This may or may not be an extended version of the presentation I've decided to give as part of Teach Meet Ayr on the 21st April at UWS. Teachmeet is a series of informal events across the UK for people who teach and want to meet others who do to - there is an emphasis on sharing and discussing innovative techniques and uses of technology. And as this is the first one hosted in my hometown (and at UWS) I'm also probably going to meet people who now teach at my old secondary school.

Introduction (or perhaps disclaimer?):

It is probably worth nothing that if you were to ask one of my teachers from secondary school that I was probably the least likely to be anything, let alone somebody who would be giving a presentation to other teachers about their work practice. I was difficult and I was challenging (and I still am to an extent) but I was captivated by particular teachers and lecturers who have guided me on my path into a PhD.

Incidentally, it is the conflicting experiences which I had when I was at school (and growing up in Ayr) that inspires me in my educational practice now. Some would argue it is the poacher turned game keeper, but I'd say it's more about using my negative associations with teaching (as apposed to education) and using them in a practical way. Or feel more comfortable within the spaces that exist on the periphery of the the institution. Having never set out to be a teacher, or thinking about education in this way, I’ve found myself reflecting constantly about who I am here, how I can promote and/or reject systems equally, or more positively, make sure that I embed and make aware that the standardization approach to education might not always be the approach that we should wish to defend.

In this instance, I will be talking about the University, as this is where my experience in teaching is, but I've tried to relate it to some of the things that may be able to cross over - or at least spark a discussion as part of the break out sessions. I am interested in how this applies to different stages of education, and why those stage might lead up to the expectations of the University and those who work within it. Because that is where the students of tomorrow will be coming from.

What will might the future look like? 

I work at an English University (whilst my PhD is registered in Scotland) I've seen the future and it is going to be very different. We can haz the Browne Review. A document which is in the process of radically reforming the current University funding structure, moving the cost of higher education more from the state to the individual. At the time of writing over 75% of English Universities have declared that they will be charging over £9000 per year for tuition fees for home undergraduate students. This is to replace the teaching grant which is given to Universities by the Higher Education Funding Council (HEFCE) -leaving some subject areas (such as the Arts and Humanities) with funding cuts of 100%. This is going to have a dramatic affect on who decides to go to University, what they decide is 'worthy' of study and future of particular fields of scholarship. There is a list of detailed resources and articles available at the campaign for the public university if you would like some more information.

Things are different in Scotland. But it does not mean that we should not be concerned about the future of our own institutions - and in turn, the future of our students in which we are charged with getting through the system in one piece. We must think about how we'd like that future to look like, how can it survive in increasingly troubled times (with regards to energy supply and climate change for instance) what steps must be taken to in order to be realized and what are we defending if we are to defend the university as it currently stands? These are difficult questions because we do not know what is going to happen - and if the University is something we want to be protect in its current format.

Alternative spaces for learning

The decision to pass the recommendations of the Browne review through parliament happened just before Christmas. There were protests across the country against the changes. One form of protest was the occupation, where people gained control of a building (most were significant space on university campuses) and the were used,for amongst other reasons, as a place of learning. Those who were in occupation were using the place to hold discussions, readings, workshops and meetings relating to their cause. Some instances replicated traditional formats (such as the lecture) and others attempted to subvert or challenge the position in which education is constructed around.

Regardless about how you might feel about the politics, motivations and techniques behind the occupations - it is clear to see that for those who visited or stayed at these transformed places were re-appropriating them for their own needs and their own learning. They represented the struggle, but they also represented the hope and the move towards a potential alternative. And that, for me, has be inspiring beyond sessional training in higher education.

Similarly, there has been an emergence of alternative spaces (both online and off) which are attempting to deal with the changes to higher education. They exist to transform or the exist to critique, but all have emerged for a purpose which keeps them in existence now. Some are emphermal action, some are conceptual - and some are planning for long-term strategies, where education can be delivered as part of a cooperative, rather than as a commercial operation. All share similar goals, where education is fore-fronted as being something much more than a commodity to be bought and students as consumers to be sold to, simply as a route into socialisation for employment.

Currently, for whatever reason, these ideas and discussions are all on the periphery, existing in spaces much like those of teachmeet ayr. We can access them online - but it remains the same, there is correlation between those who are in charge, that define as official - and the pockets of 'innovation' (or activism) You don't arrange a meeting of this nature if you didn't want to challenge some of the traditional spaces which exist for educators. 

Where does teaching come into it?

I teach on a module called #mc539. That's my pet name for it, officially it is a second year module on web production and alternative media. I was tasked with redesigning the course material to reflect some of the work I have been doing on my PhD (around the Olympic Games - but that's for another day) and to introduce students to potential practical work that they could do on the run up to London 2012. 

I was planning this at the same time as when I was visiting some of the student occupations during December. At the same time I was also following the work of Jim Groom, who teachs at University of Mary Washington who was experimenting in massively open online courses (MOOCs) using #ds106 (Digital Storytelling) - where course material, assignments and delivery are shared beyond the classroom and into the wider world. A course which exists at a physical university, with fee paying students who will complete the course as part of their accredited degree process - and a completely open element where anybody can sign up, join in and participate on any of the courses elements/assignments for free, purely for the simple act of learning.

Similar to the spaces which have emerged as a result to the protests and resistance against the Browne review and the wider ideological assault/remit of the current government, the MOOCs (which may, or may not, correlate to a course which exists at an instution - and may, or may not, be considered as an Open Education Resource (OERs)) act as a transformative space on the edge of the current notion of higher education. They offer the chance, however small, to learn something from others, and in some cases, step forward to be producers within that learning process. The simple act of letting the content go, returns an almost unpredictable, rewarding, exciting process that can not be replicated - but almost certainly places those who participate within a space of action and within a space where their activities have a tangiable influence within the work they are doing. 

Where does technology come into it?

There are a certain level of procedures that need to be maintained within the university structure - aspects of quality control, expectations and clear instructions for assessment and guidance. Similarly, much of the course delivery is shared through a virtual learning environment such as Moodle or Blackboard. 

For #mc539, I decided that I would share all the original course content online and openly - using a mix of posterous (or any blogging platform), slideshare and twitter, restricting the use of the virtual learning environment to the bare minimum. As the course was specifically about alternative media and web production and opportunity for the class to build their online portfolios, the VLE would be an environment that they would not be able to access after their degree had finished. 

Each week, the course material would be released into the wild and shared on twitter using the hashtag #mc539, where students (and anybody who wished to follow the course) could acess it and use it under a creative commons license. Most weeks, the response to the material was quiet, but an interesting things started to happen when case studies were being refered to in class, the 'case studies' began to talk back (as I'd expect when refering to the examples that I've researched as part of the preparation and my wider research) Externally, the course slides began to get featured within the education section on slideshare.net, and tweets mentioning #mc539 were being shared on twitter, driving traffic to the course documents/activities and therefore generating an audience for the class.

As the students have to produce a working campaign and website for their assignment, it was important to me that they were not producing content in a vaccum- that everything they did was make with a purpose in mind, a purpose worth more than simply a grade - so by having the course in public, it allowed to link the theory, practice and acitivites within a realistic context, a context which moved fluidly on a week by week basis and allowed them to make decisions about what they would like to be within this space (from a labour perspective, but also from a personal perspective)

What can we learn from it? 

Some of the most insightful and interesting 'innovation' (or challenges) to the current system will come from the edges, in areas which are less restricted by the demands and expectations of the centre (which may be suspended in its critique for whatever reason). These will often be the most frightening, often because they are designed to provoke and designed to disrupt. In a rather short period of time the English universities system went from being free to being placed a position where the only way to 'survive' is to charge debts of 27k to the next generation.

In reaction, pockets of optimism are appearing all over the country, where educators and those who would like to learn are getting together to critique the system and work towards seeking an alternative. These spaces are appearing because there is a need and that need is only going to grow if education is going to continuely slip into the private domain. 

By participating in a space like teach meet, we are already looking towards alternatives, ways in which we can reflect on our own practice to ensure the future of education will not be one that is just for the privledged. Technology can afford us opportunities, but really it is about people who want to make a difference.