Ed/Tech must-reads

Hello colleagues, I’m guessing that most people are now easing back into the working world and it’s time to share a few more must reads.

T3 - AI Tech, Tools and Trends in Higher Education from Bron Eager

This is a pretty new newsletter from UTAS management lecturer Bron Eager but I’m already getting a lot out of her takes on AI in education and other things, so it only seemed fair to share. It combines links to her longer form blog posts and updates on articles of note - a nice combination.

Reflecting on Reflection in Entrepreneurship using EdTech from Disrupting Innovations in Business Education Research Group

Given that I will soon (HR vagaries permitting) be sporadically putting in my 2c on some of this work in the USyd Business School, it seems only fair to share some of what they are up to. This post from Paul Finn covers his adventures co-developing a cross-faculty Innovation and Entrepreneurship major in Canvas. He writes specifically about introducing some low stakes reflective activities with the Atomic Journals tool to help students prepare for the major assessment at the end of the teaching period.

The impact of an innovators group on the development of a culture of innovation in the use of educational technologies from Australasian Journal of Educational Technology

Christopher Bridge, Dell Horey, Brianna Julien, Belinda Thompson (all La Trobe University) and Birgit Loch (UNE) discuss the development of a staff driven community of practice intended to foster innovative practices. The ‘staff driven’ element seems quite crucial, sparking a rich exploration of what on the surface looks like general staff resistance to institutional initiatives. This ‘resistance’ is actually somewhat more nuanced, trailing through disciplinary culture, fear of failure and institutional trust issues. The establishment of the innovators group appears to be a useful model, bringing in representatives from learning and teaching and ICT teams.

A new home - from me

Using the web ethically is often something of a challenge, with many of the products, tools and services that we use being owned by a host of questionable individuals and groups. I still use Twitter, even though it puts money into Melon’s pockets (somehow) - partially because I’m convinced that I can outlast him, partially because in spite of its ongoing enshittification, I still have some friends there that I like to see.

This newsletter though feels different - we’ve only been on Substack for 6 months and while it is lovely platform to use, I have no strong attachment to it. Recent stories about the company’s refusal to deplatform the far right - nicely articulated in this story from Platformer - have led me to decide to shift to Beehiiv instead. (Fingers crossed they don’t end up being evil - they seem nice).

You don’t need to do anything if you are a subscriber. I will transfer everyone’s details across next weekend (27th Jan) and service will hopefully be uninterrupted. If you would prefer that I didn’t do this with your details, please let me know - or just unsubscribe.