Teraknor

I think 2016 is entirely the fault of Peppa Arrrrggggghhh ... I cannot bear it, as the notional year ends, our planet completes another orbit unaware of the churnalistic detritus being committed in the name of 'news'. Everyone is at it and wtf, I made the same mistake ( once and once alone ). Stop the meh churnalisms - most of us wish to forget ... 2016 was officially shit. 2017 isn't looking particularly cheerful at the moment. I would rather read five reasons why Peppa Pig prefers Danish bacon. Future saying is no better, what are the next cybersecurity threats likely to be - erm, an attack on something/someone big. Again this could be an IoT enabled Peppa Pig - what are the chances? Who is likely to croak in 2017 - your guess is as good as mine. Considering the state of some nations - the untimely demise of Peppa Pig may rally an unexpected reaction. Especially if you are under five years of age. Now you are wondering if I am anti Peppa Pig - try watching it ...

Take the time to look through my attached slidedeck - presented at this years - SocMedHE16 conference.  Periscope and Facebook Live both offer educators an opportunity to extend their ‘typical’ teaching and learning experience into the domains occupied by different social media paradigms. Both are live video streaming technologies – enabling individuals to broadcast live events in an (almost) real time format. Each entrenched in affordances of their own host system – Periscope is for Twitter, as Facebook Live is for Facebook. Avoiding the obvious, it is clear that Facebook and Twitter serve different social media communities. However, with tools available to interconnect Facebook and Twitter. Live streaming Internet broadcast quality video content can transcend either platform and the behaviours of their respective communities of practice (Lave 1991) . Teaching networking has already been accomplished using Periscope – by virtue that this platform was released a clear year...

My inner cynic and nascent grumpy old man often sees certain job advertisements through a lens of 'so what'. The one that offers the 'exciting opportunity', is only seeking those who are 'passionate' and 'motivated', especially if they are 'enthusiastic'. Dear recruiters and job advert copy writers ... STOP IT. You are not recruiting imbeciles, you are asking for traits that everyone wants and has in differing portions. Am I passionate ... yes, am I motivated ... 'of course', can I be enthusiastic ... 'most of the time', so long as you do not expect a sycophant. While this article is a little dated, it does prove the point I am trying to make. I think it is time that recruiters are ... Realistic Using more interesting adjectives (and probably more honest ones as well). So, can all opportunities be exciting - I doubt it, however some are always more interesting than others.

One of the pleasures of my job is that every week is different - I could be at home, on campus, elsewhere. Meeting some interesting souls - again, on campus, from the comfort of my home office or elsewhere. Then someone asks - how has your week been? Great, good, wonderful etc. As you may have guessed, some then say what did you do - then brain stutters for a moment. Some weeks are so varied I am trying to recall what happened when on what day. How does this affect others - the mind trying to recall what happened amidst the myriad week.

I will leave you to translate the title - the best that Google translate can offer. After all, it is not an numbers game and nor should it be. Like a Pavlovian canine, someone rings a numbers bell and we are encouraged to respond like the poor mutts in his historic experiments. The temptation is to follow the numbers, they actually give little satisfaction. However, the numbers when played wisely can be a source of considerable opportunity. Just don't blindly follow them or be given to their whimsical charm. As a team - we are on a mission, where we understand the numbers. However, personally and professionally you are equally interesting if you have 4 or 400 students studying on your programmes.