Maren Deepwell

Author: Maren Deepwell

  • Summit week (with heart) #altc #altcSummit

    Summit week (with heart) #altc #altcSummit

    It’s been a busy week at ALT HQ as we have been busy with the ALT Summer Summit and this weekend, a much-needed long weekend, has seen me mostly offline, but there is a radio show to do on a Sunday, and that’s led me to blog, too.

    I really liked this heart, that was put up on a farm fence close to the hill, and it seems like an excellent visual jumping off point for reflecting on a summit (with heart). So here are ten tweets from this week #altc #altcSummit:

    It was an awesome event, which gave me a sense of community and connecting, and a sense of hope that I am grateful for.

  • Virtual hugs and no conference chicken… #altc #altcSummit

    Virtual hugs and no conference chicken… #altc #altcSummit

    Next week is ALT’s first summer summit and the first time since 2009 that I don’t spend this weekend packing up clothes, shoes and EVERY cable and charger in my study and make a 5 day trip to Edinuburgh, Manchester, Nottingham or this year London.

    But just because I am not packing my suitcase doesn’t mean I am not preparing for what is promising to be a crazy and fun week!

    Shoes

    Conferences are serious shoe business for some of us… and one of the real upsides of virtual events is that there is really no limit to the shoe tweeting you can do, combining all your shoes or trainers… after months of not having a real reason to dress up, I for one am looking forward to the opportunity to have a bit of fun and get back into conference dressing 🙂

    Pizza

    Having pizza the night before a big event has become something of a tradition in our staff team. I take the blame for that as it’s probably me suggesting it year after year… but it’s led us to have dinners in some very fun places over the years in different cities across the country!

    So this year, we are tuning in to ALT Summer Summit Radio Show
    at 7pm UK time on Tuesday, to join our very own online radio show in partnership with The Thursday Night Show, hosted by The Thursday Night Show and ALT Members.

    I have really fallen in love with online radio during the pandemic, so I am looking forward to hearing those sets and sharing some pizza with my colleagues, no doubt tweeting along a bit as well. The night before the storm that is the opening day of a big event… good company is key 🙂

    Not walking 10 miles a day

    One characteristic of my conference trips is that I end up walking many miles each day, depending on the venue. On a normal day, it’s up to 10 miles. One of the reasons why I always wear flat shoes to events.

    But this year it’s all virtual, so I have come up with a number of ways in which I am going to keep moving throughout next week: first up, standing up whenever I can, and I have a small standing desk for just that purpose. So I expect to gear up to the keynotes, panels and parallel sessions standing up at least.

    Also, being online for 10 hours a day is tiring, so mornings and evenings are going to need some walking. Fortunately most of the evening social events such as Monday’s LTHEchat or the ALT Quiz on Wednesday I will be able to participate in from my phone, so… a bit of fresh air and movement is definitely on the cards. Er… and my excuse to not inflict my singing voice on the good folk from Reclaim Hosting as we are lucky enough to have the KaraOERke master Jim Groom host the show on Wednesday night.

    Virtual hugs, but no chicken

    One of the things I miss most about running face to face events is meeting people (and hugs, too)!. It seems distant, like another era entirely, but I miss it anyway and so I am going to make an extra effort to connect with both old and new colleagues. I am going to drop by the Summit Cafe, take part in Social Bingo… I am going to tweet along #altc #altcSummit… I am going to post word into wordclouds… say hello to participants, speakers and sponsors… I am going to revel in my community.

    A community that has been through so much and kept going so long through this year… the year we all found out what a Learning Technology emergency looks like. An emergency which is now into months of duration and for which I can sense no kind of normal.

    But despite everything (and thank you, A-level results day, for adding another layer of complexity to the chaos) and maybe particularly because of everything, I am really excited. Tired, too, but also inspired that a few hundred participants from the UK, Ireland, Canada, America, Sweden, Germany, Australia, Mexico, Uruguay… and many other countries have signed up for this ride.

    I haven’t been to many virtual events that had real heart, but if OER20 is anything to go by, then this Summit should be a very special occasion indeed. It’s a milestone moment, championing everyone in Learning Technology, against a backdrop of bleakness and burnout.

    It may be that you only get a virtual hug this year… and the dancing will have to be in your own living room. But there won’t be cold conference chicken and coffee should be excellent.

    I am heartened by reading the blog posts and browsing through the programme that there is appetite for asking the hard questions, for sharing knowledge that will help meet the challenges of the next academic year… and that there is so much of our community at the heart of this Summit.

    If you want to say hello and exchange virtual hugs, ping me @marendeepwell.

    See you at the Summit #altc #altcSummit 🙂

  • Equitable home-working: things I wish I had known 3 years ago

    Equitable home-working: things I wish I had known 3 years ago

    In 2017 I spent nearly a year putting together a plan for transitioning ALT, the organisation I lead, from being office based (since 1993) to operating as a geographically distributed team. Executing the plan took another year… . Along the way to becoming not only a virtual team but also the employer of a (small) workforce that would be permanently home-based, I found out the answers to questions such as…

    • why do you need a physical address and how long does it take to sort out a PO Box that works (nearly a year…)?
    • what kind of policies do you need for GDPR for homeworkers?
    • how much does the equipment for homeworking cost?
    • what skills do homeworkers need?
    • which home-working policies actually work for permanent home-workers?
    • what’s the difference when everyone is home-based?
    • how long does the initial enthusiasm last?

    I had time to make a plan… rather than having to make the transition to homeworking with no notice as many CEOs are having to this year. Making a planned transition to becoming a distributed organisation meant that I had time to put in place a consultation process that involved the Board that governs ALT, all employees, HR professionals, lawyers, auditors and unions. The end result was a smooth transition with nearly all employees on board making the change successfully – and many of us now have a couple of years of working from home full-time under our belt.

    I now share that expertise with others who are on the same path, and continue to write a monthly blog series on leading virtual teams with Martin Hawksey. Talking about how to make a success of becoming a virtual team as made me reflect on what I wish I had known about three years ago… and I have come up with a few:

    A dedicated workspace is a must (for us).

    When I re-wrote our existing flexible working policy into a new home-working policy, one of the key questions we considered was the difference between being home-based and working remotely. We already had policies that covered things like working whilst travelling, occasional team days and so forth, so the question was whether to require employees to be permanently home-based rather than giving choice as to where they would be based, like a shared remote working space, a cafe or similar. We considered the nature of the work we do, the frequency with which we would require staff to be online working synchronously, implications of handling personal and financial information and what support we could offer to establish a functioning, long-term workspace at home. On balance, the conclusion we came to is to require employees to work from home on a permanent basis, with flexible working for when travel or similar is required.

    We developed a dedicated home-working risk assessment and annual review process, based on more traditional display-screen equipment guidance and our internal processes. And we offered equipment, a monthly home-working allowance and individual support for everyone.

    As part of the recruitment process, we set clear expectations about a dedicated work space at home and provide a self-assessment for prospective employees to reflect on the reality of working from home permanently with the support we can provide. In an ideal world, I’d love to be able to support individuals working in whatever environment suits them best and offer complete flexibility, but given that we don’t have the resources to do that being transparent and clear from the outset really helps set expectations and share responsibility for making working from home as equitable as we can.

    There are barriers (for everyone).

    Reading many of the headlines that are currently in the news about the difficulties of working from home resonates with me. Domestic abuse. Childcare. Shared homes. Limited space. Lack of equipment. Poor connectivity. Zoom backgrounds. Interruptions. Even if your domestic circumstances permit it in theory, working from home in the long term is different from doing it for a limited period or few days a week.

    I can readily understand and rejoice with those who are enjoying no more commuting. Having to travel regularly when in fact you could do your work as well or better from home is a huge burden on personal and family life as well as having a practical impact. The pandemic has shown that in many cases, work could continue from home and commuting could be drastically reduced. There are consequences for the individual, the organisation and not least all the economies that depend on regular commuters, and there are big upsides.

    If the last few years of leading a team of home-workers has taught me anything it is that there are barriers to home-working for everyone at some point. For example a house move, a change in personal circumstances (welcome to home-working whilst getting divorced!), illness, changes in physical or mental health and work-focused changes such as joining a distributed organisation, taking on a new role, parental leave and so forth.

    I really underestimated how much these factors could impact upon working from home over time and how quickly the ability to work from home becomes impacted on when you are not able to leave home and come to work physically. Supporting staff through a myriad of different situations has given me a new found respect for everyone who makes working from home work for them in the long term.

    Homeworking is (more) personal.

    Ever since I was 17 I had a job of one sort or another, many of which came with uniforms or (formal) dress codes. Getting ready for work was a thing. It still is even though like many I distinctly ‘dress down’ in comparison to what many other CEOs who work in a more traditional setting might wear.

    But regardless of what I am wearing, I still get ready for work, I still mentally switch from being ‘at home’ to ‘working’ as I climb up the stairs to my study. I need a bit of distance between home life and work even if working from home becomes ever more personal.

    Over time, I’ve become more comfortable with creating a version of my home, a part which I am comfortable to share with complete strangers – which many of my meetings are with. In return, I get glimpses of unfamiliar kitchens and bedrooms, toddlers and cats.

    It’s a tough situation when it’s hot or when you are having a bad day. It is a real challenge when things go south and you find yourself amidst a crisis. And we all have been having a lot of crisis recently.

    My vision of working from home had more do with freedom and flexibility and less with keeping safe in a pandemic – but regardless of circumstance, there are days when professionalism and detachment are needed as well as compassion and care. Others will probably have similar experiences to draw on, times when there was someone in distress on the other end of that Zoom call, times when they needed you to fight their corner or defend them or negotiate. When I deal with things that are tough I sometimes wish I wasn’t at home, all up close and personal with whatever disaster has struck.

    There are days when I feel vulnerable as a home-worker in ways that make me miss working in a dedicated work environment, a place I could leave at the end of the day to retreat home to relative safety. When I could leave work at work more easily.

    After three years, I love working from home. I feel privileged to be able to make it work. That said, the longer I work from home the more I realise equitable home-working is still quite a way off.

  • How we survived a pandemic: Part 3 – Ups and Downs (and sideways) of life as a virtual team

    This is a conversational blog post (cross-posted here) between Martin Hawksey (@mhawksey) and Maren Deepwell (@marendeepwell). We are using this approach to create some space to think together in ‘unprecedented times’. 

    For regular readers this is a slight departure from our regular ‘Virtual Teams’ posts (you can read those on our Virtual Teams summary page) taking a broader view of work whilst midst global pandemic. 

    In this month’s post we share some thoughts prompted by our joint talk at a virtual team day held by the Centre for Teaching and Learning at the University of Oxford. You can access the slides from our talk here (CC-BY-SA). As we pass 100 days since the lockdown in the UK commenced we discuss the impact and look to the future as the measures start to be eased.

    June and July… 

    Maren: It has certainly been an interesting 100 days and counting, since our virtual team started working in lockdown conditions. Now that these conditions are gradually easing and parts of life are returning to normal, we are receiving requests every week from organisations who are considering adopting working as a virtual team as their ‘new normal’. Every few days I have calls with senior managers who are trying to decide whether they still need a physical office, managers whose employees want to have more flexibility, less commuting and more virtual collaboration. We talk through things like PO boxes, GDPR for home-workers, financial support and line management – but we also talk about the reasons for such a shift, how important it is to think through strategy and values underlying those moves to virtual teams. More and more I worry that there is a lot that is being left behind, particularly messy HR problems, access issues and long term implications of not meeting in person. For a lot of people I speak to, endless Zoom meetings or Microsoft Teams is all they have to go on when they start to think about what their virtual work world will look like. When I started thinking about what our team would look like online, I must say that tools for video conferencing were not even on my list! I was thinking about consulting employees, drafting what I wanted to be the most equitable changes to employment contracts and setting out a blended model of working together that saved some costs, but also budgeted for others such as team days in person, equipment, travel costs, home-working allowances and so forth. The current situation is a great prompt to reflect. 

    Martin: In the case of ALT we have an established distributed working culture and when we do have vacancies in our organisation often people want to work for us because we operate remotely. This contrasts sharply to institutions suddenly finding themselves having to organise themselves remotely where existing staff miss the benefits of being co-located. In my own journey as a remote worker and as part of ALT’s move to a distributed organization having a transition period where you could still spend time in the office I would say was essential. It’s also interesting to reflect on the impact the current situation has on established remote workers. Many, including myself, have gone from having your own dedicated workspace to suddenly discovering this has become a shared workspace with other members of your household. It’s 7+ years since I’ve had to share an office and back then video conferencing was certainly less predominant. Throw into the mix childcare and home schooling and suddenly even established remote workers are also having to rediscover ways to make things work. In preparing for our talk for the University of Oxford it was a useful reminder that whilst ALT is a distributed organisation there has always been a recognition of the importance of face-to-face time both one-to-one and through team away days. 100+ days of social distancing also means ALT as an organisation has now missed two of our regular face-to-face team days. In some ways I’ve not missed our away days, perhaps given the current situation travel is the last thing on my mind, but also the benefit of time together is more nuanced. As chief executive have you seen a bigger impact? 

    Maren: I do really miss our face-to-face away days and the opportunities to meet individuals in person, even though like you I am not missing the travel just now. Indeed, I am not sure I would feel comfortable to travel for work yet and I am glad that we have already decided as an organisation not to travel until at least October, at which time we will review the situation again. I find however that the longer the period is that we do not meet up as a team the more I feel the impact of not having more informal catch ups. As you have mentioned, many of us are not able to easily find a quiet spot for a conversation in our lock-down homes, and even when you are not surrounded by family, there is a lot going on within the home environment that can be distracting. All of which makes it more difficult to really focus on conversations, particularly in a Line Management context. Fellow CEOs I talk to are finding they are similarly experiencing some deterioration in those important relationships. Some people find it easier to establish an equivalent level of trust and exchange than others. Ideas we have tried to create different kinds of spaces to interact in are:

    • Meeting around documents
    • Walk and talk conversations on the phone, whilst we go for a walk individually
    • Good old-fashioned phone calls
    • Virtual get togethers for social occasions such as birthdays

    In year one of us being a virtual team, we had a lot of change to cope with but enthusiasm was high. Year two was mostly about settling into being a virtual team and ironing out less straightforward issues. We strengthened policies for home working and collaboration that made our way of working more robust and sustainable. Year three started off with a new strategic vision to take us further, to build on what we had established and six months in we have a completely different business model and context to contend with. What I am thinking about really is what year four should look like… . I read a lot about a desire not to return to the old ways, but I don’t really empathise because the way in which we work as an organisation had already departed from the traditional model well before the pandemic forced many into the great online pivot. Personally, I wouldn’t relish a professional life without face-to-face interaction with colleagues or Members. I miss it. 

    Martin: It’s interesting to think back to the start of this year pre-pandemic as one of my personal resolutions was to reduce the amount of air travel I did for work. I was doing well, booking trains 90 days in advance to get the best tickets, getting to see summer lovely sun rises on the East coast line …

    Traveling by train also was proving more effective in opportunities to work while traveling, being mindful of my working hours. There were some downsides, for example, a 3 hour delay on a train from Kings Cross which ended up getting home after 2am, was a long and painful journey. Looking forward using a 90 day booking window still feels problematic given the virality of COVID-19 and the risk of localised outbreaks and any restrictions that might be imposed. The thought of sitting on a train, or any other public transport, with a face mask on also doesn’t fill me with enthusiasm, so do I drive, borrow my parents motorhome? Without an effective vaccine in place I find it hard to see when our next face-to-face will be. I’m not sure what the impact of this will be, or even if there has already been an impact but hidden in a general need to adjust our operational plans? Another factor I think needs to be taken into account is any social anxiety that may have developed whilst we have all been in isolation. 

    Maren: That is a really interesting point. When I recently started to receive invitations to face-to-face events which require travel I thought it would be useful to ask everyone in the team to provide input to our approach from October onwards. I have put in place a feedback form that I hope we can complete every few weeks or months to ask individuals about their personal preferences regarding travel, having meetings or catch ups face-to-face and also going to events – taking into account their personal circumstances and wellbeing. The differences between colleagues who live in different parts of the UK even in our small team have really become clear to me in recent weeks, particularly as the lock-down in Wales, where I live, was last to lift. Meanwhile, talking to colleagues further afield, and hearing their experiences of resuming travel, haircuts and meals out has been heartening as it gives me a sense that in many parts of the world days and weeks are slowly becoming a bit more normal. My first ventures out for an emergency dentist visit, MOT and bakery were quickly followed by making an appointment for a haircut (yay!) and a socially distanced BBQ with friends. It’s nice to hear positive experiences starting to surface after a long period of bleakness. 

    Martin: After a long period of lock down it’s nice to see easing of some of the social distancing measures. For me it feels like after what felt like an age of restricted activity things are speeding up in terms of getting back to some sort of ‘normality’. It will be interesting to revisit this conversation in 4 weeks time to see if we are on a continued positive trajectory. Until next time dear readers stay safe.

  • Still broadcasting on #ds106radio

    It’s the middle of July… and ever since March every Sunday evening three of us, Tannis, Anne-Marie & me, have been meeting up on Radio DS106 http://ds106rad.io/listen/ .

    This little online radio venture started as a crisis support for each other and our listeners. We met up once a week to share lock down tales and even though the immediate crisis has started to relax somewhat in our day to day lives I value the connection and shared Sunday evenings even more now than I did a few months ago.

    It’s a pleasure to meet up and see how everyone is getting on… and shared some tunes along the way (have a look at this playlist of summertime tunes – complete with the Pixies, Cure and Kinks 😉 ).

    It’s great to have a window into how others are doing getting back into the swing of some kind of everyday normality outside of work and my immediate high street. It’s reassuring to see how long it takes for others, not just me, to adjust again.

    We are now talking of first trips… days away from home… new pets… things that a few months ago we didn’t have any hope of doing. And that is a great win for all of us, taking our first careful (and masked) steps back into a more social life.

    I am super grateful to my friends, Anne-Marie and Tannis, for making it all possible and keeping it going. It’s been simply amazing and I look forward to it each week.

    See you on the airwaves and we hope you stay safe & well x

  • No Annual Conference, but a Summer Summit #altc #altcSummit

    Usually at this time of year I start to blog about what’s coming up at ALT’s Annual Conference in September. For over ten years this event has shaped my working life, setting the rhythm of when things go from busy to frantic. It’s not ‘just a conference’, but also a focus point around which engagement in activities that happen at other times of the year is planned (find our more).

    When ALT’s Board of Trustees took the difficult decision to not hold an Annual Conference until 2021, I felt that as an organisation we made the best decision. We put the well-being of everyone involved first as it was very clear that we couldn’t manage the risks involved in holding a large international event with over 500 people in London this autumn. Or indeed at the start of what is looking to be a very demanding academic year for everyone in Learning Technology.

    Yet the need to share knowledge, to learn from each others practice and research is more urgent now as Learning Technology has moved centre stage. Hence we are organising a virtual Summer Summit over 2 days, 26-27 August 2020 – and I am getting really excited about what’s in store.

    From the crisis drop ins, weekly webinars and Members’ feedback in recent months we have picked up topics which are most urgent such as virtual labs, digital inclusion, well being and scaling up blended and fully online provision and for each of these and more there will be practical, parallel sessions running throughout the programme.

    We have put an issue that concerns us all at the heart of the summit, and are fortunate that Angela Saini will be joining the summit for a special Q&A session #BlackLivesMatter.

    Building on the recent success of #GastaGoesGlobal, a special ‘Crisis & Care’ Gasta session features doctoral researchers from the Global OER Graduate Network (GO-GN) and will be chaired in the best #altc GASTA tradition by Dr Tom Farrelly, Institute of Technology, Tralee (ITT).

    Alongside a wonderful line up of featured speakers, we have also been thinking hard about how to translate some of what makes our events special into a new online format. We want to not look at a grid of faces for two days running, so asynchronous sessions are in the programme, too, as well as a quiz, radio and… karaOERke…! There may even be a 2020 #altc community portrait 🙂

    Registration for the Summit is open and tickets are £49 and free scholarship places are available. Register to get access to live sessions, recordings and resources and join us for what is promising to be a very special two days this August #altcSummit.