about a "Digital Transformation Strategy". Very low key, there is only a link for email comments. But the language includes words such as "agile" and "continuous improvement".  When Peter Horrocks was VC at the OU it was suggested on Twitter that he spoke in "managerialese", impossible to understand. That was a while ago, perhaps the case for a platform such as Futurelearn is now better understood.

#SiegeK is intended to remain creative commons even when developed with dialogue and three acts. There can be an Australian version. Just happens to be in UK at this time.

"

Fortress University , story so far #RuinsHE

 #SiegeK is developing as a drama based on whatever is going on at this time. so here is a look back at the facts on Fortress University as a lecture by Peter Horrocks.

Available as a YouTube video -  The University and the Role of Distance Learning - Tackling sector Diversity , uploaded 15 Dec  2017  Makes case for Futurelearn as a way to open up model of existing HE

275 views as of today. "Fortress University" in title might reach wider audience.

Summary in press release ( with link to PDF of complete text )

Peter Wilby interview in Guardian quoting several critics from OU of the policy to invest in Futurelearn. Jan 2018

Seek Group invests in Futurelearn ( also Coursera )  Apr 29th 2019

Since then there is very little interest in the backstory. Futurelearn and other MOOC platforms seen as part of EdTech, outside HE. The ideas around the time when there might have been more investment and influence from HE in UK are not reconsidered. Links / clues please if I have missed this. Just what I notice so far.

The Peter Horrocks lecture was part of a series at the Institute for Advanced Studies. What resulted from this? Is there anything public online?

VC Tower new scenes possible for #SiegeK

 I am thinking about some possible policy scenes as part of the siege of the Fortress University. Located at Kendal Castle imagined to be in good repair at this time. But unfortunately the tower now known as VC Tower has a big puddle where the floor should be. I found the walking route to Kendal Museum where they have good information and might be able to recreate a set. Until a budget arrives this could just be the cafe space outside. Assume mid summer for the pandemic to retreat and make this possible.

VC is Vice Chancellor btw, not venture capital. So far there has been no activity in this area. The fiction reflects what I am aware of. There may be more than is reported. So the siege is in the form of ideas. The seats outside the walls are ( North ) for AI - book by Donald Clark and (South ) for Marketing ( book by Scott Galloway ) . Both offer a challenge to the Fortress University and relate to the ideas in Peter Horrocks lecture in Durham. The main stage is the site for the Manifesto on Teaching Online. Finely balanced as analytics can recode education. Pay attention.

Layout graphic has been updated. 

Yesterday I found a video from Adam Mathews via Lancaster Educational Research. This is mostly history but it includes the "unbundled digital university".  There is mention of "design" as if something can change in future. Enlightenment values may have got lost a bit but "postdigital" and "posthuman" are considered. Tech may coexist with forms of culture and ethics, my impression is that this is open to debate. 

Then today I found a tweet from Neil Mosley linking to news from Leeds. He welcomes that a university leader connects with evidence. Simone Buitendijk is also on Twitter - @SEBuitendijk - links to blog where there are a lot of current issues. But "unbundled digital university" could be a topic later. Leeds worked on a Futurelean course about the unbundled university with the University of Cape Town. Later tweet from Donald Clark recognised work at Leeds but suggested UK was behind USA and maybe China.

I have not had tweet response from Scott Galloway. I think his focus is very much on USA. Has any business school taken his model on HE and applied this to UK? His new year predictions ( check YouTube) do not include Big Tech moving into HE as suggested in Post Corona book. I think it much more likely they will work with MOOC platforms. 

I was in Kendal over the break. Now back in Exeter. Radio as in a pre recorded drama show may well take the form of a behind the scenes format. My colleague Jon Mahy has suggested on the We Don't Know show that none of my plays actually happen. We just talk about the possibility. It is true that they change fairly quickly. But I may come back to a longer text as script. Or as a travel guide. The site of Kendal Castle is open space, anyone can make new video there. The Spine Walk at Lancaster has buildings with meaning, tech and business. So it would also work at some point.

My imagined journeys may be part of being stuck in an attic during lockdown. To be continued.

Exeter and Student Accommodation - link to #SiegeK

 This post is just about a local aspect of the discussion around the campus and the pandemic. I contribute to shows on Phonic FM, local community radio in Exeter. In recent years there have been several developments for student accommodation. There are concerns about this as it changes the nature of the city. So this is what tends to turn up as a topic of conversation in the studio. Especially when retail and hospitality sites are demolished.

I also cover learning theory and MOOC scene in this blog and as tweets. But this is a smaller part of the time on air. I have tried for a couple of years to find out any policy from Exeter University about moving online or changes in priority for student accommodation. As memory serves the Business School is thought to be in the higher levels, what Scott Galloway describes as a luxury brand, so could well continue as a face-to-face location. I have not found any research or report on what is expected to happen to the numbers of residential students in future. Will there be blended or hybrid learning so that the numbers at any one time will reduce?

I do not know how plans have changed, if only because of changes in available funds. My concern is with Hoopern Fields. Is it still intended to build on this? I may have missed the news. Any links welcome.

Video from November 2018

Trying out tags - #SiegeK , #A3Process , #Virtualdrupa

 Mostly this blog involves some form of communication, something about quality or design, and something about education or learning. 

This year for tweets I think the main event is the Virtual drupa. I started with print and it is still a base, even though the London #college of Print is now the London College of Communication. There is still a plan for a face to face event later but the idea of an online print show is interesting in itself. What forms of print will exist around it?

I started looking at #ExeStreetArts tag last August when there could have been a live event in Exeter and launch of a local YouTube music channel. Neither actually happened but @MidiTvUK may launch soon. Meanwhile I have found some support from quality people who study Edwards Deming. Mostly the ideas about statistics come from production systems. I hope to find out how to relate to web analytics. So many tweets, then measure growth in video views. Later, have tickets sold for live event? Both @SimplyManageGuy and @PeterLeeson are interested and so far #A3Process is the tag to check. A3 is a form design , you need the word process to avoid random results.

#SiegeK finds a siege of the Fortress University, located in Kendal Castle. This is already a ruin but imagined to be in good condition at this time. Later there can be some post production. Peter Horrocks spoke about the Fortress University at Durham when still VC of OU. But he had to resign because investment in Futurelearn not supported at that time. So the siege is ideas around the walls that challenge the existing model. Siege continues till some new model emerges. Tracker could be views for Peter Horrocks / Durham on YouTube.  (274 on 5th Jan )

BETT online version, first draft

 This is notes to find some comments. Probably this will change a lot over the next fortnight or so. 

BETT is not happening as a face to face event. There is an online  event on 21/22 January - BETTFEST .

I am not sure what this will cover but will try to find some sound clips that can be quoted as part of radio. In previous years I have visited BETT with Jonathan Mahy and Chris Norton for Wild Show and @wenotno on Phonic FM. Producer JD has stayed in studio for phone ins.

Backup plan is to repeat the outline we used for the first one. Start with Special Educational Needs ( such as sound interface for devices ) for first phone call / move on to STEM village for the STEAM aspect, Arts in science and tech for second phone call / finish with Russell Prue ( used to be BETT Radio ) now NetSupport Radio.

One year this went very wrong. For budget reasons few schools were spending on Special Educational Needs. There was no dedicated area to find. Then in the STEM area there was hardly any art. We found the BBC not far away but they seemed to have cut back on things. However we did find Apple not far from the main presentation space. They had a lot for creatives and on access. We were not that late for Russell Prue and had good information on what we missed.

Another year we found the Met Office so had an Exeter angle. For primary schools they have content to download. There is also a MOOC on Futurelearn for  age 16 and over. We could explore this more.

Clues and comments welcome. Online allows more changes. There can still be a radio version. Because of pandemic there probably will not be live versions of Wild Show or We Don't Know . Dut some clips in pre-recorded drama show. ( The drama is now forms of fiction around how HE is moving online. HE is in background at BETT, sort of lurking. The range of technology way ahead of any other show )