This blog is a (much!) less-than-formal outlining of recent travels, events, happenings, thoughts and comments which tend to have some occupational relevance, but are on occasion nothing more than a means of passing the time while waiting for trains, planes & automobiles...

Wednesday, 17 December 2008

So far south, it's almost in France...

On what is now my last day before flying to Portugal for some winter sun, I'm now on the way home from two days working on a much-warmer-than-Yorkshire South Coast where I've been presenting to 30+ FEC engineers at an airport in the Sussex Downs, and around 40 performing arts lecturers in Worthing (both part of Northbrook College) on why bother doing, and how to go about, scholarly activity and writing for publication.
So warm, that it's got me wondering whether the four hour journey home & getting up at 5am for a 4 hour flight is worth it, & maybe I ought to just stay in Brighton for two weeks...

Saturday, 6 December 2008

Who ate all the pie?

3rd/4th December, Bolton
As a reward for my concerted efforts at a two-day event on the Student Learning Experience , I got to stay in a very posh hotel (the Reebok) and find out what a £20 steak pie tastes like. Disappointingly, it turned out to be pretty much the same as a £5 one, but was probably placed on the nice plate very carefully and with much pride. After all, how else could they justify £20 for a pie in Bolton?

Other than sampling the culinary delights of the North West, delegates from a diverse range of institutions (e.g. HEA Subject Centres, JISC RSCs, FECs, HEIs and a LLN) discussed student expectations, experiences and encounters with higher education, challenges and priorities for the HE sector in using technology by:
  • considering the effectiveness of resources which have been developed to support the student learning experience,
  • considering how to improve access to and take up of resources for a range of stakeholders,
    identify additional developments/support that may be required to support the student ‘life cycle’,
  • exploring how organisations might collaborate further to enhance support for the HE student learning experience.