Maren Deepwell

Author: Maren Deepwell

  • In the library

    In the library

    I read a lot and going to my local library has been a big part of my life as a child, throughout my school and student years. I was lucky to have access to wonderful libraries first in London and later in Oxford, where I sat in the Radcliffe Camera as I finished writing my PhD.

    When I first moved to Cardiff in March 2020 however, libraries closed and it took me a long time to actually join the library. Now, finally, I have been to visit to central library in person, and collected my physical library card. I can pick up and return books in the local branch, which is closer to where I live, but it was fun to go and visit the big library.

    It felt great to return to a space filled with books, and take time to browse the shelves. I picked up a small volume full of ideas of what to do during your lunch break, which I am keen to explore for a bit of fun.

    I also borrowed a book by Laura Vanderkam: Tranquility by Tuesday: 9 Ways to Calm the Chaos and Make Time for What Matters, which was published on October 11, 2022 . I have come across some of Laura’s work on time management and productivity before, but this book is a completely new find for me. Hopefully it will have some useful ideas in it for my own work and to share with coaching clients.

    I’ll be sure to share what I find in a future blog post.

  • Fresh podcast listens: Brené Brown

    I’ve recently embarked on a small podcast adventure, with the aim to explore at least 10 new shows this month. I’m curious to learn more about podcasting, and broaden my horizons, and I am also keen to expand the types of podcasts I am listening to, all the while looking out for ideas and resources that I could use or share with colleagues and clients.

    It’s been fun so far, to listen to something completely different as I walk the dogs or do incline intervals on the treadmill. If you are looking for inspiration and are curious to find out more, this post is for you.

    What criteria did I apply to select these?

    I chose podcasts that I had never listened to before, and started with the most popular ones. I vaguely tried to choose episodes/topics that seemed relevant to my current interests, but also added some that were completely unknown to me.

    Podcasts, ideas and resources

    The first group of podcasts I listened to are by or about the work of Brené Brown.

    Dr. Brené Brown is a research professor at the University of Houston, where she holds the Huffington Foundation Endowed Chair at the Graduate College of Social Work. Brené is also a visiting professor in management at the University of Texas at Austin McCombs School of Business.

    She has spent the past two decades studying courage, vulnerability, shame, and empathy. She is the author of six #1 New York Times best sellers and is the host of two award-winning Spotify podcasts, Unlocking Us and Dare to Lead.

    https://brenebrown.com/media-kit/

    I keep coming across the Dare to Lead podcast, most recently a couple of episodes about adopting a digital mindset, which I was curious about as it related to my interest in leading virtual teams. However, up to recently I hadn’t made the time to really explore the podcast itself.

    What I found particularly helpful is that you can search all of her podcasts by topic, so you can focus on a particular topic like work culture, leadership or midlife, and easily access related resources and references. There is also a handy guide for everyone who is just discovering Brené Brown, so if you are new to her work, head straight there.

    Related podcasts

    I also explored a couple of podcasts new to me that explore this topic from different perspectives:

    A conversation about Trust from Brené Brown’s Dare to Lead

    This is an episode from May 2021 of the Podcast series Write your OWN story, by Rebecca Fleetwood Hession, founder of the Badass Women’s Council, which is focused on Brené Brown‘s concept of BRAVING from the book Dare to Lead. Looking at what it means to set boundaries, how to lead with reliability and integrity from a business perspective provided an interesting contrast to my usual education/academic viewpoint.

    Brené Brown: What to Say to Get What You Need

    Dated March 2022, this episode of We Can Do Hard Things, with hosts Glennon Doyle, Abby Wambach and Amanda Doyle features Brené Brown as a guest and dives into a wide-ranging discussion about connection, fear, navigating personal and professional relationships and the book/TV series Atlas of the Heart.

    All the podcasts introduced me to new ideas for things to read, listen to and watch – so I headed to the library and got ordering.

  • Mission Mastodon: Get involved in a new server experiment

    Mission Mastodon: Get involved in a new server experiment

    Yesterday saw the start of a new server experiment on Mastodon. Over the next three months ALT Members are invited to join in an exploration of this social space, and learn more about how to use it for personal and professional use along the way.

    We are excited to partner with Reclaim Hosting to offer 3 fun, informative sessions focused on Mastodon. The sessions are open to all and free to attend so you should have no issues accessing them here. The sessions will offer interested parties valuable insight into how the federated social media software Mastodon works, with everything from joining a server, to helping them find their way around, as well as providing a peek behind the scenes of the moderating and hosting process. We need you to join the sessions, participate and report back:

    • Session 1: Mission briefing: 19 January 2023 at 16:00 GMT (WatchRecording)
    • Session 2: Verifying your progress: 23 February 2023 at 16:00 GMT (Watch Live)
    • Session 3: 30 days until self-destruct: 23 March 2023 at 16:00 GMT (Watch Live)

    For any of the above sessions you can join the Reclaim Discord server to join the chat during the live broadcasts: https://reclaimed.tech/discord .

    If you’d like to register and get reminders about each session, head over to the ALT website and register now.

    Why are we doing this?

    The server we set up will act as a platform for our communities to explore and get to know Mastodon. The server will be temporary, but depending on what we learn along the way, we will decide how to proceed. So, whether you are completely new to the fediverse, or looking for other edtech folk to connect with, join us to explore and learn together.

    ALT and Reclaim EdTech are already active on Mastodon, and many in our communities are, too. We are looking to learn more about how we can support folk in this space, how community servers might function, how they could be moderated and what the costs involved might be, too.

    This is an opportunity to learn more about being active on Mastodon as well as learning about setting up, hosting and moderating servers for communities like ours and complement what we can learn from already established communities and servers with hands-on experience. 

    Join the server

    Curious? This is your opportunity to join our Mastodon server and get involved. Watch the recording of the first session and join in with the experiment. Everyone welcome!

    Reposted from the ALTC Blog.

  • How to… Lead Virtual Teams.

    How to… Lead Virtual Teams.

    I am really excited to share a glimpse at my next project: How to… Lead Virtual Teams – a course in ten podcasts.

    What is it like to manage a virtual team and to lead an organisation from home? How can you not only meet budget targets and KPIs but balance business needs with employee happiness and wellbeing?

    My aim for Leading Virtual Teams as a book was to explore current practice in succeeding in a virtual workplace and questions what the future may hold. The book provides practical advice and case studies as a source of inspiration and a prompt for reflection for virtual teams and their leaders. From recruitment and induction to establishing effective and sustainable ways of working in the virtual workplace for small and medium sized organisations, this book explores the highs and lows of what it means to work from home long-term and sets out a new kind of professionalism for virtual teams.

    The course I am running this spring translates the ideas in the book into practice.

    If you’d like to learn more about leading virtual teams, then join in and come along. This course translates key parts of the book into practice:

    • Onboarding and setting expectations
    • Fostering a shared team culture
    • Managing people and processes
    • Strategies for succeeding in hybrid workplaces in the long term

    The course offers a unique blend of inspiration, practical support and resources.

    Curious? Here’s what’s in store.

    The course is free to join and open to all. It is designed for emerging and established leaders and managers working in a hybrid or fully virtual setting. The course offers you opportunities to listen, reflect and explore:

    Listen

    The course has ten parts and each part is introduced by a podcast episode that sets out the key ideas for the topic. I have chosen the podcast format to enable you to follow the course at your own pace, listening when it suits you and also to minimise screen time needed to take part in the course.

    Whether you listen to the course as you walk the dog, cook or sit in a comfy chair, this course is designed to take you away from your screen and constant stream of notifications. You just have to listen.

    Reflect

    Each topic is accompanied by prompts and questions to help you reflect on your professional practice. You will use these prompts to take a deeper dive into ways of working in the hybrid workplace and reflect on how your leadership style aligns to your goals and values. Each topic will help you reflect on your a different aspect of your approach, your agency and authenticity.

    You can choose whether you write your reflections down, share them with others in the course or keep them private for yourself.

    Explore

    In addition to the podcast, each topic comes with a short summary blog post, which includes resources and tools to explore. Some topics will include structured activities for you to try out, others will link to external sources for more inspiration.

    Sign up
  • CEO Report to Members, January 2023

    CEO Report to Members, January 2023

    Dear Members

    This is a special year for our Association as we celebrate thirty years since ALT was established in 1993. As we prepare to mark this important anniversary as the leading professional body for Learning Technology in the UK and as an independent charity serving our membership, we want to focus on how we can build on what has been achieved as well as what’s ahead.

    Help shape what’s next

    Our work across sectors, serving a growing community with diverse needs and priorities depends on your input and we invite you to complete ALT’s Annual Survey for 2023. Help shape what is ahead and contribute to our unique insight into how Learning Technology is used across sectors as well as identifying emerging trends in current and future practice. The survey provides an important insight into how professional practice within the field of Learning Technology is developing. The purpose of this survey is to:

    • Help map professional practice and development in Learning Technology;
    • Chart how Learning Technology is used across sectors;
    • Understand current practice to better meet the needs of and represent our Members. 

    The Annual Survey also helps to improve ALT’s monitoring and reporting in order to promote equality, diversity and inclusion. The closing date for responses is 5 February 2023 . Complete the survey now. 

    New events programme launching for 2023

    Our events programme is at the heart of the work we do and attracts over 5,500 participants a year. Through a varied programme of webinars, workshops and conferences we increase access to expertise and continuing professional development (CPD) for Members and participants from across education and training sectors. ALT’s new events programme that has been developed to meet the needs of our community and deliver value for our Members. 

    • We are launching a new annual virtual summit for (emerging) leaders which  will focus on key issues identified through our annual survey; 
    • Our highly successful CPD webinar series will expand to include experts from across sectors, offering regular professional development aligned with the CMALT accreditation framework; 
    • ALT’s flagship Annual Conference and OER Conference will continue to innovate as leading hybrid conferences in their field;
    • Our new in person 1 day events, taking place annually across the UK, will expand opportunities for networking and knowledge sharing. 

    We are really excited to bring new events into our established calendar of activities and to continue our CMALT Webinars and support the work of ALT Member and Special Interest Groups.

    Find out more about new event benefits for Members.

    New MoU between ASCILITE and ALT

    I am delighted that we have an updated Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with ASCILITE. There is a long-standing collaboration between ALT and ASCILITE and in recent years we have actively worked together on initiatives including CMALT Australasia and baselining best practice Open Access journal publication. 

    This Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) provides a framework for areas of joint working between ASCILITE and the Association for Learning Technology. It sets out how the two organisations will work together to ensure that shared objectives are taken forward and provides a platform on which to build joint working.

    Did you miss…?

    A quick summary of highlights from across our community: 

    This post was originally posted on the ALTC Blog.

  • Music therapy, hope and joy.

    Music therapy, hope and joy.

    Over the past few years I have been listening to A LOT more music. I have been to see live bands once again, I have bought newly released records on vinyl (for which I blame my partner entirely), and I have listened to hours and days of music online. After a less musical decade in my thirties, my forties have seen my passion re-ignited.

    Therapy

    I have learnt a lot about how I can best foster my mental wellbeing over the past five years and when I am feeling particularly anxious or stressed, I find silence or white noise most restful and reassuring. In order to enjoy music I have to have some emotional capacity. When I do, music can be a wonderful escape into other moods, and a distraction from stress.

    Background beats can are a wonderful way to lighten the long, dark home-working days of winter and help relax or find a flow state of concentration.

    Music helps me connect with who I am and what I feel, and it contributes to my mental wellbeing in many ways.

    Hope

    Over the past few years I have discovered a lot of new artists who are releasing new music now. It gives me such hope to listen to and buy albums by contemporary artists and bands. I LOVE listening to music from now, rather than bygone decades.

    Growing up all the music I felt passionate about was from the past, from the 60s or the 70s or the 80s even. I would tell someone about my favourite bands or a song I had just discovered, only to find out that their ‘best’ gigs, the best moments were in the past. I had missed them at their peak, their authentic best moment. The singer was long dead, or ‘worse’ had sold out.

    I still love music from those decades of course, but nowadays most of what I listen to is new. Released this year, last year… it’s being made right now on this planet, sometimes in this country, or even this city. Last weekend I discovered a new band that is local to where I live. I am SUPER excited about seeing them live. Listening to their songs from… right here!

    In this post-pandemic, cost of living crisis, strikes, bad weather, climate catastrophe reality, new music gives me hope. Hope for creativity, hope for the future.

    Joy

    Seeing a band live last year I felt the music in my whole body. Even my feet were vibrating even though I was standing still. Joy is a wonderful part of seeing a concert live, of experiencing the music, the rhythm, the dancing… or in my case the bobbing along happily on the spot.

    It gives me great joy to experience music, and to see the artwork, read the lyrics, discover new things about the artists and bands I like. Some of my music listening happens entirely on my phone, some happens live, some happens on record players. I don’t collate it, count it, track it or set goals. It’s something I simply do because I enjoy it.