60 years ago today

I have reached a milestone in my life. Today I have completed 60 orbits of the sun. I don't feel any different physically, but in my mind it has given me cause to reflect. I often talk about many of the experiences that have shaped my life, formed my personality and directed my journey. Here's a brief reflection:

In the 70s my time was spent learning my 'trade', exploring the new world that was opening up in the form of educational technology, and discovering the true power of computers for the first time. While still in school I was inspired by a visit to a technology museum. Later, in my first professional role as a technician, I built a desktop personal computer from a kit, soldering all the components into place, connecting and building, testing and finally using. We really had very little idea what we would be using these new devices for, but we had a beginning.

In the 80s, I had changed my career, moving from teacher education to work in nurse education. I began to experiment with microcomputers, finding ways to use them in support of learning. I learnt to program. I placed a BBC micro outside my office, loaded with a menu of half a dozen simple education programs. I connected it to a printer, wrote a short routine so that it would print out a summary of all the student activities and I stood back to watch what happened next. I was astounded at how often it was used. The students were queuing up. Soon there were 2 computers in the corridor, and then later an entire suite, networked in a dedicated computer suite. This was the beginnings of computer assisted learning.

In the 90s, change accelerated. The web arrived, and we found ourselves beginning to network across the globe, forming the first social networks. I began to involve myself in the open learning movement, encouraging my colleagues to produce learning content in accessible formats. I began to experiment with satellite and video teleconferencing, which emerged from research I did during my teacher training. I completed a degree at the Open University in psychology, which piqued my interest further toward all forms of learning - both the theory and practice. The end of the decade saw me working on one of the largest distance education projects of its time. I learnt how to connect the dots together, integrating technology into practice, and also worked on a similar distance education project in the USA.

The 00s was a time of more rapid change, where we witnessed the emergence of the social web, and mobile phones became smart. I was now back in teacher education again, where I began to experiment with blogs, wikis, social networks and other Web 2.0 tools, using them with my students while establishing my own online presence. I completed my Masters and research degrees during this time, and began to travel the world, speaking about my research in many countries. I discovered that social media was one of the most powerful means of connecting with ideas, people and events. Twitter became the most valuable and reliable continuing professional development I had ever experienced. I led several initiatives, including editing high profile ed tech journals, leading academic programmes and chairing professional bodies.

The 10s have been equally busy for me. I have consolidated my position as a researcher, author, academic and speaker, always learning as I go forward. Although I have just recently stepped away from full time academia, I will continue to work in all sectors of education and training, and will continue to be a global educator for as long as I am needed, working with people and organisations that have as much passion as I do to see high quality, open and accessible education for all. It all began a long time ago.

Image from Wikimedia Commons



60 years ago today by Steve Wheeler was written in Jonkoping, Sweden and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.