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'Whatever you do, don't deliver the line....'

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'Whatever you do, don't deliver the line....'

in memory of Richard Penny

It was some years ago, when my friend, Richard, was involved in a theatre production in London, that he told me about the rehearsals for that show.  And he mentioned how the director was demonstrating to him how to deliver a line.  At the same time, he (Richard) thought fiercely 'Don't deliver the line'.  I hadn't heard this expression before, but it was clearly an idea familiar to Richard, who included acting and theatre in his many accomplishments and experience.

So, what he was trying to convey, as I understand it, was that the director should describe how they wanted the line eg more quietly/ fiercely/ whatever, but not actually model saying it.  At the time, it didn't mean that much to me, but I have pondered it over the years, and the way he spoke of it as a known thing not to do.

And it came back to me last week when I was preparing some work with a colleague.  We didn't know each other already, have our own different (demanding) schedules, and haven't worked together before.  So, deciding who would take responsibility for which part, and how much, and how much we'd develop what we were going to say together or independently had to be negotiated.

We did have instructions as to what the module team was looking for.  My colleague kindly shared a suggested joint presentation - and we'd notionally agreed that they would deliver the first half, and I the second half.  I decided to wait to look at it while I got clear on what my own ideas and perspective were.  This took quite a while, and I was concerned that my colleague was waiting for me to come back to them.  As my preparation, I wanted to finish off some somewhat related marking, re-visit the relevant material from the module, look at current assignments, and our required task, and then dream in to how I might organise and present 'my half'.

I did (eventually) manage to do this, though feeling a little more stressed than I'd hoped because of worrying about meeting collegiate expectations on timing for commenting and discussing the sample they'd shared.  In the end, however, I was also glad that I'd done this, because I do realise that I need time to develop my own thoughts and ideas.  Considering those of others 'too soon' may make it then more difficult to consider how else to do it, or how I might have done it, without that input.  I find it helpful to acknowledge this, so as to keep this in mind during future such preparation and co-working.

Does anyone else have thoughts on this, and their own preferred, acknowledged process?

Having said the above, I do also find dialogue helpful, and both of us in this situation found it helpful to view how other colleagues had done the same task in a previous year.  I am also aware though that there are possible issues of plagiarism here.  At what point should one acknowledge ideas from another colleague?  Or ask them if it's OK to draw on it - even to view a recording of a previous learning event?

I think one of the issues is that teaching/ presenting isn't recognised in the academic world in the same way as research.  So, skills and results from research tend to reside with the writer/ owner.  (Though actually even here there are debates around whose they are - eg in the case of doctoral research workers and their supervisors, or junior researchers who may seem to do most of the actual work, but perhaps the idea coming from the senior researcher eg in a grant proposal).

I want to get this out before more time passes, but may add to it as time goes on - in the meantime, interested in others' views and experiences.

February 2023

 

Dr Catherine Scanlon

OU Tutor etc.

catherine@scanlon.me.uk

catherine.scanlon@open.ac.uk

 

#inspiration #creativity #ideas

#teaching #tutoring #

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Shiatsu and marking...

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Edited by Catherine Scanlon, Sunday, 12 Feb 2023, 19:10

(just posted in LinkedIn, and my The Quack's Pondering blog - 'decided' to post here too in OU territory.

decision making for markers - eg teachers and lecturers

As I sit in two camps - that of university tutor, and shiatsu practitioner - I ponder on both, and may provide a particular bridge in view.  New Year's Day and marking a bunch of student scripts.  I often, and these are no exception, find it almost agonising to decide on how far an assignment meets the criteria set by a module team.  And deciding on a mark can feel challenging.  I fear missing something and giving a very high mark to a script which has for example missed the point of a question.  

So, what I often wonder if how shiatsu treatment may help improve this situation.  I am drawn to think about the Wood Element, which incorporates the Gall Bladder meridian - good for decision making.  Could it be that receiving a treatment of this meridian and Element would make my task easier.  I might feel more able to discern a script quality and thus to decide on a mark.  Talking of discernment actually leads me on to think of Small Intestine (part of the Fire Element) - physiologically apparently about sorting what to take in and what to let go - so perhaps my Small Intestine and Fire Element would benefit from focussed treatment, which might also make my task easier.  

I found myself hearing insecurity in my voice in my first paragraph - how can I feel more confident in what I do?  There is certainly and element of knowledge and preparation which are important and requires background and graft.  But what about the Water Element and Bladder meridian - good for courage and confidence?  Perhaps work on these would help too.

I would certainly love to try it - both as a received/ marker, and as a giver/ practitioner for anyone interested.  Could that be you?  Get in touch if you would like to explore further.

I have both science and and anthropological training and experience, and am aware how whacky these Five Element ideas can sound; however, my experience has been that in some strange work they can seem to work.  I'm curious to explore further - how about you?

Dr Catherine Scanlon is a science tutor and shiatsu health practitioner.  Please contact wellbeing@scanlon.me.uk to discuss further and see website at www.shiatsuhealth.com [no longer available, I'm afraid] for background information.

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Corridor chat - using Facebook as a tool at the OU.

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Edited by Catherine Scanlon, Wednesday, 12 Aug 2015, 07:58


So, the past year or so I've been using Facebook with an OU hat on - thus, as an OU Associate Lecturer on various modules, past and present - mainly in biology, health and access.  My thinking was that it could provide another way of connecting with OU students, OU colleagues and others.  Regarding 'others', by creating interest in the OU, then that may help disseminate how the OU is an interesting place to study, and some sense of what OU modules may contain, to the wider community.  I started this Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/catherine.scanlon.5) in 2010, in part stimulated by attending some of an OU training on using social media, and continuing until the present, feeling my way into the medium, and developing a style which I think can be of interest.

Although quite small in number, I have had connection with various OU students, past and present, a regional line manager, central colleague, and an academic at another university.  It seems to me that contact can be quite limited, and a social component is missing, which might be achieved in a coffee room, or brief contacts which would be achieved in face-to-face locations, such as seeing someone in the corridor, or sitting across the table in another meeting.  These posts can enrich connection, I believe.

The following are five examples of how I used posts, and the kinds of responses received.


1.  Direct interest to students? - post to Facebook on OU referencing - immediate student response

posting about referencing












I posted a link to a video aboutreferencing, made by an OU colleague.Overnight one of my students had liked it.  This suggests that students do keep an eye on my posting, and like very focussed academic pointers like this.


2.  Posting about online work/ scholarship for Health and Social Care.

TOP slide

 
















I posted a copy of one of my slides with an explanatory comment about what I'd been doing - of the five people who 'liked' it, one was an ex-OU student from a module with me, and another was an HSC central academic colleague.  Others ranged from among my aquaintance.  Thus, the work of the OU is being disseminated, hopefully sparking interest in our online teaching methods.


3.  Facebook private message - Asking a student what they'd like in an OU tutor's Facebook

Having made contact with a student who was moderating a rather lovely Facebook closed site for an OU module, I asked her (via Facebook message) what she thought would make my Facebook page more interesting to students on this module.  To my surprise, she came up with very module-focusses points, such as when final results would come out, posting on the day of  End of Module Assessment (EMA) submission, since she reckoned many students wouldn't have absorbed this information from the material provided, and naturally would be wondering.  This surprised me since that did seem to be something that would be covered by the national or local tutor group forums for this module.  And, to be honest, this is not something I would want to do on this Facebook page, since I see it as something more general, and should be of more interest to a wider audience - however, food for thought, eh.


4.  Social chat

 tut mods cert


 
















I was quite surprised to get quite a few likes when I posted a picture of a certificate I had been given for attending a training on online tuition.  I had posted it because it was somewhat personal, somewhat 'academic' linking to my OU work as a tutor in distance learning, and illustrating the Open University interest in online learning.  The range of people who noticed this post, as measured by 'likes' included a line manager and old OU students, as well as others.  And so it can provide a kind of 'alumni' experience for people who have studied with the OU.  Some people find the OU quite a lonely place to study, and miss having connection with it afterwards - this can provide some of that need for social ongoing connection. 


5.  Posting about matters relevant to module, as well as of general interest.

post K221 post

 
















I often think it's good to give a personal twist to Facebook posts.  This post noted the end of a module special to me; and generated comments from a range of people, including an ex-student who told how she had gone on to complete her degree successfully.  Additionally, there was a sympathetic comment from someone who was external examiner at one point, who I knew from academic conferences, and as a member of the exam board.  And so, again, here is an opportunity to discuss the passing of a module, and express emotion about it - about it's passing, about its preciousness as an academic topic that the OU had run.


Concluding

To conclude, it has been fun, and quite easy to do this.  It is worth noting however that there is some skill attached to doing it, and holding appropriate boundaries as an AL looking out to the wider world.  A reasonably optimistic, if sometimes critical style was held.  There were no major difficulties that arose thankfully - at one point, my account was hacked and sending out slimming advice; but thankfully a tip from my nephew, as well as OU colleagues in the Common Room/ IT forum helped me damage limit, and stop this.It is worth noting how family members and other friends can also play a part in our expertise in using IT as OU staff.  I tend to advocate a semi-personal style, but which links to the OU and subject area.

What do you think? - feel free to use my blog comment area to share your experiences - what worked well? were there any problems?anything else?

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forums, online conferencing and profile images

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Edited by Catherine Scanlon, Monday, 27 May 2013, 14:07

In the beginning there was First Class – forums which we began using in HSC in 2005, with ‘pioneer’ IT-using course, K221 (Perspectives in Complementary and Alternative Medicine).  Aside, quite interesting juxtaposition of this subject to be in the ‘forefront’ – linking in with ideas of integrating medicine, (I notice myself observing).

It took a while to get to grips with the idea of using these online forums, as a replacement for face-to-face sessions. Our module chair drew up sample activities for all five forums, and we could use them, or other material as we wished. I began to get to grips with using these forums more skilfully, and found the ‘new’ tutor moderators training helpful in this regard, learning how to make folders, create new conferences, such as community cafes for more informal chat, and using profiles and little icons. I remember particularly enjoying the jolly little rainbow sign being used by my esteemed, IT savvy, colleague, Fiona Barnes.

Then we moved to the VLE (Moodle) – these forums seemed a bit crude after our First class experience, though that may have been in part just getting used to a new layout, with different pros and cons. The main advantage here was that personal photographs or images could be inserted into the profile – thus bringing these online, asynchronous conversations ‘to life’ in my view – if I’d met someone at a f2f session, then being reminded of what they looked like, or an associated image, was great.

I continued pondering about what kinds of images people chose: - many people still didn’t use any at all, many used a simple headshot, whilst others put themselves within a favoured view, such as in the countryside. Others, again, would put photos of grand/children or pets (dogs, cats, themselves riding horses).  I remember a discussion in a leaflet with which I was involved, where I realised my headshot looked a bit out of line with more distant images. In that case, my colleague chose to come in with a closer up shot – more academic, sitting at a desk, with books in the background.

I talked with a colleague who chooses not to use a portrait photo, because this might bring up issues around beauty, especially where someone might have some kind of facial disfigurement.  I noticed central staff were less likely to include images – not sure why – perhaps they used forums less often.

At an AL Assembly meeting (2012-13), I noticed I was the only one with a profile in the Elluminate meeting room – a not dissimilar feature, where users can upload a picture onto their profile – by putting the cursor on the person’s name, then this profile information would come up. Again, I found this handy, bringing who was speaking more to life for me – possibly reminding me of who they were, especially if I had met them somewhere before.  Interestingly, and by contrast, at an OU Live training with Blackboard collaborate, where participants were the more experienced users of online conferencing, I think every single person had a picture profile.

I wondered about whether there was room for some kind of little study to explore this aspect of choice of image for profile and identity depiction. Naively, I think, since as I explored it, it seems there is already a massive literature on these matters – though somewhat on the elite-language social science/ anthroplogical side (e.g. Schwammlein and Wodzicki, 2012) – rather than ‘quick and dirty’ but more intelligible to some of use writing. To some extent, I am trying to fill this gap here.

I discovered some OU colleagues had been researching the use of profile images in a technology level 1 module (Kear et al, 2013). Their conclusions seemed to be that OU students were not very interested in this aspect. I put the question forward as to whether this might be gendered to some extent, since my experience of technology modules is that they have many more men than women, compared to, for example, (another stereotype), health and social care modules, where women enormously predominate.

I have found it interesting to have kept a light eye on this topic over some years now, and linking this to how easy it is to communicate with others, and how well online groups, as well as other linked groups, may work. Do feel free to add to this blog with any views of your own.  It would be lovely to hear your views!

Catherine Scanlon

May 2013

Karen Kear, Frances Chetwynd & Helen Jefferis Faculty of MCT, The OU. “To give a better understanding of who I am”: the role of personal profiles in online learning. - DTMD meeting, presentation in session 2, videos available in:

http://www.dtmd.org.uk/webcast

Schwammlein, E, and Wodzicki, K (2012) 'What to tell about me? self-presentation in online communities' Journal of computer-mediated communication, 17, 387-407.

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a few thoughts on marking online - in Zambia, but not at home

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Edited by Catherine Scanlon, Saturday, 11 Aug 2012, 22:51

I have used the electronic tma (tutor marked assignment) system since 2005 when they were first used in the Faculty of Health and Social Care, though perhaps they were already in use in other parts of The Open University (OU).  I have pretty much always printed out the script, read and annotated it roughly sitting away from my PC (perhaps in a cafesmile), and then returned to my PC to insert the correspondence tuition in the form of on-script comments (inserted comments and track changes) and the assignment summary (PT3).

I am very keen that students should do the ‘dummy’ tma (tma 00) since in my experience over the years, many students do not get much of the correspondence tuition that the OU values so highly for them.  They may just look at their mark, and move on, possibly without realising there is material for them to look at in the form of written feedback on their script, and to accompany it.  Or there may be some reason that they can’t see comments.  There seems particular potential for this when they submit in rich text file (.rtf) format, as opposed to a simple Word document (.doc).  However, I still after 7 years am not quite clear on the situation here.

Most people read the assignment from the screen, and comment directly on to the screen.  I certainly spend a lot on paper, and in particular on ink (about £500 a year at the last count, and most of my printing is presently of tma’s – I make matters worse by printing out my comments and PT3s as well, because I find that gives me an overview of what I have done).  Most people would think I was mad, I am sure, if they knew I was doing this; but I find this is the way I can do the job, and I find commenting and marking tma’s quite a tricky task.

I was organising a holiday in Zambia recently, when I was offered some assignment marking that I wanted to accept.  I worked out that most of the commitment could be done on my return, but was aware there might be some responsibility to answer questions from colleagues.  So, I tried to think how to manage access.  In the end I took my iPad with me, having happily discovered from a student about Pages, which enables reading Word type documents.  And, actually, the way things worked out, I took advantage of getting on with some of the marking while away, downloading, and then doing everything on-screen, since I had no choice.  So, I read, though with a paper marking scheme to make notes on, and then wrote my comments and outcome results to organise and send in when I got back.

It was OK as it turned out.  I needed to focus quite hard to do this, but actually felt quite positive, and that I had turned a corner.  However, I happened to chat with an OU graduate student who I met on my travels (about my age) and she was emphatic about preferring paper like I had been. 

So, now that I’m back, I’ve gone back to the more laborious, ink-costly way of doing things, because I actually feel more comfortable with it.  However, I do at least know now that I have some option for using the other method if need be, most likely if I’m away another time.

Am I the only one? – What do others think? [sensitive answers only, please, ed].

© Catherine Scanlon August 2012

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Twitter for Dummies: A journey into tweeting

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Edited by Catherine Scanlon, Sunday, 17 Jun 2012, 11:37

An account of learning to use and understand the context of, Twitter, intended to support other less tech-savvy digital immigrants on their journeys.

Introduction:  The use of social media is all around us, and it would seem useful at the least to have an understanding of why it is used, and how, so as to decide how useful it is in certain contexts, and how far one may wish (or need) to get involved in using it.

A Twitter story: 

I first used it a couple of years ago as part of an OU (Open University) pilot social media training – I managed to make a start, and got a Twitter ID, and tweeted once or twice, but wasn’t really sure how to build it up, or why I would want to, except for a hazy idea of running chi kung exercise classes, and tweeting on the day I was doing them (where and when), so anyone in Milton Keynes in the mood and available could come along.

Then, within my professional complementary medicine practice (Japanese shiatsu bodywork), and with a role as a director of our professional body, it seemed important to be able to use social media to publicise our practice, and Twitter seemed one ‘modern’ way to do it.  Our chair had experience of using various social media, including Twitter, and a local shiatsu colleague, Wendy Francis, also has an IT business, and is knowledgable about its use.  In my role as director responsible for organising our annual Shiatsu Society congress, I invited Wendy to run a session on social media and how it might be used to raise awareness of shiatsu.  Wendy put together a wonderful talk, and interestingly, our celebrity shiatsu teacher from Japan via New York, Ohashi, attended this session, and chatted with Wendy afterwards ‘as one computer dude to another’.

It took me a while to ‘get’ Twitter – Jonathan Haynes at the Guardian Open Weekend[1]. [me too! ed]

I remember hearing about Twitter a few years ago, and a colleague telling a group of us at an OU meeting about it, in pre-meeting chat.  She said it was a system for just using a few words, and for example sharing uninteresting trivia like ‘I’ve just made a cup of coffee’.  Around that time, as mentioned above, I was invited to sign up for a social media training but got stuck and didn’t complete it.  Jonathan also said how Twitter gave him the opportunity to engage with celebrities or other well known/ important people in a way that he probably wouldn’t have, or couldn’t have, done otherwise. 

Subsequent to this, I have (somewhat reluctantly) joined the 4.5 million people who follow Stephen Fry, and found myself frequently impressed and amused by his posts, though sometimes a bit on the crude side for my taste.  I’ve also enjoyed the linked Mrs Stephen Fry, Princess Kate(ish), Prince William(ish) and Elizabeth Windsor.

More seriously, with regard to my interest in health care practice (particularly Japanese shiatsu treatment), I have followed some of the Quackwatch team – Ben Goldacre, Simon Singh, Edzard Ernst, David Colquhoun.  I managed to engage with Simon Singh about the concept of placebo, and wrote a linked post in my blog (visitthequack.blogspot.com).  Simon Singh replied with impressive swift intelligence within a few minutes of my Sunday morning post, and now I would ideally find an intelligent way to respond.  I was struck by how much energy these Tweeters put into posting anti-CAM (complementary and alternative medicine) tweets, with a particular ‘concern’ about homeopathy.

We have passed the point of only watching one screen at a time[2] - Suzanne Moore in the session ‘Twitter: tool of elites?’

Suzanne Moore mentioned this during a session about Twitter during the Guardian Open Weekend in March 2012.  Again, something fell into place when she said this – she mentioned watching television along with various other screens.  Just recently, I managed to watch Any Questions on BBC 1 (actually after the event) and lined up my Twitter account to see what people were saying.  Actually, it wasn’t very edifying and I don’t know if I’d do it again.  People were being quite rude, and using swear words in a way that I have not seen before on the internet.  Somehow, it seems particularly crude when used in this medium, even though my language day to day probably includes such words.

What also clicked for me in these sessions was that to engage with Twitter one may often have an angle.  Some people engage in a more straight way, for example, Ed Miliband apparently will tweet about having attended  a successful meeting somewhere.  By contrast, and of course he is no longer in power, John Prescott gives a more passionate, personal, polemical perspective in his tweets.  So I changed my rather straight Twitter description, and constructed something which I felt represented more of my self, including various aspects of my perspective[3].

Serendipity

Driving along recently, I caught a programme on Radio 4[4] where they mentioned ‘serendipity’ in the use of Twitter (and actually, also, Google and Facebook).  Since I am focussing on Twitter at the moment, I found myself resonating with this comment – once said, it fell into place, the use of Twitter includes (for me) lots of serendipity – I follow so many people that my ‘Twitter feed’ is too full for me to catch every post.  I was quite hooked to start with for a while, but inevitably this fell off so now I pop by, and see what there is from where I last looked, and generally then go to the present and look backwards.  I also look at people that interest me, and their statements, following links, and then also at who they are following, and/or who follows them.  This may result in me following more people, as they catch my interest.

To conclude:

presumably, the story doesn’t end here.  I find I learn iteratively, and gradually build perceptions on what this particular online social medium may be used for.  So far, I have moved from seeing it as a somewhat cumbersome way to share thoughts to a rather clever, if perhaps potentially manipulative resource, worthy of some laughs and generating some interesting engagement.

 

note for OU context:

sooo, when and why would we use Twitter in the OU context?  I remember a tutor colleague from the Faculty of Business and Law saying that she used it to alert her tutor group to forthcoming tutorial.  For me, I think I would still need to master how to set up a sub-group so these tweets only went to the intended group and no others.  So far, I think I would find that an extra fiddle, coupled with the fact that very few of my students would be following me, or know how to if invited.

In my 2nd level Health and Social Care module, I found myself mentioning Twitter recently, because students are expected to update and explore using various more academic and media means.  Our forum discussion led us to discuss some of the anti-CAM lobby, and so I mentioned the case study discussed above in case any student found that a useful link.  In fact, no-one so far has followed this up, which may be a reflection of the fact these students may not be very knowledgeable or active in this form of social media.  From my experience so far, they seem more likely to be on Facebook, and some have contacted me on the Facebook account I set up when I did the OU social media training mentioned earlier.

So, presently, I see potential for the use of Twitter for alerting students to more political policy debates around health and social care.

What do you think?

©Catherine Scanlon, June 2012



[1] ‘How to... tweet’ Guardian Open Weekend, Sat 24th March 2012, Stephen Abbott and Jonathan Haynes.

[2] at the Guardian Open Weekend, Sunday 25th March 2012, ‘Twitter: Tool of elites?’

[4] Radio 4 programme, Monday 11th June 2012, Episode 7, Aleks Krotoski explores whether serendipity can exist in the digital world?

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New blog post

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just saw this, and it made me chuckle (empathetically).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Cd7Bsp3dDo

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