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Experiences of (re)developing an online digital skills awareness course: practical implications for supporting widespread implementation of open educational resources
Get PDFOpen educational resources (OERs) are materials made freely available for others to use and adapt to support their educational practices. In 2019, the Bloomsbury Learning Exchange (BLE) created a Digital Skills Awareness Course (DSAC) to support digital skills development and transition into Higher Education (HE) for students across its six partner institutions in London. Subsequently, the BLE took the unusual step to release the entire course as an OER thereby making it available for educators across UK HE to use and edit to fit their own educational context. Five years on, this study sought to evaluate how and in which contexts the DSAC had been implemented across UK HE institutions using an explanatory mixed-methods approach.
We conducted an online survey of those who had signed up to receive a copy of the course (n = 54). Of the twelve respondents, eleven had implemented the DSAC at their institution and edited the course to include links to institution-specific support and resources. To further interrogate participants’ experiences of using the course, we conducted five semi-structured interviews and, using thematic analysis, identified two themes that captured participants’ experiences: ‘The DSAC lays the foundation to explore digital capabilities’ and ‘It’s me driving it forward (with the help of others)’.
This case study demonstrates that the DSAC provides a much-needed starting point for professional and academic staff to implement digital skills training for new students. We found that the DSAC was being used both as a generic institutional or discipline-specific course and that learning technology and senior management support was integral to successful implementation. Future work should include staff-student partnership to further develop the resource and should seek to explore how best practices and iterative changes to OERs can be shared back to the community, ensuring that materials remain relevant for adopters and tomorrow’s students
Black folk in English folk
Get PDFIn 2009 the British National Party caused outrage by placing English folk songs on its website. The result within the folk scene was the Folk Against Fascism movement and a critical discussion over the racial import of the idea of “folk music” in England. This article, accompanied by an online playlist, examines how folk music here is shaped by narrow associations with whiteness and nationalism and how this is being opened with contemporary debates about Englishness, racism, and music. This article argues that there are many examples of Black folk in English folk, including such singers as Doris Henderson and Nadia Catouse and the innovative guitarist Davey Graham. An attention to these overlooked contributions to English music attempts to recover the postcolonial history of English folk music and how performers of color shaped the folk tradition here often while exceeding narrow local and national references. Through interviews with contemporary artists of color Angeline Morrison and Hak Baker, the article explores how these artists are trying to open an alternative sense of the English folk tradition that includes Black folk. This also involves a refiguration of how the nature of Englishness, tradition, and culture can be conceived beyond ethnic absolutism and national authenticity
Beyond The Unfinished Politics of Race
No full textThis paper responds to three critical commentaries on the book The Unfinished Politics of Race. It engages with key aspects of the critiques and responds to the critiques and suggests some ways in which we can move forward in analysing the changing politics of race in British society
Phosgene synthesis catalysis: reaction kinetics and adsorption characteristics over Norit RX3 Extra activated carbon formulation
Get PDFThe authors have recently refined a model for phosgene synthesis over industrial grade activated carbons that involves two classes of active sites: type-I and type-II. This article looks to further validate the model by examining kinetic aspects of the reaction. The work focuses on a single formulation of activated carbon, Norit RX3 Extra, and extends the applicability of the previous analysis undertaken on the Donau Supersorbon K40 formulation of activated carbon; both materials are representative industrial grade catalysts active for phosgene synthesis. The orders of this reaction, with respect to reagents and products CO, Cl2 and COCl2 are 1.04 ± 0.02, 0.46 ± 0.02, 0.04 ± 0.01 respectively. These findings reproduce the observations over Donau Supersorbon K40 and further validate the proposed reaction model. However, non-competitive adsorption studies over fresh catalyst reveal the following order of adsorption coefficients (K): KCOCl2 > KCl2 ≫ KCO. This contrasts with the studies over Donau Supersorbon K40, suggesting a different distribution of active sites. Studies that regenerate the catalyst and re-adsorb chlorine show the concentrations of type-I and type-II Cl2 adsorption sites are 3.2 and 0.32 mMol Cl2 per g(cat), respectively; the retention on type I sites being 3.5 times greater for the Norit material than is observed for the Donau sample. Mass balance profiles endorse these findings. Temperature-programmed breakthrough measurements are interpreted as indicating a degree of surface etching of the carbonaceous substrate. Whilst this work reports some distinct differences between the two catalysts, the recently amended phosgene synthesis reaction model is validated over Norit RX3 Extra, enhancing the model's credentials as being representative for phosgene synthesis over activated carbon formulations
Here We Go! The Art of the Football Chant
No full textSociologist, musician and Millwall fan Les Back is obsessed with the symphony of the spontaneous folk song of football chants. He’s on a tour of British clubs to chart the rise (and fall) of these chants and discover why they’re an important barometer of social change.
He starts at The Den, his home club of Millwall in south-east London where he meets with former player Tony Witter (’94-’98). He and Tony discuss recordings they made during the 90s to see what’s changed in terms of the relationship between players and fans.
Les travels from London to Glasgow to speak to fans, players and musicians from Norwich City, Dulwich Hamlet, AFC Wimbledon, Newcastle United, Rangers, Celtic and Hibernian. He wants to know what their club chants tell us about their hyper-local identity and whether the folk musician Martin Carthy is right. Are chants “the one surviving embodiment of an organic living folk tradition"
Auto-Cannibalistic Spacecraft for Deployment of Distributed Instruments
Get PDFThis poster presents a novel mission architecture that builds upon the Nèamh concept (IPPW 2023) [1], employing In-Space Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing (ISAM) to realise an auto-cannibalistic spacecraft—a system capable of progressively repurposing its own structural and functional subsystems, including actuators, sensors, power systems, and communications hardware, across successive mission phases. Through staged reconfiguration, the spacecraft transitions from solar sail propulsion to aerobraking, probe deployment, and orbital data relay, with each function fabricated in situ from disassembled mass. The architecture involves the release of compact, distributed probes—assembled using recycled components, including thermal protection materials—capable of adaptive surface operations informed by in-situ feedback. This design achieves high mass efficiency, reduces launch complexity, and supports mission resilience through iterative manufacturing. The feasibility of the probe concept is grounded in prior work on Mars-entry femtoprobes [2],
while the scientific utility of distributed networks is supported by recent analysis of multi-point planetary sensing architectures [3]. Together, these elements support a sustainable, modular framework for deep space exploration
Leading Professional Learning
No full textInterview with Louise Foreman from Education Scotland in which I talk about my work on understanding and theorising professional learning and how that learning can support educators to lead professional learning in their own contexts
Discourse analysis in language assessment
No full textThis entry presents an overview of the role of discourse analysis in language assessment research, focusing on the use of conversation analysis (CA) in examining discourse in speaking assessments (e.g. between test-takers in paired/group discussion tasks, or between the test-taker and the examiner in interview-based tests).
We start by considering the various questions that discourse analysis can help address in language test development and validation, from defining the test construct to validating task types and task conditions, through to enriching rating criteria and scrutinizing rater discussions in the rating process. Next, we look at the key features and steps of the analytic procedure in CA. These include collecting and transcribing authentic discourse data, identifying phenomena of interest, building a collection, and examining variations across cases. We then turn to explore the specific contributions CA can make and has made as part of mixed-methods designs in more recent language assessment studies – how it prepared for or complemented quantitative analyses, resulting in more robust analysis and/or more carefully considered validity claims. The entry concludes by briefly outlining possible avenues for future research involving the use of discourse analysis, as well as suggested further readings for the interested reader
Critical leadership praxis (CLP) in global complexity: promoting principalship agency through intersecting educational spaces
No full textNo abstract available
Enhancing Accuracy in Non-contact Physiological Monitoring: The Critical Role of Radar and Sensor Signal Alignment
Get PDFNon-contact physiological monitoring utilizing radar technology has emerged as a promising approach for assessing heart rate (HR) and respiration rate (RR). However, misalignment between radar and reference sensor signals can introduce significant measurement errors, compromising the accuracy and reliability of radar-derived physiological parameters. This study investigates the critical role of signal alignment in Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW) radar-based monitoring and proposes a cross-correlation technique to synchronize radar and sensor data. Experimental results demonstrate and emphasize the importance of signal alignment as a prerequisite for the clinical reliability of radar-based monitoring. Future research directions include the incorporation of artificial intelligence- driven techniques to enhance signal synchronization and improve robustness across diverse patient populations. By ensuring precise signal integration, radar-based physiological monitoring holds significant potential as a viable alternative to traditional contact- based systems, contributing to the broader efforts of making non- invasive health monitoring more accessible, reliable, and clinically validated for various healthcare applications
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