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Category: stories

Let’s Walk’n’Blog…

Hi, welcome to this blog post which I am not typing but dictating. It is now mid-morning and I have plans to be getting on with before I have to be at my desk. So I wanted to try and write this blog post as I’m doing things… I’m making some coffee just now and I’ve just come back from walking the dogs. So it is a good time to blog but not a good…

Analogue v digital. Non-fiction reading for April

My favourite read for this month has to be The Revenge of Analogue by David Sax. Although this book was published nearly ten years ago, and some of the research it is based on would have been changed by the pandemic, I found it a really inspiring read. I love all things analogue from stationary and paper notebooks, to sending actual letters in the post and listening to vinyl records, and I have read a…

Reclaiming #Edtech4life in Open Education (at OER24)

In a month today, I’ll be at the OER Conference in Cork, and I am really looking forward to it! I am huge fan of this event, and encourage you to have a look at the programme and register if you haven’t yet done so and are planning to come. This year I am co-presenting two short sessions, starting with Reclaiming #Edtech4life in Open Education which is a joint venture with Meredith (Fierro) Huffman and…

River Taff Meditations… and the joy of working radio

At the start of the year, I shared my intention to find more joy in music and radio. Music is a great way to brighten up busy days, especially at this time of year. The days are long and grey, the sun is only slowly making a return to early mornings and evening after work. I don’t know about you, but I can use every bright spot I can find just now. Now, plenty of…

Sunrise blogging – career transition 3 months in

It’s January, it’s early and I’m feeling inspired. Time to reflect on my career transition three months in.  As I type this I have to pause frequently as it’s morning and each dog needs their cuddles. We’re arranged all together on the sofa, so I alternate the hand with which I type. The dogs are an important part of my life, and this new chapter. They are the best work life balance motivation and constant…

Festive Karaoke. Reclaiming online fun…

I love being online, and I love the communities I am part of online. As someone who relies largely on the internet to sustain long distance relationships with family and friends as well as collaborating with work colleagues on a daily basis, I am very invested in my corners of the web. It takes a lot of effort however to keep those spaces good spaces to be in, on platforms like Discord and Mastodon, as…

Reclaiming Halloween Radio

Earlier this week I got to join the folk from Reclaim Hosting for a spooky radio extravaganza! Across a couple of different timezones and radio stations, Reclaim Radio and DS106Radio, we ROCKED the airwaves. I love radio as a medium to have fun for virtual teams. It’s super engaging, not screen based, it’s synchronous and at the same time gives everyone space to do other stuff whilst listening. It’s also, when you have a team…

Happy Hybrid Halloween… or the spooky side of virtual working.

It’s my third week as a hybrid organisation of one, and I am enjoying the new working routine! It’s very busy and also tiring to have so many new things to deal with each day, but it’s very much what I was expecting. What I am missing at times is of course the colleagues I have worked with for many years, and in a more abstract sense, a bit of fun and interaction that comes…

Running. Trials and tribulations.

I have been blogging about getting back into running for the past two years. This journey back into running has felt really tough at times, and at the same time I am well aware that it doesn’t signify in the face of what many others face daily, especially in these often gloomy times. This is blogging as personal record keeping, and as such only really of interest if you are prepared to suspend the ‘so…

Tips for a week of complete rest

It’s the last day of my holidays today, and it’s been fantastic to have some time off work. It’s been quite a long time since I last went on a holiday trip abroad, and we had a week in Greece, which is not only my favourite foodie destination but also a country where I spent holidays when I was a kid and I thus have a lot of fond memories of this beautiful country. The…