Author: Maren Deepwell

Hybrid Working Habits – It’s a wrap
Over the past four weeks I have run a free and open course all about hybrid working. This week, we are wrapping up the course for 2023, and I’d like to take the opportunity to have a BIG thank you to everyone who took part, and contributed!

I love the format of the course, which is podcast cased with new topics released every week, as it allows folk to follow the course at their own pace, and offers the option to take part synchronously, too.

Inspiration for future courses

Quite a few people who registered for this run of the course expressed an interest in the weekly sessions to drop in. With between 30-50 participants taking part in the course each week, one of the challenges for me is to find a time that works across different time zones. For future runs of the course I’d probably come up with a better timetable to give more people the chance to connect and learn together.

Another element of the course that I am keen to develop is how new topics are released. Many people taking part have a lot of other commitments to juggle, and might find it easier if all the resources and topics were available from the start. I am going to have a think and see how that might work… 🙂

What worked well?

It’s been great to see the course attract lots of listens and interaction. Although I do encourage people to register for free, only about half of the people participating in the course do. Others prefer to simply subscribe to the podcast to listen along and explore at their own pace.

The topics for the course resonated well with participants, especially those designed to help manage digital overwhelm and setting life/work boundaries. Plus, I really enjoyed recording these as well, which is an added bonus!

Course catch up

The course resources and podcasts are now freely available and you can explore topics at your own pace. The easiest way to do that is to listen to the course podcast:
The course is podcast based and new episodes released weekly on Fridays. The podcast is called Leading Virtual Teams and you can find it on: Anchor, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and Spotify.

If you’d rather see everything at a glance, the Course information page provides a handy guide to the course and links to all previous topics:

1: Audit your hybrid working habits to find out how your current habits are impacting on you and what to change;
2: Set boundaries for a better life/work balance and stick to them even when things are busy;
3: Increase productivity away from the screen by using strategies for communicating and collaborating outside of meetings;
4: Communicate more effectively in the hybrid workplace in a way that works for you and reduces digital overwhelm.

Enjoy!

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12/11/2023
OER24 – Here we come
It’s a miserable day today in Cardiff. Grey, dark and rainy. Typical November weather. I am sitting at my desk with the light on although it’s only midday. Inside my head however, the sun is shining, at least figuratively, because my first OER24 submission is in!

OER24, in case you are new to the conference, is:

the 15th annual conference for Open Education research, practice and policy will be organised by ALT, the Association for Learning Technology, in partnership with Munster Technological University (MTU).

MTU offers an excellent space for all members of the open education community to collaborate, learn and share in an inclusive environment. We are excited to welcome OER participants from the UK and across the world to the MTU Bishopstown Campus in Cork, Ireland.

Dates: Wednesday 27 and Thursday 28 March, with the GO-GN workshop on Tuesday 26

OER24 will bring together the strong Irish Open Education movement and international participants to leverage our shared expertise for change in policy and practice.

The Call for Proposals is open until Sunday 12 November 23:59 (anywhere in the world).
https://www.oer2024.co.uk/

Now, I have blogged quite a lot about the OER Conference over the past few years, culminating in one very long post (love letter) to the event last year… as OER23 was my final event as CEO of ALT and an unforgettable conference.

The start of a new chapter

This year however, I get to return as a delegate for the first time, and hopefully as a presenter, too. Thanks to the great work of all involved, the Call for Proposals was out earlier than usual, giving me extra impetus to get my thoughts in order and draft my first ever ‘external’ submission to the event.

I love the themes the Chairs and Committee have picked this year:
The conference will put the spotlight on Open Education practices through five themes:
- Open Education Landscape and Transformation: This theme explores Open Education and its transformative potential, with a particular emphasis on key initiatives and developments in the Irish education and training context.
- Equity and Inclusion in OER: This theme delves into the role of Open Educational Resources (OER) in serving marginalised groups and in promoting inclusivity, diversity and equity in open education.
- Open Source and Scholarly Engagement: This theme focuses on the connection between Open Education, Open Data, the Open-Source movement, and digital scholarship/librarianship, showcasing the collaboration of researchers across these areas.
- Ethical Dimensions of Generative AI and OER Creation: This theme highlights the ethical considerations surrounding the use of generative AI for content creation and its potential in making educational content more accessible.
- Innovative Pedagogies and Creative Education: This theme explores the intersection of Open Education with instructional design and learning design, examining creative practices and innovative pedagogies that enhance the learning experience.
https://www.oer2024.co.uk/
And I picked the theme around innovative pedagogies and creative education for my submission. My hope is that if everything works out as planned, I’ll be there with my partner and his colleagues from the Open University as well as my colleagues from Reclaim Hosting, and of course I can’t wait for an opportunity to see at least some of my former team at ALT in person, too. Hugs will most certainly happen.

Get your proposals submitted!

If you are thinking of making a submission, I would really encourage you to put one in. You only need between 250 – 500 words and there are a lot of fun formats to choose from, ranging from workshops to presentations and, of course, the one and only GASTA format, which promises to be 5 minutes of unforgettable fun.

This is a conference where you will not only be welcome, but which will recharge those batteries of enthusiasm and hope for the whole year… (just look at the keynote line up!).

Fingers crossed, I’ll be seeing you in Cork in March!

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09/11/2023
Celebrating a month of free-lance life

I recorded this podcast episode reflecting on the first month of working in my new business full-time. A BIG thank you to everyone who’s helped me along the way.

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03/11/2023
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 as capable as this, a pretty easy thing to do 🙂

When we started planning for this, we offered different ways to get involved:
- Share your favourite halloween tunes and we’ll play your tunes
- Get on the radio with other Reclaim folk, chat about what you are working on, share scary stories.. And have fun!
- Get on the radio as a host, spin up the tunes and invite special guests to chat with on air.
Not everyone wants to hear their own voice on air after all, and the whole point of doing something like this is that everyone can join in and have a bit of fun without feeling that they need to commit to a whole hour.

Here is the programme we ended up with as a result:
- 8:00am ET – Halloween Tunes with Meredith
- 9:00am ET – Scary Special: Jim & Maren
- 10:00am ET – Pumpkin Hour with Maren & Meredith
- 11:00am ET – Halloween Tunes from the team
- 12:00pm ET – Old Time Radio Hour: the Scary Stories of Suspense
- 1:00pm ET – Radio Roundup with Amanda & Pilot
- 2:00pm ET – Halloween Tunes with Jason
- 3:00pm ET – Scary Tech (and Non-Tech) Stories with Amanda & Jason
- 4:00pm ET – Halloween Tunes with Taylor
- 5:00pm ET – Fright Night: Tunes from the Infrastructure Team
The weird and the wonderful

What I loved about the radio day was the variety of things that happened: from Italian horror movie soundtracks and The Cure to low-fi listening tunes, and from vintage story telling to news about what’s happening across the community, it was simply awesome!

Folk joined in as they started to listen to the programme, saying hi on Mastodon and Discord, and sharing pics and stories along the way.

I loved the radio shows on DS106 radio during the dark days of 2020 and 2021. Obviously my personal favourite was the Sunday Special that I was part of with Anne-Marie Scott and Tannis Morgan, but although a lot of fun was had, and at the time fun was a very scarce ingredient in life, it was very much radio of its time. Pandemic times.

I remember hearing Jim and his family broadcasting from Italy, and us listening here in Wales, feeling like we were able to connect despite the long periods of lockdown.

Our spooky Halloween radio show this week helped me reflect that whilst we still need to connect, and share and be present with each other, it is a huge relief to be doing so in context less dominated by the pandemic. We’ve learnt to value opportunities to have fun and be together more, I think, than we did before 2020.

Just like the excellent GIF game that makes the Reclaim Roundup a must read each month, the radio brought together all the weird and wonderful scary tech (and non-tech) stories and tunes for a day to remember.

What you didn’t see

Part of my work with Reclaim as I see it, is about finding pockets of space and time in which this team of people who work so hard and who practice such heartfelt care about all they do, from answering support tickets to developing new products, get to have a moment to take a breath and revel in their achievements.

Reflecting on success, feeling proud…, those things can be a lot harder to do than moving on to the next task, or pick up the next ticket. Just like in every other organisation I have ever worked with, here, too, is a never ending list of things to do. There is always pressure, always more that could be done, and new, exciting ideas on the horizon. I love seeing those glinting in the distance.

What I have also learnt, however, is that there is ALWAYS something glinting on that horizon, and ALWAYS a long list of tasks and that it’s up to us to make the time and hold the space to say “YAY! WE ROCK!” every once in a while.

I missed some of the Halloween fun (because timezones), but the next day I spent some time looking at the chat behind the scenes, the chat you didn’t see, and I was thrilled to see folk sharing photos of their front doors, ready for trick or treating, the chat, the banter and the GIFs. Those moments are what makes a team thrive, and they are what makes the memories that we will still recall long after the routine of weekly meetings is forgotten.

It was a privilege and an awful lot of fun to be part of our Halloween Radio programme, so you won’t be surprised to hear that there might just be some more in store come the end of the year. Maybe there will be an opportunity to make a song request, or send in edtech holiday greetings… whatever we decide to do – I hope to see you on the airwaves.

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02/11/2023
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 with being part of a team. From the research I have done about hybrid working and virtual teams, I know that it takes a lot of effort and intention. So I set about making my own fun.

Regular readers will be very familiar with Posey, my dog, who for the past three years (well, nearly) has kept a faithful vigil next to my desk. Together we get through long conference days, difficult meetings, research reports and course design. And Posey is a dog who knows how to make her own fun. Sometimes just by rolling round on the carpet in the sunshine, or with her favourite cuddly toy.

But back to Halloween and hybrid working. In case the connection seems tenuous, I think Halloween is a good example of the kind of thing that in a co-located working environment is hard to miss. Cafes and canteens may have seasonal treats or pumpkin flavoured everything. There is likely to be talk of trick or treating… plans for the holidays and so on. Interaction like the ‘Secret Santa’ gift exchange is hard to replicate when you are in a team that’s distributed across the globe or when, like me, you are a team of one.

The ‘spooky’ side of home and hybrid working is that it can often feel quite lonely or isolated. Sometimes you don’t talk to another human being all day, and when you finally step away from your desk it’s dark outside. Days can easily blend into each other into one long grey slog.

Marking days like Halloween or a change in season provides me a bit of inspiration to have some fun, be silly and join into activities that I wouldn’t usually, and which can make my day more memorable.

This year, I am organising some radio with the wonderful folk at Reclaim Hosting, as part of my work with them. Get ready for Reclaim Halloween Radio on DS106radio come October 31st! I have some small decorations in my office as well, some autumn blooms and a small pumpkin and… fun tights to wear in orange and purple. Some of you may roll their eyes here, but those of us who appreciate those things will understand. In my mind, everything that helps inject some fun into my day is fair game.

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24/10/2023
Step away from you screen…

… and come walk with me. How about a day along the windswept West Wales Coastal Path? The title image for this post is taken at the tip of the St David’s peninsula around this time of year. Let’s have a day buffeted by autumn winds surrounded by colourful heather, looking out to the endless horizon. I would love to have a day like that today.

In reality, although that part of the Coastal Path is only just over two hours from my desk, I am much more likely to take a walk along the Taff Trail with the dogs today. Not quite as dramatic when it comes to scenery, but my daily miles are a wonderful daily escape, a practice for my body and mind that benefits my wellbeing as well as my productivity.

Walking is a big part of my life. It’s a necessity when you have two big dogs that want to cover 3-5 miles a day. It’s a hobby, as I walk, jog and run my way to greater physical fitness. It’s also where I like to think, reflect and have important conversations. Over the past ten years, it’s definitely become a kind of superpower that gets me through tough days.

I like walking on my own, with the dogs, with someone else, sometimes with headphones in, sometimes in my head, alone with my thoughts. During my postgrad years I developed an academic interest in walking, and some of my PhD thesis was based on ethnographic walking and a phenomenological exploration of place and landscape, so it’s fair to say that I’ve read quite a lot a about walking as a practice, as a method of enquiry, as a way of life.

It’s always inspiring to read of great explorations or long walks, spanning a whole country for example. My own walking has stayed at a much more quotidian scale. I don’t really care whether I’m taking turns in my local park, walking through bustling city streets or trudging along the Coastal Path. What is important to me, and what makes it work, is that I get to reflect and process whatever is on my mind that day. If I have the company of a coach or a friend (or most commonly my partner), I have the added benefit of someone else’s perspective and the principle remains the same.

When I worked with my mentor Margaret we used to meet up every few months for a longer session, and we always tried to make it a walk. Between these meetings all our work happened online, via email or a phone call, but whenever I really needed to think something through, figure out a new vision for the next three years or confront a difficult situation in my role as CEO, we would walk together and talk it through.

Parenting books often suggest that the best way to have conversations with teenagers is not to sit around a table, facing each other, but to create a less confrontational atmosphere when you are side by side, driving in a car or walking somewhere for example.

In a work context, particularly if you work virtually, there’re many situations in which you face each other, or a whole screen or room full of people. You face each other, stare at your own reflection, at someone’s bad hair day and so forth. It’s not often conducive to focusing on thinking and reflecting. Screens are distracting.

Stepping away from the screen can feel hard. Technology is sticky, capturing our attention, and removing yourself from its constant nudges is a key reason why taking a walk is helpful. Walking is an embodied experience, you are moving through the world, experiencing it with your senses. All of which is helpful for getting a fresh perspective and to gain clarity.

Of course, it’s not often possible to head out for a whole day on the Coastal Path. More often, a walk around the local area has to suffice, and in my experience it works just as effectively. With a bit of forethought you can even gain some of the benefits of a walk indoors. Whenever I don’t have the time to actually go outdoors, and I have a call I really need to focus on, I put my headphones in, put the screen to sleep and pace up and down in my office. Sometimes with my eyes closed, sometimes looking down at the floor or nowhere in particular. I am still moving, focusing, and not distracted by screens. It does take some practice and discipline to make this work, and it’s much easier to give yourself the benefit of actually going for a walk, but on days when you have 10 back to back meetings it may be the only option.

I am really looking forward to exploring how to step away from the screen in my upcoming course on hybrid working. I am not sure if many people realise that walking can be a hybrid working superpower… but we’ll have fun finding out. Incidentally, I designed the course to be podcast based, focusing on audio rather than video content, so that folk who would like to walk along with me could do so as they work through the course. It’s free, so why not register 🙂

Some of my coaching clients, for whom I also offer walking sessions, really enjoy having a session talking on the phone whilst exploring their local park and pathways. And sometimes, when we are able to meet in person, we get to walk and talk together. Those are always the most exciting days for me.

I haven’t done any coaching on the Coastal Path as yet, but I have had many, many excellent conversations whilst exploring that beautiful part of the world. So.. if you are ever in South Wales or if you have a path near you that would make for a good place to think, get in touch.

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17/10/2023