Teraknor

Having been a bit on the 'busy' side for a little while I have not had much time to sit back, think and contemplate an article for this blog. Not that there hasn't been much happening, more that some of it is probably beyond blogworthiness at this moment (so watch this space). However, here is a thought ... I get to meet many educators in many situations and with this I often encounter a mentality that 'marketing' isn't doing their job properly. Having stuck at this education lark since the mid nineties I have some news for everyone - we were all complaining that marketing wasn't doing their job properly even when we had more students than we could shake a stick at. Personally, I prefer to try and work with the marketing and comms types ... we do see things differently they are not always perfect ... but dear academics nor are we, in fact they often find us to be amongst the most awkward bunch of cantankerous sods ever to walk this planet. Having wor...

As an experienced educator, having moved from industry into traditional ‘in class’ teaching then onto distance learning. Exploring what learning means both fascinates and bemuses me. Intrigued at how educators stick to old ideas in the face of new experiences that have actually been in common practice for an adult lifetime. Students who embrace new technologies yet like some traditions that have been with mankind for millennia. My day job is managing our own version of the Cisco Networking Academy programme within the UK Open University. Avoiding painful marketing hype, we typically reach around four hundred students, every year who wish to study the CCNA via distance learning. Their study mode is hybrid, a blend of inclass via day schools and at home using network simulators, remote labs, online content and complementing assessment. Combining traditions from the Cisco Networking Academy as well as the Open University, the reach over many years has been considerable. Yet, a ...

I noticed that I have not posted a blog entry for about two weeks. Not a worrisome prospect as one expects a natural ebb and flow when using social media. Sometimes there is too much pressure to publish, to perform and put something out there for the sake of it (like this post, maybe). However, I do get souls that tell me they struggle to find 'stuff' to write. Then don't, blogging is like breathing, it is best done without any effort. Forcing it makes it such hard work.