Maren Deepwell

Author: Maren Deepwell

  • The year in blog posts… so far

    The year in blog posts… so far

    As I am half way through the year, I am taking a look back at what I have blogged so far, and in the best tradition of the form, to blog about blogging once again. And, if you missed one of these, now is a good time to catch up and bookmark posts for future reading.

    Blogging in numbers

    So far I have published 43 blog posts this year. The average per month is 7 per month. January was the month with the most posts (10) and March and April were the month with the fewest posts (5).

    Top 5 posts

    1. Post with the most comments: OER23 Conference: a whole lotta love
    2. Post that was shared most widely: The world is bigger than my desk. 
    3. Post that was read most widely: Thank you #EDEN2023
    4. Post that had the most successful podcast companion episode: What’s so important about open practice for hybrid leaders?
    5. Post that I enjoyed writing the most: A party without a cake is just a meeting…

    January (10)

    February (9)

    March (5)

    April (5)

    May (6)

    June (8)

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  • Top 5 listens on the Leading Virtual Teams podcasts

    Top 5 listens on the Leading Virtual Teams podcasts

    It’s July and time for a mid-year top 5 review, helping you catch up on the most popular episodes on the Leading Virtual Teams Podcast!

    No. 1 – S02E12 – How to Lead Virtual Teams: Part 1

    The most popular episode so far this year is the intro to my How to Lead Virtual Teams Course. In the first course podcast, I introduce the topics of the course and show you how to take part. For the orientation session, we’ll be focusing on the introduction chapter of Leading Virtual Teams.

    No. 2 – S02E11 – OER23 Special: What’s so important about open practice for hybrid leaders?

    This episode shares a lot of excitement about OER23, an event which I have been fortunate enough to help organise since 2015 and which is always a great highlight of my year. This year, I was especially looking forward to the conference, partly because it’s in one of my favourite parts of the world, the Scottish Highlands, and partly because it gave me a chance to catch up with many friends and colleagues I haven’t seen in a while, including long-time collaborator, Lauren Hanks.

    Lauren and I have been talking about hybrid working and leading virtual teams for the past few years, and at least year’s OER Conference we even ran a session together: As leaders of virtual teams, we critically examined what lessons we can learn from open approaches to learning and teaching and how we can use that knowledge in an increasingly virtual workplace. Since then, I have been thinking a lot about why open practice is so important for knowledge workers, and particularly managers and leaders who work in hybrid, distributed or fully virtual team: Read the blog post.

    No. 3 – Special Episode with Martin Weller

    In this episode I welcome a special guest, Martin Weller, as we talk about writing books, virtual learning and virtual working and what we are learning along the way. 

    No. 4 – Book Preview: Introduction to Leading Virtual Teams

    In this episode I read an extract from the introduction of my book, Leading Virtual Teams. 

    Leading Virtual Teams – Field Notes from a CEO by Dr Maren Deepwell, was published 1 December 2022 as an open access publication by the Association for Learning Technology, UK.

    No. 5 – S02E19 – Meditation and mindfulness for hybrid and virtual teams

    During the recent Mental Health Awareness Week, I looked for new tips and ideas for virtual and hybrid teams keen to embed mindfulness and meditation into their ethos. In this episode I share ideas and practical approaches. You can find more information in the episode blog post.

    Listen to the podcast

    Each week, I share ideas and strategies for creative and fun approaches to help you succeed and lead in the hybrid workplace. Each episode includes tools, resources and strategies for different aspects of hybrid working, and links to blog posts and further reading. On this page, you can find links to the all episodes and further resources in the show notes.

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  • Career transition update: June 2023

    Career transition update: June 2023

    Things have moved on a lot since I last shared an update, so there’s a lot to cover this month:

    First, I am glad to see the announcement of ALT’s next CEO meet with such warmth and welcome! It’s been great to see Members and stakeholders welcome Billy Smith, and it’s been good for me to start working with Billy as we begin our handover. If you don’t already, follow Billy on social media and find out more about the transition on Billy’s blog!

    I’m now in my last three months of this transition, as I’ll be stepping down as CEO in early September ahead of my last day later that month.

    The next three months feel like a gift! I get to work with my team, with Members and with many volunteers ahead of ALT’s 30th Annual Conference (book your ticket and join us) and enjoy this exciting, busy time once more before starting my new chapter.

    My job has been hugely rewarding over the past 15 years and I have had so many moments of joy, so much that I have been part of, so many milestones achieved that the time I have left now feels like the icing on the cake. The proverbial cherry on top. A time to share what organisational knowledge is useful before things move on in a new direction.

    Preparing for my new career chapter

    I’ve now completed the next step in my formal coach training this month. Working with more and less experienced coaches and mentors has been super inspiring for me as I develop my own approach and what aspects of coaching I want to focus on.

    Unfortunately everyone at home has been sick for the past week or two, but hopefully we will feel better again soon as we prepare for the summer!

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  • A moment of celebration

    A moment of celebration

    It’s my birthday at the end of this month, and I want to make the most of this moment of celebration in my life.

    Looking back

    The past year has been one of change for me, and A LOT has happened. Having so much going on makes it hard to recall and celebrate what I have accomplished and enjoyed. To make some time for reflection, I have looked back at photos from the past year, month by month, and picked one from each month from July ’22 to June ’23 that shows me doing something that I really enjoyed, a moment that stayed with me. I purposefully chose photos of only me, rather than including family and friends.

    What I noticed looking at those twelve photos is 7 of 12 photos are outside, on the beach and in the woods…, four pictures include the dogs (no surprises here), although there’s no pizza visible in any of the shots (atypical), ice cream and holiday cocktails do feature. They reflect the things that are important to me and things that I enjoy.

    I also made a list of things I’ve achieved in the past twelve months, which includes publishing my first book (a lifelong ambition), started running again, going to see live music and supporting my parents in a move from Britain to Germany.

    Looking at my list (20+ things in all), I had not appreciated how recently lots of things happened. Some of the things that I did last autumn seem much longer ago and similarly, some of the things I started to work on as recently as February now seem well established.

    • Most fun of all, this past year, has been embarking on more travel and holidays again, especially the trip to Greece with my partner, which was definitely the highlight of my year.
    • Most unexpected was becoming excited about seeing ice hockey locally in Cardiff!
    • Most hard won… that’s probably a tie between getting my first book published and completing my coach training and 50+ practice hours in my evenings and weekends.
    • Most creative… starting my first podcast and developing a podcast based course.

    Charting my course

    I have a five year plan that I find extremely valuable. I used a lot of the tools I trained in as a coach and applied them to my own values and vision, resulting in a comprehensive plan that covers everything from adventure to career, health and family. Some parts of the plan are mine alone, others focus on goals shared with my partner.

    On the career front, major change is happening: after 15 years in the same organisation, I am now only three months away from starting a new self-employed career, so that’s an exciting and somewhat scary prospect.

    I didn’t accomplish everything that was on my plan for the past year, some goals changed or were abandoned all together, but overall I followed the direction I set out in and I am really happy with my progress. I’m proud of what I’ve achieved.

    Here’s to what’s next

    The past twelve month felt hard. It took so much energy and time and effort to achieve the things I wanted to achieve, to move ahead with what’s important to me. It had huge moments of joy and fun and yet it felt like a grind a lot of the time.

    It feels good to let go of all that effort. Those days are behind me, the effort spent and the goals accomplished. Having done what I set out to do, now I am set for a year of… creativity.

    I’m going to do less heavy lifting and succeeding by sheer determination alone and find more balance. I am looking forward to re-imagining my daily and weekly routine as I start a new chapter in my professional practice, and I am excited about bringing creativity to all aspects of my work and play. I will prioritise my physical and mental health and enjoy the outdoors on walks and runs and in all seasons.

    Here’s to year year that lies ahead. A brand new chapter.

    Photo credit: Photo by Amy Shamblen on Unsplash

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  • Thank you #EDEN2023

    Thank you #EDEN2023

    I had a fabulous time at the EDEN Annual Conference, and really enjoyed giving my keynote on Tuesday. If you’d like to revisit the talk, you can explore the slides and a summary or watch the recording on Youtube:

    It’s been inspiring and motivating to have input and feedback from so many delegates, and it was an honour to share the stage with so many brilliant speakers in Dublin.

    If you’re keen to catch up with talks and resources, revisit the conversation #EDEN2023, or watch one of the many videos available on the EDEN Youtube Channel.

    ALT and EDEN have much in common, and I enjoyed spending three days with colleagues from across Europe and many other parts of the world sharing practice and policy. It reminded me of how much we have in common and how much we can learn from each other if we take the time to do so.

    This was my first experience of the EDEN Annual Conference, but not my first time at DCU, this year’s host organisation, and I was very impressed by how welcoming and well-organised the event was. Dinner at the digital museum for immigration, EPIC, was a particular highlight for me.

    Image credit: with kind permission of Mark Brown, DCU / EDEN 2023.

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  • Hope on the Horizon. An EDEN Annual Conference 2023 Keynote

    Hope on the Horizon. An EDEN Annual Conference 2023 Keynote

    I am delighted to be one of the keynotes at EDEN’s 2023 Annual Conference at Dublin City University this year. The conference theme is “Yes we can!” – Digital Education for Better Futures:

    This theme focuses on the language of opportunity and challenges participants to dream big! While there are many big and small challenges that we can’t ignore in building a more inclusive digital future, the conference places the spotlight on the “art of the possible” in reimagining teaching, learning and assessment and delivering on the promise of better futures for all. We hope to encapsulate throughout the conference the spirit of hope and optimism through the enabling language of “yes we can”.

    My keynote talk (slides) sets out to find inspiration to create our visions of the future, without losing a critical perspective on digital innovation but with a renewed sense of hope and empowerment.

    Title: “Hope on the Horizon: Setting out in a New Direction for Digital Education”

    Abstract: Over the past five years we have seen digital education scaled up, with fully virtual, blended and hybrid learning expanding to more and more learners. As we move beyond education in crisis response mode, we have a unique opportunity to shape what’s ahead and also a responsibility to apply the lessons learnt in 2020/21.

    We saw what’s possible in an emergency, and also what isn’t. I want to acknowledge that we are seeking hope at a time when many are battling burnout, still picking up the pieces in a world in which many are still feeling the lingering impact of the global pandemic.

    How do we find optimism, and a vision for a better future? Grounded in new research from ALT, on how professional practice in digital education is changing, and aligned with the Framework for Ethical Learning Technology (FELT), I will explore:

    • Who has a say in shaping the future and whom we may be missing?
    • What the future will hold for our students moving from hybrid learning to hybrid working?
    • What do we need to consider in order to avoid going back as well as moving ahead into a future that doesn’t deliver?

    Let’s find inspiration to create our visions of the future, without losing a critical perspective on digital innovation but with a renewed sense of hope and empowerment.

    Maren Deepwell is the chief executive of the Association for Learning Technology, the leading professional body for learning technology in the UK with around 3,500 members. She has led the organisation since 2012 including a strategic transition to becoming a virtual team in 2018. Her particular focus is on professional recognition for learning technologists, the development of a new ethical framework for professional practice and the future of technology in education. As a trained sculptor and anthropologist, she brings both her creative and executive expertise to her professional practice as a leader, strategic adviser and coach.

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