Bett interview

The main arena wall is turned into a giant whiteboard at Bett 2014

While speaking at the Higher Education Summit at the BETT Show this week, one of my students who was participating in my session drew my attention to an interview with me in the conference brochure. It took me a little by surprise, because frankly, I had forgotten I had done it. I had to read it through to remember what I had said, and actually, it captures quite well where I am right now. So here it is, shared with you on my blog.

What is your background in the industry?
I started out working in education in 1975. I have spent my entire career specialising in educational technology, firstly in teacher education, then a spell of 15 years working in the NHS in nurse education. In 1998 I returned to teacher education, and I'm now working at Plymouth University where I am an Associate Professor specialising in learning technology. I have also worked on research projects in the UK and the USA, experiences that have given me a greater appreciation of the wider issues that impact upon education.

What gets you out of bed in the morning?
I don't actually need to work any more. I have no mortgage and no debts, and all my children are independent. I choose to continue working because what I do now gives me a real buzz. I continue to work at Plymouth University because I am a lifelong learner, and my local university is absolutely the best place to be to continue learning exciting things about my passion - education. I learn from my colleagues, and I also learn a lot from my students - which is a surprise to them! One of the most exciting areas of my research right now is personal technology - it is fast moving, ever changing, and is a big part of the future of education. I will give up work when I get bored, but I can't see that happening for a while yet.

How are your students' expectations changing?
My students are expecting more activity and less passivity in the formal learning setting, and rightly so. A lot of my 'lectures' now are based around discussion, question and answer, and student led activities that include personal research, blogging, video making, and other user generated content. They don't expect to be 'spoon fed' and they certainly don't get that from me.

What has changed most throughout your career? 
Technology has changed how I work. I am now a global educator with teaching opportunities around the world. When I'm not travelling somewhere to speak or teach, I am at home or in the office webcasting, blogging, making videos and tweeting out content, having conversations with peers and generally engaging with the international community of learning professionals in real time. None of this was possible for me even a decade ago.

What is the biggest challenge you face in your role?
To keep pace with all of the trends and emerging technologies. It's impossible. But I don't need to worry too much because I store my knowledge with my friends.

What was the last piece of technology your university invested in?
Several systems that have not been particularly successful. I don't believe the future of university learning will be contained within 'systems', but predict that smart personal technologies are going to be the future.

Have you seen any exciting technological innovations recently?
I'm excited by some of the new personal technologies that are emerging. The Google Glass and other Augmented Reality wearables look interesting but inherently dangerous. Touch screen tablets are still fascinating to me, but with new gestural computing tools on the horizon, we may not be touching computers to operate them for much longer. I want my own ultra-thin roll-up large LCD TV screen for home movie viewing!

What would make your life easier?
An extra 2 or 3 hours in each day please. Oh, and for someone to hurry up and invent teleportation.

What has been your career highlight?
Being on the keynote speaking circuit and meeting and making friends with many of the luminaries of the technology world, including Steve Wozniak, Conrad Wolfram, Nic Negroponte and Sugata Mitra. I have learnt an incredible amount from them.

What are you most looking forward to at Bett 2014?
Meeting new friends and renewing old acquaintances. Not getting lost in the vastness of the ExCel Centre.

Can you tell us what you will be talking about at Bett?
I'm going to be talking about how I have implemented some of my new techniques for engaging students in learning through a range of social media and personal technologies. I want to highlight the importance of collaboration, problem solving, interaction and critical thinking as transferable skills for the future. I also want to argue that digital literacies are becoming the new cultural capital not only for our industry but for our entire generation.

Photo by Steve Wheeler


Bett interview by Steve Wheeler is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.