A friend of mine wrote to me today and talked about how working from home was going, something along the lines of endless Zoom meetings, and lots of good moments, but also low moments, missing having colleagues around to ask something or bounce ideas off. Many people I know are feeling that way, and in addition many are also juggling working in provisional set ups (sofas are not necessarily comfortable 6 hours into a long…
Category: leadership
I have blogged about every OER Conference I have been to, and this year’s was a very special one. So I want to try and continue the tradition, but what can I say about the cancelled conference that happened online with 1100+ people? There’s nothing ‘business as usual’ about today, as a virtual team under lockdown works with volunteers from around the world to deliver a free online conference for 900+ people – give a…
I loved seeing tweets this week of signs and posters saying ‘daddy’s in a Skype call :)’ or ‘don’t come in – I’m in a meeting’… it gave expression to how much worlds are colliding just now. Whether you are a seasoned home worker or a newly (crisis) minted one, no one has experience of working from home during a global pandemic during lock down, without childcare and alongside every member of their household, pets…
For the past two years I’ve been blogging about our approach to leading a virtual, fully distributed team for ALT, the Association for Learning Technology. Together with my colleague Martin Hawksey I have charted our journey in podcasts and blog posts. Your own ‘journey’ may be only a few hours, a day or a week, probably not by choice and at a time of global emergency. So here are the tips & tricks I wish…
Be warned. This is a blog post about strategy… which is not the most exciting of topics (usually). I was trying to find a good title for this post and all the ideas I had sounded awful: What a difference good governance makes… The privilege of being a CEO The power of really listening Making stuff happen… Anyway. If you are still reading this then I am grateful as I really want to share some…
This month, February 2020, is the third time I volunteer to curate the @femEdTech Twitter account. If you haven’t come across it before, I encourage you to: check out @FemEdTech on Twitter and to follow the #FemEdTech hashtag; find out how volunteers work together to curate this account and support this growing network; visit the FemEdTech Open Space and learn more about what’s going on including the FemEdTech Quilt of Social Justice project. When I…
Now, an ‘I love me’ wall is something Jim Groom introduced me to, ‘basically a space dedicated to all the stuff you’ve done..’. And I’ve come to embrace that concept wholeheartedly in my work space at home. Home working has never looked so stimulating and that’s a major plus on days when the heating is broken, the cat has been sick on the carpet and the doorbell rings with yet another delivery for next door. …
If you don’t think gender inequality (in Learning Technology) is an issue that concerns you, this post is especially for you. Welcome! For those readers who are already interested in this topic, welcome back. It’s been a #femEdTech kind of year 🙂 For the last few years I have been actively involved as a volunteer in community efforts to promote gender equality in Learning Technology but this year my day job as CEO of the…
Creating strategies is a big part of my work. Some are small and fit a particular purpose, others span an entire organisation and many years. It’s the second kind that I am currently working on as ALT is half way through setting out a new strategy for 2020-2025. Our process involves many people, with their own views, ideas and voices and it’s all the richer for it. ALT’s Chair, Sheila, and I, blog about our…
Today for International Women’s Day Martin Hawksey and I joined an inspiring day organised by the University of the Highlands and Islands Women’s Network. We contributed a joint keynote on promoting equality in a distributed organisation. ‘Equality is for women AND men’ – we like your thinking @MarenDeepwell! She’s joined by her colleague @mhawksey from @A_L_T as they deliver their session on #equality during #InternationalWomensDay#BalanceForBetter #IWD2019 #ThinkUHI pic.twitter.com/Or6JyI8VrY — University of the Highlands and Islands…