Inspired?

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How often do you feel truly inspired?

Can you remember the first time you thought “Wow! That’s amazing” when you heard someone giving a talk, when you read a book, when you saw a TV show, or when you had an inspirational teacher?

My first “Wow!” moment came as a teenager (I was probably 13) when I was at my best friends house. I already thought he had the coolest house, family, etc. There was always some aromatic Caribbean food cooking in the kitchen, cool music playing in a distant room and amazing photographs & art everywhere.

I knew his parents both worked as lecturers at the University of Liverpool but I guess that never really meant a great deal to me at that point… Anyway, one summers day we were just sitting around his house listening to some Linton Kwesi Johnson on their enormous hi-fi speakers. I happened to look at a book shelf and see a few with my friends Dad’s name on. I’d never known anyone who’d written a book. That was my first ever “Wow!” – it really impressed me and stuck with me. His mum was incredible too – such a beautifully warm, intelligent woman, but sadly no longer with us.

Was I inspired? TOTALLY

Unfortunately, I didn’t get the chance to go to university when I left school – it just wasn’t an option at that time. But I never forgot this inspirational moment… Instead, I went to work – I worked during the day and studied for a BSc at The Open University and am now (proudly) about to undertake an full time MSc at The University of Liverpool thanks to a John Lennon Memorial Scholarship.

Here’s to you Colin & June Henfrey!

Thank you ladies & gents, boys & girls…

Col Hawksworth CV a video by colhawksworth on Flickr.

Ooops! You’ve just caught me practicing my OSCAR acceptance speech.
Maybe it won’t be for Best Actor or Best Director – but I’m holding out for Best Factual Short Film.

This is all (without acting lessons) you’ll get. There is nothing left, I’m emotionally drained, etc. etc. [I think that's what actors say]

Anyway – in all seriousness – if you do want to hire me. My contact details are in the film and I have a full CV available with fantastic references.

Related Articles

• Creating a video CV (colhawksworth.wordpress.com)

Testing, testing, 1 2 3

[flickr video=5505604083 show_info=true w=260 h=146]
Col CV a video by colhawksworth on Flickr.

A couple of months ago, I remember reading about video CVs and how hip & cool folks are uploading a short clip about themselves to sites such as YouTube, for prospective employers to view.

Thought I’d give it go today – obviously, being ultra hip & cool helps… undaunted by this, I sat in front of my laptop and after a couple of takes, I had something usable in the can. I used ScreenCast to grab a couple of my websites and overdubbed the audio track. Then I added in a few transitions and a credit title.

Not bad for about 30 mins work. It’s my first attempt (and possibly my last) at being hip & cool in the job market.

Related Articles

• Creating a video CV (colhawksworth.wordpress.com)
• Thank you ladies & gents, boys & girls… (colhawksworth.wordpress.com)

I’m not bitter…. I’m better!

Image via Wikipedia

I’ve had a lot of visitors to my blog over the past week. Is it because of the WordPress DoSS attacks?  Is it because OU H809 course students are searching for info?  Is it my ex-employers checking to see if I’ve written anything about them?

Well don’t worry – I’m not bitter. Why should I be?  I had 11 great years at the college; lead on some amazing projects, built up a really sound and cutting-edge system.   Made a lot of fantastic friends and colleagues, especially when working on national projects such as BECTA TEN and MoLeNET.

I’m leaving on mutually agreed terms – by a Compromise Agreement.  So I wasn’t sacked and I didn’t resign.  It is time to move on, head held high.

What next then?  Well, it’s rather an uncertain future – employment options look bleak but I’m optimistic about things.  I’ve already looked at starting an MSc at the University of Liverpool – The one I started with The OU is possibly not one that I can transfer across easily… as it is an entirely different subject area.

I guess I’ll be looking for a job after April 1st to get me going and see where it leads.

Any offers will be gratefully appreciated.  Hint hint.

We’re not all in this together

The economic downturn has begun to hit the UK academic community now that government agencies have released details of future funding for the coming years.  It doesn’t look good and the cuts in funding will now be felt within each academic institution.

Education funding is being cut.  School building projects have been scrapped.  College funding has been slashed.  Adult education subsidies have already disappeared.  University education is slipping toward becoming a luxury for the elite and rich.

Attribution: Some rights reserved by Matt Dinnery

 

Danger Will Robinson!

So, the government is pulling the plug (quite literally) on technology research projects and edu-tech organisations.

Danger, Danger

Needless to say, I feel rather disheartened.

I’ve decided to put this blog on hold for a while… perhaps I’ll feel like returning to it?  I’ll be blogging on our Computer Services Blog from now on – which is going to be all about education-based technology, with the emphasis on technology.  I’ve also begun splitting my online life into ‘social’ and ‘work’, so if I suddenly delete accounts or remove ‘friendships’ from any/all of my social networking tools – please don’t be offended or take it personally – I’m sure we’ll still be ‘connected’ somewhere via a different network.

Thanks for all your continued interest and input to my blog – I’ve had quite a few hundred regular visitors, which is not bad considering I’m just your average Joe.  I’ve certainly learned a huge amount and have been enthused by all those I’ve interacted with, on-line & in the real world.

MoLeNET Conference 2010

QEII Conference Centre

Sleeping has never been one of my favourite pastimes…  I know that our bodies and brains are supposed to rest in order to rejuvenate but I’ve always found sleeping to be such a waste of time and a bit of a chore.

So, having gone to bed at around 1am – I was up again at 4am to get ready for the MoLeNET Conference & Awards, which this year was held at the QEII Conference Centre in London.  The taxi was on time and so was the train (5:25am)

2 hours 10 minutes passed by so slowly, especially stopping at such delightful provincial towns as Runcorn, Stafford, Crewe and Milton Keynes… but fear not  I arrived in London 3 coffees later and after some deliberation took the tube to Westminster.

The MoLeNET conference had a definite tinge of sadness about it this year – I guess due to the lack of funding of worthwhile research by the current government.  However, we made the best of a depressing situation and put on a decent display of mobile learning practice and pedagogy.  It’s great to see how people are tackling what are fundamentally the same issues in so many different ways.

MoLeNET 2010_1

I was privileged to have addressed the conference by giving an insight the the thin.clusion project and had a conference stand (in the corner – was that deliberate?)  I must admit, I wasn’t really prepared to speak to the entire conference – I thought it was going to be a small session…

I’m really proud to have had so many people interested in the project and I’ve now been approached by a few different JISC representatives, to do Case Studies about LODs.

So, the whole conference went well – it was very different to the conferences I’d been to before as a delegate… it’s a shame, because I was on my own, that I didn’t get time to go and look at other stands and chat to anyone away from my stand.

I came away knowing that the 19 hour round-trip had been worth it, even though the

weather had been cruel (I was soaked through trudging around London) – there’s a lot to be said about paying £70 more to get home early, rather than waiting for the first off-peak train at 19:05.

Oh, the joys of Nuneaton station in the dark autumn rain…

Anyway  – I got home, sat down – reflected on the day and couldn’t really believe it was a year ago that we’d gone down to the LSN to pitch or project…

Check out my conference photos

or my audio blog – Setting up for MoLeNET Conference

thin.clusion

Confession

Forgive me father, I have sinned – it’s been two months since my last blog entry.

So, what’s been going on then?

Well, BECTA Technology Exemplar Network is finished, MoLeNET has also finished and we’ve completed our college enrollment.  BECTA TEN was enjoyable, I made some new contacts (as well as renewing old ones) I got to learn about life in the WBL (work based learning) sector and found out about some amazing work with the homeless & refugee community on the south coast.

MoLeNET was a great experience and our project generally went well.  The technology element was outstanding and I pay public tribute to Martyn Coleman and John Paul Szkudlapski for their technical wizardry and commitment to ensure the technical aspects of the project were flawless! Thank you guys

I think if there’s one thing I’ve learned from working on projects, it’s that with the best will in the world – personnel will let you down far more often than technology will.  That said – I loved working on the project and would get involved in more, if the opportunities arise.

Back at college – it was another hectic summer of upgrades and installations, which (if you’re interested) you can start to read about on our new departmental WordPress site.

The MindMug Midnight-hour

New post coming up at Midnight (BST) tonight

http://www.flickr.com/photos/vinish/581160509/

How personal is your learning?

I just spotted this short film via a Tweet by @timbuckteeth it is originally in a blog post called ‘PLE vs VLE“.  Obviously, Steve explains the back story to the video and the the paper titled: Integrating Personal Learning Environments into the Primary Classroom, far better than I ever could.  So I am not going to try, or waste my time trying… it’s already on his blog – go read it for yourself.

What struck me is the sheer quantity of ‘informal’ learning that goes on outside of the ‘official’ institution teaching & learning, via online tools and communities.  I spent a few minutes thinking about my own PLE… I lost count of the sources of information I have to hand, the Communities of Practice I’m in, the software tools I can access, etc.

Then I thought about the VLEs I have used for work and for learning.

We (academic institutions) can’t really compete with the sheer volume of tools and information outside of our ‘control’ – so I think we need to rationalize our efforts into trying to integrate and utilize informal learning rather than trying to ignore it or compete with it.

Just a thought. Anyway – check out the film…