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Hi I'm Chetna. I'm originally from India and currently in Helsinki. I have a background in Peace and Conflict studies and Communication. I taught History and Political Science to middle and high school students in India. I am looking forward to finally learning the principles behind designing online courses and getting expert advice. It was very difficult when we were thrown into it suddenly during the pandemic. Hoping to put things into perspective. Looking forward to learning from everyone here!

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Hi my name is Mairead Bermingham. I am a senior teaching fellow working at the Usher Institute.  I am currently involved in the design and development of our newly launched online programme in ‘Data Science for Health and Social Care'.  I am relatively new to online teaching, so I am really excited to see what I can bring from the IDEL course and the ‘Digital Education’ programme as whole in to my practice.

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Hi everyone.

I am Pauline Namulomba Nchemba from Zambia a country which is found in the southern part of Africa.

I am a Librarian and I am also working as E-learning Coordinator at the Levy Mwanawasa Medical University- School of Medicine and Clinical Sciences found in the city of Lusaka. I also do teach Communication Skills. The MSc. Digital Education Programme is critical for me with regards to my added responsibility as E-learning Coordinator.

I am Tonga by tribe and Cattle is our Tribe's Heritage and they are my favorite animals. I couldn’t find a better current learning environment space picture for myself but I have put up a picture of the Victoria (The Smoke That Thunders) which is one of the world’s largest waterfalls and our pride as a nation/country. Within the falls is a rainbow and I pick the yellow theme of the rainbow as I journey through this programme. Yellow symbolizes full energy and vibrancy of which I come with and hope to bring to the programme knowing very well how bright the future is and what happiness the successful completion of this programme will bring on me both at personal and professional level as it will enhance my critical thinking skills leading to proper clarity of thoughts in mind and improved decision making skills with regards to digital education.

I have highlighted above my heritage and our nation's pride knowing very well that context- culture and personal values for example, count in education and must be reflected in the digital space.

I am happy to be part of the programme and looking forward to an engaged learning experience with all of you both instructors and fellow students.

All the best.

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Hi there. I live in Eswatini, formerly Swaziland in southern Africa. I am a researcher and academic interested in looking at how teaching and learning is evolving in our century. This is one of the reasons why I am into Didital Education.

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Hi everyone, I can see I am a little late joining in here.
I'm Nicola and I'm from Swansea in South Wales. I have been a FE college lecturer at Neath Port Talbot College for over 20 years and more recently taken on the role of Digital Learning Coordinator at NPTC.
I have always had a keen interest in digital education having spent most of my teaching time at NPTC in the school of Computing and IT. I am also a tutor on our PGCE course helping our trainee tutors develop their digital skills for their teaching. My new role as Digital Learning Coordinator has me heavily involved in staff development and our college wide CPD plans.
The past 2 years has seen such huge and forced changes in education and I have been involved in supporting staff at NPTC with adapting their delivery for remote and online teaching. Whilst this has been an exciting time to be part of this shift in delivery mode, my concerns now are that as we return to classroom delivery we fail to continue our development in the online environment for teaching and learning. I have seen both students and staff develop innovative digital educational communities and it is important to remain present in these digital worlds not forget what we have learnt and return to traditional methods.
I am looking forward to starting this course with you all and am particularly keen to develop my skills and knowledge in digital course design and seeing what new ideas I can bring back to NPTC.

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Hello! I am Marilena and I am originally from Italy (Sicily, a very worm place)!!!! Since 2017, I live in Edinburgh, and I am a researcher in Immunology and regeneration Medicine. During my career I had the opportunity to teach a lot of students, and to supervise both undergraduates and postgraduates students. When the Covid-19 came in 2020, my teaching and supervision activity changed drastically, and I started to think about Digital education. I am particularly interested to find a practical application of Digital education to my fields, in particular to the laboratory activities (I just found how difficult is to engage students in lab activities when they are not in presence!). I am sure this course will develop my very basic knowledge, and it will open new opportunities and new strategies to improve my skills.

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Hi everyone, my name is Kate and I live in a village about 20 minutes north of Cambridge.

I am glad to see that people have posted images that are not of themselves (I am definitely not one for selfies) so I thought I'd do the same and share an image from a fantastic trip I took in 2015 to the southern states of the USA - this picture is from the Great Smokey Mountains in Tennessee.

Since 2009 I have worked for awarding bodies developing syllabuses and specimen exam papers. I first worked at OCR and now work at Cambridge International. Working on international qualifications, although extremely interesting, certainly brings challenges when we deal with so many different countries who all have different needs and expectations.

I am particularly looking forward to this course to see how digital education can be used in high stakes summative assessment.

I am also looking forward to seeing all of your ideas and experiences and how this can develop my own knowledge moving forward :-)

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Hello everyone. My name is Joanna and I am a Lecturer within the the Dept. of Counselling, Psychotherapy and Applied Social Science, School of Health in Social Science (HiSS), here at the University of Edinburgh. I live south west of Newcastle with my partner, and our two rescue cats: Martha (grey mum) and Lily (calico and rather naughty kitten), who often join me during online tutorial sessions and meetings with students. However, when I am on-campus my day starts at 04.15! Nevertheless, I am looking forward to the course, juggling my work/family commitments, but most of all being a UoE student again. Formally, I was the Programme Director of the online/part time MSc in Dementia Studies Programme, but so much as changed with regard to online learning - I cringe at the thought of what I offered to students during my role. Currently, I am the Co-ordinate of Adjustments for HiSS and my research interests related to gerontology and health management, and my recent research activity related to facilitating an online course for people living with dementia. 

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Hello everyone. My name is Joanna and I am a Lecturer within the the Dept. of Counselling, Psychotherapy and Applied Social Science, School of Health in Social Science (HiSS), here at the University of Edinburgh. I live south west of Newcastle with my partner, and our two rescue cats: Martha (grey mum) and Lily (calico and rather naughty kitten), who often join me during online tutorial sessions and meetings with students. However, when I am on-campus my day starts at 04.15! Nevertheless, I am looking forward to the course, juggling my work/family commitments, but most of all being a UoE student again. Formally, I was the Programme Director of the online/part time MSc in Dementia Studies Programme, but so much as changed with regard to online learning - I cringe at the thought of what I offered to students during my role. Currently, I am the Co-ordinate of Adjustments for HiSS and my research interests related to gerontology and health management, and my recent research activity related to facilitating an online course for people living with dementia. 

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Hi! I'm Leonie. I grew up in Berlin but moved to the UK when I was 16. After four wonderful years in Glasgow, I finished my degree in Digital Media & Information Studies and French in 2020 and decided to move back to Berlin. Since then I have been working for a digital media and education NGO but felt like I wasn't "done" with academia. I am particularly interested in exploring how we can use technology to make education more accessible and empower marginalised groups in doing so.

I also love languages (I currently have a 60 day streak on Duolingo for Italian) and am very committed to ticking things off my bucket list.

My desk at home sits in a little south-facing alcove that gets plenty of sunlight so it doubles as a greenhouse. Last year I grew my own tomatoes, carrots, chillies and various herbs.

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Empty roads and beautiful sky makes for a great escape from the home office desk. 

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Hi everyone, lovely to meet you all, also loving the pictures (especially the animal ones).
I live in Glasgow and have done all my life. The picture is a nice quiet road near my house, as I am lucky enough to live in the north of the city where there is plenty of open countryside on my doorstep.
I work for an awarding body developing qualifications mainly in Business Management and Economics as well as Admin and IT and Accounting. Most of the qualifications are developed and assessed using quite traditional methods, so very much looking to explore the art of what could be possible in future.

I am currently home based which has its benefits (no travel, easier meeting access and being home more for my daughter) and challenges (trying to work with one of my cats on my lap!)
Looking forward to the discussions with you all as we progress through the tasks in coming weeks.

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Darcy contemplating the absence of fish in her life!

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Clare Cahill says hello from sunny Bournemouth!!!

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Clare Cahill says hello from sunny Bournemouth!!!

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Hello everyone, delighted to be part of this course.

I am originally from the Southern Hemisphere (born in NZ, raised in Samoa and trained in Australia) but I emigrated to the UK in 2007.  I teach film production at the Bournemouth Film School (Arts University Bournemouth) and I am also an indie film producer, moving more into virtual production.

The pandemic has encouraged us to think differently about how we teach, and the tools we can use.  Remote learning was always on our minds in Australia (with the School of the Air) but I am also interested in how to use the newer collaborative tools and the principles of serious gaming.

cheers all, on a late Sunday afternoon!
Clare

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Hi all, I'm Steve Lovidge. I come from beautiful Pembrokeshire in West Wales.

I'm the Digital Learning Manager for Pembrokeshire College. I recently attended a Digital Leadership, where I explored how I could encourage Pembrokeshire College to engage more effectively and creatively with digital technology at both strategic and operational levels. I learned how to use new tools and techniques to help me discover and reflect on how digital technology is changing the way Pembrokeshire College operates, thus, creating new leadership challenges and strategic opportunities. Also, I learnt how to, and how not to, lead, manage and influence digitally driven change across the departments, services and teams at Pembrokeshire College.

It really inspired me to take this journey in Digital Education, one that I'm really excited about!

I love being in nature, especially at the beach or walking the coastal path. My hobbies include running, SUP surfing and making thinks in my workshop.

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Hi I'm Noreen Dunnett, one of the blog tutors on IDEL and a former graduate of the MScDE programme (in 2012). I've recently gained my doctorate in Digital Education from UoE and my research interests include game-informed learning, sociomaterial approaches to learning and engagement and boredom in the classroom. In my spare time I am a keen walker and a somewhat more dilettante cyclist (according to my husband!!). I'm looking forward to engaging with all of you and especially my blog tutees, on all matters digital or education.

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Hi everyone, I'm enjoying all the great photos and profiles on this padlet wall. Looking forward to getting to know you all. My name is Jane, I'm originally from Manchester but after spending time in Yorkshire, West Midlands, Dusseldorf and Dublin we've finally settled on SE London as our home. I'm a pharmacist by background but I now work in the L&D dept of a private healthcare group. I love food, not as much as my Lab (Jobi), but close. (Rodric you made me laugh with the cheese - same here!) I have two teenagers who roll their eyes at my tech skills so I'm hoping to impress them with my new skills over the next few months. I love walking in the Kent countryside, London food markets, yoga, and could not survive without coffee. I'm excited to immerse myself in this course over the next few months and hope at the end of it I'm a digitally improved version of my current self.

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Hi everyone, my name is Hongwei Yu. I am from Shanghai, China. I currently work to deisgn and manage part-time courses for professional education locally. Digital education is definitely the key feature of future learning environment. I am keen to enhance my knowledge on digital experience. I have set up an ergonomic workstation for the online study program, and I look forward to working with you during the modules : )

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Hi everyone, I'm Rory Ewins, one of the blog tutors on IDEL this semester, and also this semester am running my course Digital Education in Global Context. I seem to have taken very few photos over the past month, so this one comes from our DE team's socially-distanced walk around the Edinburgh Botanic Gardens to see the Christmas lights in December.

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Hi everyone, my name is Paige. I am from Banbury, a large town in North Oxfordshire. I have a dog called Ava and a cat called Winston (picture above) and I love coming home to them after a long day at work! They get on incredibly well.

I currently work as a Primary School Teacher at a local school and have been here since qualifying six years ago, where I have taught Years 3-6. I am also the Computing and ICT Lead, which has been an incredibly busy and demanding role for the last couple of years. I thoroughly love teaching and working with children, every day is different, and children are so unpredictable, which makes the job incredibly enjoyable. My class are very excited that their teacher is ‘going back to school’. They were that excited that they have offered to mark my work!

My hobbies include travelling both around the UK, as well as abroad; going to the West End and watching shows in theatre; as well as spending quality time at home with friends and family.

I am really excited to start the course and enjoy this new challenge!

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Welcome all to IDEL and the MScDE programme! I co-direct the programme, as well as teach on a few of the other courses, and you'll be seeing me in the 'open everything' and 'data and education' blocks later in IDEL. It is fantastic to have you all on the programme - we always receive many more applications than we can accept, so getting here is already an achievement. I encourage you to make use of all the resources and opportunities the university can provide while you are with us. Have a great semester!

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Hello all! Michael Gallagher here. I am co-Programme Director, a tutor on IDEL and many other courses, and just excited to be working and learning from you all. A great cohort assembled here so here is hoping your learning journey on the programme is fulfilling and inspired. I am based in Edinburgh, but am originally from the US and I lived in Korea for many many years (~18). The image is where I spent most of my time working from home. Welcome aboard everyone!

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Hello everyone! I work as a Social Science teacher for middle and senior school. I'm based in Noida (India). I have a background in Mass Communication and Peace Studies. Very excited to start the course and get to know everyone better. Also, longing to got to the mountains...

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Top: View across Victoria Harbour, HK. BL: View from desk, cat included! BR: Desk space.

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Hi all, my name is Craig McNeil. I’m a Digital Technology Lead at a British international school in Hong Kong, working predominantly in primary. It’s my 3rd year here after 10 years of working in the Netherlands. I’m a bit of an army brat having lived in Hong Kong and Germany as a kid, but consider Glasgow and Scotland as my home! Due to the protests and Covid, we haven’t been able to get back for some time.

Excited to join the course! As an international educator I’m obviously interested in the global context of digital education. I’m also interested in professional development and models of CPD that have an emphasis on tech integration. Mobile learning and student content creation is also a passion.

Outside of education I’m a bit of a Sci-Fi geek, dabble in a spot of baking (and baking shows) and enjoy the odd hike around Hong Kong’s amazing landscapes. Although I’m in a different time zone, I’m looking forward to collaborating with you all. Also, I’m enjoying the many pet pictures!

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Hi everyone, I'm Catherine. Originally from Chester and now in Northampton in the midlands. Not quite the view from my desk but near enough, it's our local park literally at the end of the road so great for a lunch time walk.
I qualified as a veterinary surgeon and was in clinical practice for a number of years before falling into HE lecturing. Not a planned move but it has proved to be an enjoyable yet challenging one.
I'm currently the Programme Leader for an undergraduate veterinary nursing degree course and also lead our team of online tutors.
We used online learning in our programme pre-Covid on a fairly basic level. Now, like others I'm sure, it forms a significant part of our programmes. Much of what we do is based on drawing upon our experiences of teaching in a classroom environment and from what we can do on moodle. I'm really keen to become a bit more adventurous and explore other digital technologies which we could use to improve our learner's experience.
Looking forward to studying with you all.

Loving all the pet pictures too!

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Hi everyone, I'm Rodric based in Nottingham. I'm originally from Sri Lanka but have been in England for the last 12 years. I came for Uni (Uni of Notts) and have stayed since.

I have an unhealthy obesession with tech. I love taking pictures and recently been doing more videography as a hobby. I also love consuming my wife's baking. Above is a picture of Milo who will do anything for cheese.

I am currently working at Queens Medical Centre as an Infectious Diseases and Microbiology Registrar. I am also doing a Digital Education Fellow role with the postgraduate medical education centre. Some projects I'm working on - virtual reality tour of Microbiology lab, social media in MedEd and improving trainee engagement.
Really excited to start this course and learn from everyone!

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Hi guys, I'm Mark from Dublin, Ireland.
I am a secondary school History & Maths teacher. I previously studied Computer Science before moving to a career in teaching, so I am excited to get to blend these two disciplines in the form of Digital Education!

The pandemic and subsequent move to remote learning impacted students and teachers immensely worldwide - and from my experience very few were equipped with enough knowledge and skills for it to go smoothly! I work in a disadvantaged area of Dublin, and so I am interested in the socio-economic challenges faced by Digital Education and the learning gap that arises. By taking part in this programme I hope to not only upskill myself and bring this knowledge back to my school setting, but also to open doors and opportunities for me outside of the classroom and possibly abroad, perhaps in the edtech sector!

Hobbies of mine include gaming and photography. I like to build my own PCs, pictured here is my setup I put together last summer. I try to incorporate games and play in the classroom as much as possible and I am looking forward to exploring this course with Clara!

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Hello everyone, my name is John Fogarty. I come from Tipperary, Ireland near the beautiful Rock of Cashel (above).

I have been in the public service for over 20 years during which time I have been involved in the design and delivery of training initiatives. Mostly on IT projects but also Data Protection and other legislation.

My primary degrees were in computer science (UCD, Dublin) and also law (UCC, Cork). I am a big advocate for education through digital means. At work I have used Articulate Storyboard to create content including a voice over!!! This experience planted a seed which caused me to sign up for this course. I am big advocate for education through digital means.

Outside of work, I am a bit of a weekend warrior. I am a keen runner and triathlete and hoping to get some races done this year. I used to play the bagpipes in a local band (I probably can still play them but I haven't tried for years!!!). I love Edinburgh, it was the 1st place outside of Ireland I visited as a child.

Looking forward to starting the course.

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Hi. I'm Kirsty from a little place called Kinross in Scotland. I have three children and two cats, at the moment. We previously had four and may think of getting another one, that or a dog...but not sure my cats would be okay with that :)

I love to be out in the mountains as much as I can and I love to rock climb. I'm not any sort of professional, but do enjoy low level climbing as often as I can.

I currently lecture in Social Science and teach mostly within Psychology, Politics and Sociology. My main interest lies with digital technology and I'm really excited to begin this journey in digital education.

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Hi everyone, I’m John. I’m originally from the midlands and live in St Neots in Cambridgeshire now. I am an online learning manager for a large insurance company responsible for all things digital learning including learning strategy and experience. Here is a picture of my office space and also my main distraction (my dog Penny) - she loves to jump on me especially when I am on virtual calls to say hi to everyone.
Looking forward to working with everyone.

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Hi, I'm Steve from the Island of Jersey.  The picture is not me, it is one of my 4 boys.  Two are cats and two are human.

I am an FE Lecturer in Digital Games and Computing, although my academic background is Social Sciences with Sociology studied with the Open University.

I have an interest in Gamification of Learning through the use of mixed reality and hope that at some point on this course I can explore this further.

Not going to lie, but I am feeling anxious about managing workload for the course alongside my job and family!

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👋 Hi everyone, I’m Jacqueline (she/her). I live in Brighton, a small city on the south coast of the UK. I’m a freelance consultant and I also run science, art and technology workshops/events for children and young people, so I am particularly interested in the digital education issues surrounding those age groups.

My current view is over the colourful houses in my neighbourhood and up towards the South Downs. This room is also my son’s bedroom - he’s a ‘pandemic baby’ turning 2 in March - so for any evenings I shall be decamping downstairs!

I’m really looking forward to the course and getting to know you all 😊

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Hi, I'm Bethan 😄 The photo shows where I am currently writing from - the cosiest corner of my apartment in Berlin, Germany (nearest the radiator)! I'm originally from the UK, and my academic background is in Modern Languages / Linguistics, so any other language geeks out there, please do say hi!

I work full-time in a project management role for executive education at a business school here. I am loving this "back to school" feeling though, and I am super excited to get started and meet you all 👩🏻‍💻

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Hullo everyone! I'm Clara O'Shea and I'm a blog tutor on this course. I also run the "Digital games, play and the psychology of learning course". I'm working from home at the moment, so my "office" space is filled with an ever growing jungle (currently basking in the glow of my new grow light). I hope you all have an awesome semester and a very happy new year!

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This is one of my co-authors at work. She's working on an article for me, while I am on teaching duties.

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Hi everyone, Huw here. I am originally from Caerphilly the South  Wales valleys.  I'm based in Tranent at the moment - another old mining town - just outside Edinburgh. It's also near Prestonpans battlefield where Bonnie Prince Charlie's Jacobite rebels routed the Government army. I love living in Scotland exploring its culture and history in my free time! I used to work in IT in London, then I became a media studies teacher in a comprehensive school before doing a PhD in Web Science and working as a researcher primarily at the intersection of digital technology and education at Oxford University. I've recently been reworking IDEL so it's very much a sociology of Digital Education now - hope you enjoy it!

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Hi everyone, Huw here. I am originally from Caerphilly the South  Wales valleys.  I'm based in Tranent at the moment - another old mining town - just outside Edinburgh. It's also near Prestonpans battlefield where Bonnie Prince Charlie's Jacobite rebels routed the Government army. I love living in Scotland exploring its culture and history in my free time! I used to work in IT in London, then I became a media studies teacher in a comprehensive school before doing a PhD in Web Science and working as a researcher primarily at the intersection of digital technology and education at Oxford University. I've recently been reworking IDEL so it's very much a sociology of Digital Education now - hope you enjoy it!

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This is Wilma who is great at keeping my feet warm! Just look at those eye! 

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Hello all,
I'm Olivia, who has far too many jobs. I work full time for Coleg Sir Gar in West Wales and I live in Penarth near Cardiff. Currently, I run the Foundation in Art & Design and a Teaching and Learning mentor. Within the teaching and learning team, we support all 600 staff across the 7 campuses, run CPD and support with technology where needed. Recently completed my Level 2 Google Educator, therefore I am fully a self-confessed lover of Google!

I am super excited to be joining this course but also so unbelievable nervous!!!
My interests are varied, last year my action research focused on developing Digital Communities within my course which is traditionally a very hands-on face to face course. This year's action research is focused on changing a timetable, giving learners the ownership of self-selecting their lessons. Exploring if this will increase attendance, motivation and thus create more experimental multidisciplinary artworks.
Not sure where my research will take me but in the art world technology has changed the way we undertake different making processes, google supports the fundamentals of paperwork and some delivery but what and where else can technology support education.

Looking forward to talking more to you all, and knowing what your interests are.

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Hey everyone, I'm Kerry, this is not my view unfortunately but it is Bristol, the city I live in.

I'm currently teaching international students and first year undergraduates academic writing and critical thinking at the University of Bristol and The University of the West of England. I am on campus in the mornings and online afternoons.

I look forward to getting to know you better over the next few months.

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Hi everyone! My name is Eloise Symonds. I work full-time as a Senior Learning Designer for an edtech company and work completely remotely. I'm based in London, right next to Tower Bridge (if you lean out of the window you can see the towers!) Pretty noisy with sirens, but I like the business! Looking forward to getting to know everyone and working with you all! :)