There's a tool for that

I've been at the University of Sheffield for a couple of months now and one of the things I've been doing in that time is learning about tools that are used here and the situations they are used in. It can be overwhelming to have a lot of choices but does mean if there's something you want to do there's probably a tool for that. Use of technology can help to open up possibilities or make things quicker but it's always good to remember just because you can doesn't mean you should. The best use of technology to support learning is when you're happy with the whys and hows of using it.

Mapping things out

I love a good diagram especially when it's colour coded so I started putting my scrappy notes into a mind map. It's done in Draw.io which integrates nicely with Google Drive and has a huge amount of templates so is really easy to use.

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I try to focus on how they support teaching and learning not just that there's a cool new toy to play with so group tools by function. It's a work in progress, the assessment tools section in particular has a lot to be added in still.

If you want a look around you can zoom in and click through to the links if you open it in Draw.io. Link to the mind map

Bringing old tools in

Working in a college was very much about using free tools for digital learning as budgets were tight and getting tighter every year. I used quick response tools pretty much every day and I think they can be a really good quick win for increasing student engagement and two way feedback. On the mind map I've linked to a comparison sheet with some of the most common tools on. I also included a useful tools section with things that don't quite fit in elsewhere but can be incredibly useful. Things like online timers for when you need a group activity or presentation to run to time and a clicker app for your phone so you aren't tied to the computer.Before I did maths I did a psychology degree so have always had an interest in accessibility. There are some brilliant accessibility tools that can and should be used to support all students.

Learning about new tools

It's been a few years since I last used Blackboard so it's nice to see the updates. I'm loving the mashups to bring in so many other tools. I'd not really used quizzes much before so one of the first things I did was make a quiz using as many of the options as I possibly could. The calculated answer and hotspot questions were my favourite.

Kaltura is ace, I've worked with a few academics who are sharing videos with their students and the process is so straightforward which is always nice. Being about to make, edit and share videos with minimal technical knowledge is great for making content to share with students and I know from my experience with 6th form students they really valued videos. There's even the ability to host 360 degree videos but that's something for another blog post.

A change is as good as a rest

It's strange not to be a teacher anymore. I've gone from horrified looks and stories about how they hated/loved maths at school when talking about my job to blank faces and questions about what a learning technologist is.

I always knew teaching wasn't my forever job and sadly I'm not sure that it is for many people now. I loved so much about it but was getting frustrated with the increasing pressures being but on schools and colleges that trickle down and make it hard to do well. I'd been doing more staff training and development around technology enhanced learning but wasn't interested in management so there wasn't really anywhere to go but out.

I like a good back story so here is mine, well part of it anyway.

Twelve years a go I was working in a college on a widening participation project. I really liked working with the students and access to education is something I care about but on a day to day basis I was bored as there wasn't much to do. One evening a friend suggested I'd make a good teacher. A lot of my family are teachers so I'd always been 100% sure that I did not want to be a teacher. Over the course of the evening though I thought about it more and decided it might be something to look into.  I'd done a psychology degree mostly because I wanted to go to university to get out of St Helens. It was interesting but not something I'd want to teach.

The next day I spoke to someone at Sheffield Hallam about routes into teaching and they invited me in for a chat about the maths teaching courses later that week. The chat was an interview, with a maths test, that went pretty well given I wasn't exactly prepared. All of  a sudden I was signed up to a 2 year maths with education course that combined a HND in maths and a PGCE. It was the best learning experience I've ever had with the most amazing lecturers. For the most part I couldn't have had a better route into teaching. Though if you ever want to buy me a drink I'll tell you about the baptism of fire that was my first placement in north Barnsley😳

Longley Park 6th form in north Sheffield was home for most of my teaching career. It's a special sort of 6th form college that is there to give opportunities to those who wouldn't always get a chance. That sometimes goes for the staff as well, I remember getting rid of a sales person by telling them that we had a department full of well qualified and experienced maths teachers so we didn't need their product. The qualifications and experience were so varied though with primary teachers, pure mathematicians and converts like me but it worked well. I also didn't love being in standard schools where I had to tell them off for having the wrong length ties. The interesting, incredibly open, sometimes chaotic and always entertaining teenagers suited me well.

I'd seen a couple of learning technologist jobs come up at universities. When something came up that is a 15 minute walk from home that looked interesting and like it might fit with being able to see my classes through their exams I figured it was a good time to try. I wasn't sure I was ready to leave but 10 years is a nice round number and I didn't want to get to the point of being broken by teaching that I've seen happen to others.

There are some really cool bits of my job now. I get to use the 360 camera to make videos and interactive tours. The university put on a whole festival of technology enhanced learning The world of medicine and dentistry is weird and wonderful so I've been learning about drilling teeth and autopsies! On a day to day basis though I mostly help academics who want support or ideas for digital learning. It's a lot of what I enjoyed in teaching where you can help someone and see their confidence improve. The summer is pretty quiet so I've been learning about all the different tools used here and trying to meet as many people as I can.

It's only a maternity cover so 8 months to try it out. I'm still not sure what I'll be looking for come March but it's nice to know there's this whole world outside of teaching. It's a pretty good world to, you can go to the toilet any time you want, there's rarely a queue for the photocopier and lunch breaks are when you eat your lunch, go for a walk or even sometimes do some exercise but I think I'm really going to miss the students.

They say a change is as good as a rest, the new job is great but the summer holidays would have been nice 😉