We've all got to go...
Tag: The Open University
Retirement/retiring, 18 months in… an update
day in a library no longer feels wicked, like it's been stolen from teaching activities. OK, it never should have felt like that, since research was allegedly part of the job, but ...
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?
Letter to the VC: or, what academics do all the time
Back in December 2015, the then-newish Vice Chancellor - in post for about 7 months - attended Arts Faculty Committee, when the whole of what was then the Arts Faculty came together, and addressed the assembled masses. I think I was the first person to ask a question when the session was opened up to… Continue reading Letter to the VC: or, what academics do all the time
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...!
The first day at university
Your experience of 'going to university' isn't necessarily the same as anyone else's experience, and that's fine. There isn't just one way of doing it.
Housework for academics
I had this feeling that the house would be a lot cleaner once I'd retired. This has proven to be completely untrue, but today I suddenly realised why. Before I reveal all, let's just think about academics and housework more generally. First, cleaners: we don't have one. Lots of my academic friends do, whether they… Continue reading Housework for academics
Redundancy in universities
(written before The Open University began its extensive voluntary severance programme in 2018, but with a few relevant additions in italics...) It's déjà vu all over again... I had a bad case of déjà vu this week, as the universities of Manchester, Aberystwyth and Sunderland announced job cuts. I went through this at Reading in 2010… Continue reading Redundancy in universities
The agony of marking
It's that season, yet again. For UK academics, term has ended, and coursework marking has begun. Soon to come: marking dissertations, followed by marking exams. I gave up marking when I moved to The Open University in 2011, as there it's done by the associate lecturers (aka 'tutors'), so all that was left for me… Continue reading The agony of marking
‘Helen and the Mentors’: life in a MOOC
The last thing I did at The Open University before leaving was to produce a MOOC, a Massive Open Online Course (still available here). I'm so glad I did this, because the challenge of writing around 35,000 words that took advantage of the FutureLearn platform - arranged in 'steps' of 750 words or five minutes… Continue reading ‘Helen and the Mentors’: life in a MOOC
The retiring academic 