Pershore College, Worcestershire 27th March
This latest Experiential Learning event featuring Colin Beard took place at an agricultural college south of Birmingham, which for no cohesive reason was the most successful (in terms of numbers) run over the last three years. 30 delegates (plus 11 on the waiting list for next time - probably Doncaster), were treated to Colin's Introduction to a working model to help design teaching activities, Teaching models and theories, Improving student assignment introductions, Developing higher levels of critical thinking for HE work, Developing innovative thinking in students etc...
As two of the attendees had travelled down from Stockton-on-Tees (who got a recommendation from a colleague, but since nobody else from SoT has attended any of the previous 9 that's a bit of a puzzle) and wouldn't be home until 11.45 pm, I'm not going to whine about my 4-hour trip in each direction on a Friday. Or maybe I will....
Monday 30 March 2009
Saturday 21 March 2009
Show me the Money!
17 March 2009
As one of three "Dragons" at a workshop for FE colleges about bidding for project funding in Wellington (ish), Somerset (the others were from the local RSC and the HELP CETL), I gave a 30 minute talk outlining my own experiences of scrutinising funding applications both for JISC and the HEA, and the opportunities available for third party funding.
The delegates then formed groups to critique anonymised bids the local RSC had acquired from JISC under the Freedom of Information Act and report their findings while the presenters and local RSC staff operated as roving "experts".
After an excellent lunch (where I overate on cheesecake to allow for the 6 hours plus journey home - don't tell the wife: she thinks I'm slimming), and giving out some funding application guides, the 6 delegate groups generated bids which were theoretical but nonetheless pertinent to their current institutional agendas e.g. e-Assessment, Repositories etc and presented them to the three of us plus the local JISC HE Support Coordinator in a “Dragons Den” style format for constructive criticism and advice.
Feedback on the day, particularly with regards to the format, was all very positive, so I'm now going to formalise the delivery model and offer it with a variety of presenters to colleges on demand (well on request anyway...).
As one of three "Dragons" at a workshop for FE colleges about bidding for project funding in Wellington (ish), Somerset (the others were from the local RSC and the HELP CETL), I gave a 30 minute talk outlining my own experiences of scrutinising funding applications both for JISC and the HEA, and the opportunities available for third party funding.
The delegates then formed groups to critique anonymised bids the local RSC had acquired from JISC under the Freedom of Information Act and report their findings while the presenters and local RSC staff operated as roving "experts".
After an excellent lunch (where I overate on cheesecake to allow for the 6 hours plus journey home - don't tell the wife: she thinks I'm slimming), and giving out some funding application guides, the 6 delegate groups generated bids which were theoretical but nonetheless pertinent to their current institutional agendas e.g. e-Assessment, Repositories etc and presented them to the three of us plus the local JISC HE Support Coordinator in a “Dragons Den” style format for constructive criticism and advice.
Feedback on the day, particularly with regards to the format, was all very positive, so I'm now going to formalise the delivery model and offer it with a variety of presenters to colleges on demand (well on request anyway...).
Wednesday 11 March 2009
Yorkshire HE Symposium, Doncaster
Having presented down the bill at last year's event in Sheffield, I was this time promoted to keynote and asked by the organisers to speak about scholarly activity and its impact on the learner's experience. Although I originally agreed to talk for 20 minutes, most of the previous evening had been spent re-writing the speech to last for 40 minutes due to a late programme change and the organisers "didn't think I'd mind"!
As it happened, the day's introductory presentation overran, there was an unscheduled (false) fire alarm, lunch turned up late, and yes, you've already guessed: I was asked if I could possibly shorten my bit so that the conference could finish approximately on time (the grovelling about "trains to catch", "car parking about to expire" etc was accompanied by a nice bottle of Shiraz, so of course I acquiesced). Fortunately, as the original speech I wrote last Friday was still on my pen drive (& in my head), I could deliver a coherent 20 minute slot without having to rush and now have a spare (admittedly padded), unused speech for sale if anybody's interested......
As it happened, the day's introductory presentation overran, there was an unscheduled (false) fire alarm, lunch turned up late, and yes, you've already guessed: I was asked if I could possibly shorten my bit so that the conference could finish approximately on time (the grovelling about "trains to catch", "car parking about to expire" etc was accompanied by a nice bottle of Shiraz, so of course I acquiesced). Fortunately, as the original speech I wrote last Friday was still on my pen drive (& in my head), I could deliver a coherent 20 minute slot without having to rush and now have a spare (admittedly padded), unused speech for sale if anybody's interested......
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