Maren Deepwell

Category: things I like

  • #altc: a personal history

    #altc: a personal history

    It’s this time of year again! Time to prepare for ALT’s Annual Conference, pack your gadgets, conference shoes, pin badges, stickers, research notes and gala dinner outfit(s) and make your way to Warwick or indeed online (although in that case most of the above applies likely only to the top half of you which may be on camera 🙂 . Also, don’t forget to pack a piece of #edtech or #altc history for the onsite display/museum. It’s a collaborative effort and only as good as what we can bring together.

    I am VERY MUCH looking forward to this year’s editions of our conference, and I hope you are, too. It’s no small feat to run a successful conference for THIRTY years, and I am so proud to have been to quite a few (but definitely not the most, as plenty of others have been to more).

    Before we jump into the fun, here is the usual reminder to register if you haven’t done so, as the early bird deadline is approaching (6 August 2023).

    Why I love this conference!

    As you can tell from the long list of posts below, I am a big fan of our conference, and over the years I have reflected a lot on why that is – and why it matters. Having worked my way through the posts (and pictures) from 2008 to this year, I have come up with three things that I feel make a big difference to this event, and that to me make it very special indeed.

    Obviously, as the CEO of the organisation that organises the conference it’s part of my job to be its strategic cheerleader and ambassador (just as it will be Billy’s when he becomes the next CEO of ALT in a month’s time). Part of my role involves working closely with the Co-Chairs and our Conference Committee ( fantastic volunteers led with vision and great commitment by Santanu and Lawrie this year), our partners and sponsors (who always make a huge difference to the success of the event) and speakers, Trustees, ALT Members and staff not just during the event, but also for the months leading up to it. My year very much revolves around the conference project plan, as do my holiday plans (June, before it gets manic, and late September, to recover).

    Since I joined ALT in 2008 there’s been no quiet summer for me (or indeed my fabulous colleagues who work their socks off while most other people in education try to fit in some sort of well earned break). Instead, at this time of year my days get longer, my inbox gets busier and the quality time I spend with risk registers increases exponentially.

    Each year, things go wrong, and each year we try to improve and evolve aspects of the conference. We learn, we try again, differently, harder. I am all too aware that we don’t always get things right, and that there is always more we could do. And yet I have seen many other events come and go in the past 15 years, and ours is still here, still relevant and it still matters.

    Here is why I think that is (and I am looking forward to learning what you think):

    C stands for… collaboration, community and… criticality

    Over the years, our conference has become the thing ALT is most closely associated with. I meet many who call ALT by the hashtag, and in many ways I have always been delighted that in this context the letter ‘c’ can stand for not only the word conference, but also collaboration and community.

    In many ways, the conference is an engine of collaboration for our community, forging new connections and reinvigorating partnerships and networks across sectors. It’s where many projects start, and friendships are formed. I am always amazed by how much inspiration we bring together over the three days.

    Importantly, and not in common with all that many other events of this nature, the c also stands for criticality. And that element is absolutely crucial. As the professional body for Learning Technology we are obviously aiming to spread knowledge, to share expertise and to advocate for professional recognition, in short we want to make everyone more aware of how important our field is and how impactful the work of the professionals we represent is. We are also aware, however, that the intelligent use of digital technology in education requires us to be critical, to reflect and examine its impact, its history and theory and its wider context.

    I often hear first time delegates who are surprised (and pleased) that not every session at the conference is a glowing review or enthusiastic case study for a new tool or platform and that you are likely to step into just as many sessions who share lessons learnt of when things went wrong, or exploring ethical conundrums.

    This year’s keynote line up reflects this aspect of our conference very strongly and I am proud that over the past ten years we have used this international platform to amplify the voices of influential thinkers like Tressie Mcmillan Cottom and Audrey Watters.

    #altc is not just for September

    There is no doubt that the conference is a huge highlight of the year for our community. So much happens in the conference week, from our Annual General Meeting (my last as CEO as I will be stepping down and handing over to Billy on that day) to the Learning Technologist of the Year Awards, to the CMALT Ceremony and the Honorary Life Membership Award as well as launching new initiatives like this year’s launch of the first ever apprenticeship ALT has formally endorsed and new projects for CMALT, our professional accreditation scheme.

    Each year, the conference brings together a huge concentration of activity and engagement, encouraging Members to get involved in a whole range of activities and groups and inviting newcomers to join ALT and discover the valuable support, connections and resources we share.

    And yet, unlike many communities that are grouped around a particular conference and only come together once a year, we work together on a packed calendar of events, publications, news and policy developments throughout the year.

    Our conference may be our biggest showcase, and yet there are so many other highlights throughout the year that it is hard to mention only a few. Preparing my handover for our new CEO has given me a renewed appreciation just how much we do as an Association and how many separate activities, groups, committees and milestones there are throughout the #altc year.

    That is one of the key reasons why this conference is so special: it’s not organised by a production company or an events department in isolation, bringing together well known names with no other connection than that they are suddenly on the same agenda together. Instead, it’s a community-led event, that is shaped by the work, and the thinking, that goes on day in day out. At it’s best, our conference is welcoming and warm, and ‘meticulously informal’ in just the right measure.

    The people who help organise it, the speakers who submit proposals, the participants who register… the majority of the hundreds of people who we see each September are likely connected to ALT already in one way or another. They may not be able to come each and every year, but they have voted with their feet since 1993… and they have voted to come back again and again.

    We foster empowered edtech professionalism

    When I closed my keynote in 2018, a wonderfully nerve-racking talk I won’t soon forget, I quoted a Public Enemy song lyric from Harder Than You Think:

    If you don’t stand for somethin’
    You fall for anything

    Public Enemy

    That sentiment still rings true to me today, nearly five years later, and forgive me if I quote my own words here:

    When we ask who shapes the future of Learning Technology – my hope is that we don’t leave it up to others. My hope is that we continue to participate in the conversation, that we make our voices heard and listen to others.

    When I first stood in this theatre in 2009 I saw great potential in what could be achieved by this community and I wanted to contribute to it. Nearly 10 years later I have seen parts of that vision come true, but there are much bigger things still to come.

    And that is up to all of us. So I invite you to share your hopes, your vision and make your own voice heard.

    My altc Keynote 2018

    What I saw first in 2009, and then talked about in my keynote in 2018 still stands today. This year, as we gather once again, I look forward to seeing the process of shaping the future of Learning Technology in practice, through the vision and the voices of our community.

    That is why I love this conference and I look forward to celebrating thirty years of this very special event together with you all, with our Trustees and staff, and with our new CEO, in a few weeks time in Warwick and online.

    My #altc blog post retrospective

    Image credit: Picture by Chris Bull for Association for Learning Technology ALT conference 2019 , Edinburgh.rDay two – Wednesday 4th September.rrwww.chrisbullphotographer.com

  • 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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  • 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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  • Running. Trials and tribulations.

    Running. Trials and tribulations.

    I have been blogging about getting back into running for the past two years. This journey back into running has felt really tough at times, and at the same time I am well aware that it doesn’t signify in the face of what many others face daily, especially in these often gloomy times.

    This is blogging as personal record keeping, and as such only really of interest if you are prepared to suspend the ‘so what!?!?’ instinct for a while.

    The story so far

    In 2021, I blogged about reclaiming my morning run, and making my way back to running… little did I know that shortly after I wrote those posts I would have to stop not only running but exercise all together for a long while. Then in December 2022 I tried to get back into it again… and now, six months later I have (I hope) finally reached a new milestone.

    Rather than blogging about hoping to get back into running, I am now actually running. Phew! and YAY!

    Last month I ran 5k for the second time this year and now I am back to running 3-4 times a week, slowly working my way up from 5k to 10k and beyond. I’m blogging about this (admittedly unimpressive) achievement not because of what I did, slowly plod along for 3 miles on a sunny Sunday, but because of what it represents to me: this run was very hard won.

    At the start of this year I finally recovered from a serious, year-long shoulder injury. It took far more time, money and effort to restore my shoulder to normal mobility than I ever imagined and once I was able to get dressed on my own again and attend a gentle yoga class, I assumed the job was done. I felt ready to return to my usual activities.

    As I’d kept working throughout most of the year that I was injured, taking some days off for hospital treatment and physio, and kept doing lots of things as normally as possible, it didn’t really sink in for a while how much strength, flexibility and fitness I’d lost overall, or how much physical confidence.

    Fortunately I can afford to keep going to see my physio every 4 weeks, and with his help I started the long journey back to being able to do things. Obviously day to day activities were the main focus of my recovery: being able to get dressed again on my own, getting things from kitchen cupboards.. being able to walk the dogs on my own. Being able to travel for work, carrying a laptop case and so on. Physical exercise however did and continues to play an important role as it helps not only my body but also my mental health.

    Running, which has long been my most effective coping strategy for a stressful and demanding week, started 30 seconds at a time. Then a minute. Then two.

    After 3-4 months, over the course of this spring, I got used to doing 30 min of exercise again. A big achievement. Although my phone unhelpfully reminded me that by every measure my efforts were ‘below average’, it meant a lot of progress for me. My yoga teacher was a big source of encouragement and helped me find some joy in moving my arms and legs, tentatively at first, fearful of pain and injury.

    Brief rant about sports bras

    Although I appreciate the sentiment that all you need for running is a pair of trainers and to head out of the door, my experience as a curvy middle aged woman has never really lived up to that. Anyone who’s ever wrestled into a sports bra with a 5 hook fastening at the back will appreciate that the combination of a shoulder injury that reduces mobility + getting back into running is not fun. I am still waiting for the promise of technology and design to deliver the hype that every single new overpriced sports bra promises for me and all the other people frequenting chat forums on chaffing and avoiding bounce.

    Mind AND matter

    I’ve always run for primarily my mental health, finding calm and release in the ritual of heading out in the mornings. In my most anxious years, I ran nearly every morning, capturing serene sunrises in all seasons. I also ran to raise money for the cancer charities supporting my mum’s recovery from lymphoma, and gradually half marathons became an achievable goal. Running felt empowering and gave me balance, as well as a connection to the outside world that I have missed a lot during the past few years when my weekly milage was low or nonexistent.

    Once I got some fitness back and managed to get out of the door regularly, I was expecting things to get easier, but my body and my mind were not happy to cooperate. I had every ache and pain in the book after just minutes of running and a sense of fear and panic that was not helpful at all. A mile seemed entirely unachievable.

    After a few weeks of being stopped in my tracks by this mental block, I tried a different approach: I tried a running meditation, headed out and had only one goal: run slowly for 5k and don’t stop no matter what. Slow down if you need to (I did) but do not stop. And… it worked. Mind AND matter, with a lot of help for the mind.

    Now, a few weeks on, I am back to a regular routine, a very gentle one, but a routine nonetheless, for the first time in a long time and it feels great. I am back to listening to music or just letting my thoughts wander, enjoying the feeling that I have a bit of my morning all to myself before another busy day begins.

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  • Tips for a week of complete rest

    Tips for a week of complete rest

    It’s the last day of my holidays today, and it’s been fantastic to have some time off work. It’s been quite a long time since I last went on a holiday trip abroad, and we had a week in Greece, which is not only my favourite foodie destination but also a country where I spent holidays when I was a kid and I thus have a lot of fond memories of this beautiful country.

    The last few months, in the middle of a career transition and at the start of setting up my new business, have been BUSY. So this past week has been very precious time to rest and recharge. And there was a lot of that, fortunately.

    The one downside of the holiday was that the travel in both directions turned out to be a lot more involved than hoped for and we arrived after midnight in both directions, but that was the only downside of the trip.

    View from the balcony to the Cretan coast

    My partner and I had a lot of plans for trips and exploring the island, but enjoyed the rest and exercise we had on our doorstep so much, that we focused on that instead. I loved having time for yoga, running, mini golf and plenty of reading at the pool and no emails, professional online presence, creating content or work on my business at all.

    It’s taken me a long time to be able to step away from all types of work all together, and for me, having a complete week off is a big milestone.. as well as a reflection of how busy I have recently been in every aspect of my practice. I felt depleted enough to be motivated to have a complete break.

    I took some practical steps to ensure that I had a complete break, and I wanted to share some tips that worked for me in the past week:

    • I completed a holiday handover, with my amazing colleagues and deputy, and then logged off all work systems completely on my last day at work;
    • No laptops came on holiday, and all computers at home where switched off when work ended;
    • I deleted all work-related apps from my phone or switched notifications off completely, included direct messaging, emails, and task management apps;
    • I logged out of/deleted all social media apps, like Twitter and LinkedIn, that I only use in a professional context;
    • calendar notifications were switched off or paused
    • A simply note to make a list of anything that I thought of, which were work related and which I wanted to pick up upon my return;
    • I intentionally packed books, audiobooks and other entertainment that would help me focus on things other than work.
    Me on holiday eating a dessert

    Now that I am back from my break, I feel much more rested and relaxed, and I have enjoyed taking a step back. It’s given me a different perspective which feels helpful in lots of ways. Here are some things I am doing to ease myself back into my busy schedule…

    • Plan for a balanced week, which includes realistic goals, not ALL the things that I left undone when I went on holiday;
    • Make time for fun and self care;
    • Focus on habits that safeguard the energy I have gathered during my time off, such as making time for exercise, sleeping, breaks during the day, and so forth;
    • Give myself time to reflect on my trip and how I feel to be back at home (plus cuddling our dogs, which I have really missed a lot).

    One thing that has stayed with me is how much I enjoyed a break in a new place, days filled with new experiences. It’s been a long time since I had that much ‘newness’ packed into a single week, and that has given me a lot of joy.

  • #IWD2023: A personal moment of gratitude

    For the past ten years, I have focused on celebrating International Women’s Day in a professional context, and I am lucky indeed to be part of networks and groups that help me grow and learn about equality and equity in education and the non-profit sector. Ever since my student days I have found so much inspiration and strength in the people I work with and I am grateful indeed to all the amazing colleagues, collaborators and co-conspirators I have know. I salute you!

    This year, as I am in the middle of a career transition and a bit overloaded with online activity just now, I want to take a more personal approach, and use this International Women’s Day for a moment of personal gratitude: gratitude for the women in my life whom I don’t often talk about on this blog: my friends and family, my personal network.

    Growing and learning and contributing is never done in isolation, and I am grateful indeed for the inspiration, support and appreciation that keep me going no matter what the day may bring.

    Image of a typewritten page with the words thank you in different languages.
    Photo by Wilhelm Gunkel on Unsplash