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Life & Learning

Skeptic to… at Talis Insight

SO many things on my mind. Today I was speaking at Talis Insight Europe and exploring the benefits of using what they do at Talis. I am the biggest skeptic ever when it comes to change. I was telling a friend that once I was on a trip abroad which was a mix of business and pleasure, as my family were able to come for part of it. My husband had to come home early and he decided to surprise me by repainting the inside of the house. He worked so hard and it was expertly done, but when I walked in through the door, tired and carrying luggage, I simply said, “Why did you do that? I hate it.” (I had the same reaction to Talis at first…)

Simon photo2Oh my oh my oh my! Read More »Skeptic to… at Talis Insight

OER16 Open Source Learning

Find the Jokers: The wild card, the magic card – that might be anything or nothing – or might become what we make it.

Is it what it seems?

Where will it lead?

Where will you take it?

Some of you will have come to this just by chance and others will have followed this QR code that was on the back of that joker card at the OER16 conference at the presentation about the Open Source Learning Foundation. The idea of the Jokers came from David Preston, who used them to ask his students about their big questions here in 2012. This time it isn’t specifically an invitation to students or to anyone in a class… This QR code brought you here.Read More »OER16 Open Source Learning

Ah, the Cello Weekend !

I love this time of year. It is all go – there is a buzz in the air from the springtime as everything wakes up, but there is also that sense of drive as students prepare for exams and recitals, and people in general come out of the woodwork after the winter months. It’s then that we gather for the Cello Weekend. I have been running these events since at least 2004 (I’m not actually sure when I started them, but I found an old poster the other day) and every year we do something different. This year we had a lovely range of people who came from all over and I’m not sure there is actually another event quite like this one. The thing is that we all take part – the 8 year old beginner with the graduating music major and the retired professional. All play in the same cello orchestra and I think it is fair to say that all are challenged.Read More »Ah, the Cello Weekend !

Connecting Classes

(3 min read) I have been preparing to participate in Jonathan Worth‘s initiative Connected Classes, or #CClasses on Twitter.

Wait, you say-

Laura, you’re not a photographer? What’s your music class doing connecting with Jonathan’s?

Let me explain…

Jonathan initially devised a way of teaching that allowed students to remain individuals, yet also be a part of a class group, and even a wider global community. He would record part of his #Phonar class content, like an interview with a practitioner in that field, and then when it came to the class everyone would listen to the interview. How does that broaden the learning horizon? It’s how Read More »Connecting Classes

It’s not about the money

This morning leafing through the pages of blogs, articles, tweets, I came across something that I needed to write about. (5 min read)Screen Shot 2016-03-31 at 08.50.37

So the government is going to measure graduate worth in terms of the cling of coins. Cold hard cash. That strikes a really unsavoury chord with me. Read the Times Higher article HERE. I am hopeful that the data collected will be used with insight and reflection on a variety of circumstances and factors. It still raised a reaction in me.

Let me tell you my story.Read More »It’s not about the money

What’s in #YourJar ?

It’s a blog game

called #YourJar

 

This is a blog challenge for everyone to join in with- whether you are a learner or teacher (and that covers pretty much everyone!) this one is for you. Chrissi Nerantzi proposed the idea as an in-person activity for the 2016 UK National Teaching Fellow’s Symposium. It worked well in person, and it will work well online too. Here’s the challenge:

Everyone gathers three things to put in a real or figurative jam jar. This is #YourJar and the things in it represent some aspect of your learning or teaching. (If you were in a conference setting, everyone would put their jars on a table, labelled with names on the bottom, and people would select a jar that looked interesting and then seek out the person to find out the story behind the objects.) For this blog topic game everyone can post a photo of the jar, or of three things in a glass if you have no jar – and then you describe them. Explain and say why you have chosen those things? You can be as intuitive or erudite as you like.

Read More »What’s in #YourJar ?

Show me and I’ll remember forever

Imagine yourself as an undergraduate student, doing your work, studying hard, dealing with friends, cooking, laundry, love, and everything that daily life brings. Now imagine that you somehow think to yourself, I know, 20 years after graduation, I’ll come back and bring my students to share the same experiences that I had. Yeah, that will be awesome.

Who thinks that? ever??

That’s exactly what happened.

I have had fantastic teachers in my life. More than I could ever have hoped for, and there have been times when I have recounted stories to my university students of ‘when this happened…’ and I am aware that the combination of people and places and the resulting experiences at that time was so influential for me, and naturally I would like to share that.Read More »Show me and I’ll remember forever

California Dreamin’

I’ve had another adventure in learning and teaching… and sometimes when things are so good, it is hard to begin to put them on paper. This post is a glimpse.

I’ll call it: ‘Part 1: Of Many’

I know that my students will have to carve their places in the world of music- that there are few traditional ‘jobs’ that exist anywhere. Graduates don’t walk out of education and walk into a single full time secure job in music. Part of what I do is work to develop experiences that hold a bank of skills so that as people progress they can build their metaphorical pantry. …With shelves full of ingredients someone can make more than a PB&J sandwich in the restaurant of their musical lives. I like (and feel the need) to grow and develop my repertoire of musical skills and experiences.Read More »California Dreamin’

Essays are not just for Christmas

Today is a big day,

 

(1 min read) My students will present in a research series at my university. I had the idea last semester when they submitted final essays for my Psychology of Learning and Teaching class. One was so good I found myself taking notes on it, and then I got thinking-

 

Hey, what happens when you are a student?

Well, you go to class and do the assessment and sometimes that’s it.

*sigh*

It just so happened these essays were due just before the December Holidays and so I usually get a stack of work to take home as my sort of ‘present’ from the students. Read More »Essays are not just for Christmas