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Maren Deepwell Posts

That was February… with max funk

Dedicated to the one and only @CosmoCat #ds106radio – listening along https://t.co/dq8h8SKCu2 rockin' this Sunday Special https://t.co/6ANQQqjvbw — Dr Maren Deepwell (@MarenDeepwell) March 7, 2021 This Sunday’s Sunday Special has a special International Women’s Day theme – and we started the show by playing an awesome tune by last week’s guest Chahira Nouira and her band the Max Funk Institute 🙂 Plants! One of my strategies for getting through lockdown/pandemic burnout is to have a…

#femEdTech: my fourth year as a guest curator

You may have noticed that volunteer curation of @FemEdTech has been suspended. We are getting ready to restart (just have a bit of collaborative work to do). Once curators have worked on the new process and support for new curators, the doors will be open again. Watch this space — FemEdTech – shared account for FemEdTech network (@femedtech) February 28, 2021 Hello! It’s my privilege to reflect on my fourth year of volunteering as a…

Leading a virtual team: life work balance

Last month, we, that is my whole team, blogged about celebrating three years as a virtual team! It was really, really enjoyable and rewarding for me as CEO to read the words and hear the voices of all of my colleagues. I am so grateful that some took the plunge to blog for the first time and others made time to contribute in the face of a big workload. It was a big deal for…

Drawing 2020 – a bit of strategic ‘visual thinkery’

Earlier this year, I blogged about that I feel I am starting a ‘new job’ as things have changed so much over the past year… so this week on Friday I am having a strategy away day, pandemic style. CEOs often get asked what success will look like in 3, 12 and 36 months. Asking yourself that question is a useful way to get your own thoughts in order and prioritising short, medium and long…

Strategy Away Day – pandemic style

Next Friday, I am having a Strategy Away Day – pandemic style. In past years, when I need time to really focus on strategy, I was often able to take an afternoon or a whole day and spend it with some members of my Board, colleagues or external contacts, having conversations over coffee or whilst walking in a park. My first mentor Margaret and I often spent hours walking through whichever city we met in,…

Leadership lessons from office plants…

One of my strategies for getting through lockdown/pandemic burnout is to have a lot of green in my workspace. I can see at least six plants from where I sit each day. Some of them are good at cleaning the air, some grow in intricate pattern and some grow in interesting shapes. Having discovered that I love succulents, I went about finding a local supplier and thanks to the wonderful Blasus Succulent Emporium, which is…

Goodbye, January – I’m heading downtown

It’s finally January 31st – and I am still standing. Things continue to be bleak, and whilst I am lucky that COVID hasn’t killed me and neither has boredom… work continues to feel like it’s busier than ever! In cheering news So… it’s time to celebrate the positives of this month, starting with the best musical moment of the month: Off downtown with the wonderful @debbaff what a fab voice and a fabulous song #tunesforHawksey…

Celebrating 3 years as a virtual team – an #altc perspective

Three years ago this week, we closed the door on our last physical office space and moved to becoming a distributed team. Since then, we have chronicled the journey we have been on as an organisation and as a staff team in regular blogposts, podcasts and conference papers, starting with this post from February 2018.  A year on, in January 2019, I reflected on how the move changed things in this blog post and we also recorded a podcast. Last…

Sharing our approach to leading a virtual team and surviving a pandemic – special podcast episode

This is the last of the conversational blog posts (cross-posted here) between Martin Hawksey (@mhawksey) and Maren Deepwell (@marendeepwell) and an opportunity to reflect on the past year. Our ALT Staff team will continue to blog about the journey as a virtual team and we look forward to what 2021 holds in store for us.  But for now, we want to recognise Martin’s contribution as over the past three years, over dozens of posts and…

Leading a virtual team: A ‘new’ normal day as CEO

Ever since the phrase “new normal” became part of our vocabulary, I’ve struggled to figure out what it means. Over the past year, it’s become clear that when in comes to Learning Technology, COVID-19 has created many opportunities. So whilst it’s not all bad news, it’s certainly not normal. Not today at least. Before I started my working day today, I was on the phone arranging volunteer responders to pick up medication for my parents,…