Simon Thomson

Ep. 71 - Building a Lifelong Learning City with Ang Davies and Simon Thomson Ang Davies and Simon Thomson share how the University of Manchester is designing flexible learning for a lifelong educational future.

🎙️ What does it take to build a lifelong learning city?

In this episode of the EduTrends podcast, Professors Ang Davies and Simon Thomson share how Manchester is leading the way - with flexible, inclusive education that offers students control over their learning.

Listen now 👇

@digisim.bsky.social

Not a bad way to spend the afternoon!!! 😍

Email sent. Look forward to the invite - I’m intrigued!!

I have been fortunate in my career to have had three amazing women lead, mentor and inspire me: @profsallybrown.bsky.social Prof Ruth Pickford and Prof Danielle George. I am forever grateful for their continual guidance. it’s fantastic to see @altuk.bsky.social recognising women in our community.

Did you actually get a picture in front of all the LU signs? 😂

Finally got the shot where I wasn’t covering up the sign 😂. Surprisingly difficult to take a selfie whilst trying to also position an aging academic so he’s not blocking the sign. Good work 👍

So lovely to catch up with you.

Yes the @jisc.bsky.social digital capabilities framework is really useful for using a shared language.

Australian government guide for tertiary education : Gen AI strategies for Australian higher education: Emerging practice.

great to see a gov taking a leading role in this way. It helps join up the thinking & gives practical guidance through emerging practice.

www.teqsa.gov.au/sites/defaul...

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#AcademicSky #HigherEd #Altmetrics

A garden at night with a covering of snow.

I wonder what the morning will bring? I love the snow, especially when I was a child & school was closed. But the idea of a snow day being a day off school is pretty much gone 😟. Many schools now set online learning activities for children to complete. But don’t forget to set some time for play too!

For those just joining Bluesky and interested in Higher Education, I have created a list of educators I follow which may be helpful to look at to expand your own network.
bsky.app/profile/did:... #highered #LTHEchat #altc

Education inspection framework

Yes understood. Likely because OFSTED inspect (degree) apprenticeships and their preferred terminology is learner. This comes from The Education inspection framework which states “Note that we use the term ‘learners’ throughout for brevity;”and is their preferred term. www.gov.uk/government/p...

The reason I share this is it closely aligns with my own use of the terminology. The term learner for me is a broad term which includes free informal learning (e.g. self paced online short courses) whereas a student is a person enrolled/registered on a course for study?

Image of text which reads: Great question! While “learner” and “student” are often used interchangeably, they do have subtle differences: Learner: This term is broader and can refer to anyone who is acquiring knowledge or skills, regardless of the setting. A learner can be of any age and learning in any context, whether it’s formal education, self-study, or practical experience. Student: This term is more specific and typically refers to someone who is enrolled in a formal educational institution, such as a school, college, or university. A student usually follows a structured curriculum and is assessed through exams and assignments. In essence, all students are learners, but not all learners are students. Does that help clarify things?

Worth getting an AI view?

A brilliant article by @dkernohan.bsky.social in @wonkhe.bsky.social

Plus the fact that A Levels suit certain types of learner better whereas degrees are more pedagogically aligned with their subject area.

OfS think that students with low a’level grades but high degree classifications are “unexplained”. Maybe if they actually knew what Universities do and how they support students to maximise their potential then it wouldn’t be such a mystery to them. www.officeforstudents.org.uk/news-blog-an...

Very happy to. Was the methodology I used in my PhD.

And how lovely to see my favourite qualitative research methodology being talked about. By the way it’s a very good book.

When you posted about your rowing socks I didn’t realise you had to now row to work 😂😉

a close up of a stuffed monkey wearing a green shirt and blue overalls . Alt: GIF of a soft toy with eyes moving side to side as if to signify awkwardness!!

Awkward!

Now I’ve nothing against cats and as we all know it’s exactly what the internet was made for but @bsky.app seems to have a higher proportion of cat posts than most 🤔 - can someone check the algorithm please 😉

Screenshot from my WordPress account showing that it has saved my site from reviewing 29 spam comments and protected me from 11,000 blocked brute force attacks.

I’m grateful for the tools to protect my Wordpress site but why the heck would there have been 11k attempts to hack it. Must be something valuable on there that I don’t know about 😂

The likeness is uncanny 😂!!

I can see a couple of conference co-chairs right there 😉 (some time in the future).

@bsky.app definitely feels like an early Twitter. I’m excited for it’s potential and it’s been lovely connecting with people again at @altuk.bsky.social conference #altc24 where I’d really missed the friendly back channel of conversation when I ditched using the one with the bird!!

OfS' insight on the risks of franchising fall short at addressing the incentives Uncover the risks of franchising and the flaws in regulatory oversight. Discover why industry perceptions and long-term outcomes can be misleading.

You mean like franchise 🥴 wonkhe.com/blogs/ofs-in...