Sugar cubes: Dietmar Rabich / Wikimedia Commons / “Würfelzucker -- 2018 -- 3582” / CC BY-SA 4.0 When you reach the age of 60, the UK NHS offers you some exciting experiences - or at least that was the case before the pandemic. There's a one-off general health check, which wasn't very encouraging about my body weight, but at that point I didn't… Continue reading Sugar, sugar…
Category: Learning
Closure at the Open University?
So now all those who work at The Open University may finally have some 'closure': Peter Horrocks, the Vice-Chancellor, is going and the future suddenly looks a lot more open than it did a week ago. The acting V-C, Professor Mary Kellett, is in place and has issued a widely-welcomed message in which she calls… Continue reading Closure at the Open University?
Am I a ‘teacher’? Apparently not.
Is what central academics at The Open University 'teaching'? Apparently not. Just wondering why we write all the teaching materials, then...!
Traitor to the cause? Why I wrote a MOOC
After I handed in my notice, I could have let things wind down gradually. The Open University requires a long notice period, six months, but unlike brick universities it doesn't have just a couple of days in each year on which you are allowed to go, so I could pick my time. However, I delayed this… Continue reading Traitor to the cause? Why I wrote a MOOC
The times I taught well
Some students love the way you teach: others don't. That's just a fact, and if you're going to survive the end-of-module evaluations, you'd better accept it. I've been thinking again about teaching after an exchange with one of our MA students last week. He was mildly concerned that he wasn't taking many notes from the… Continue reading The times I taught well
Learning how to retire: and stop being a Good Girl
Helpful training for saying 'no'
The retiring academic 