Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education
Drawing upon a section of the co-created Learning Development (LD) Manifesto (ALDinHE, 2018), in ... more Drawing upon a section of the co-created Learning Development (LD) Manifesto (ALDinHE, 2018), in this workshop we invite participants to come and be creative – and imagine beyond what Learning Developers do now into what they may do in the future, inspired by the metaverse. The metaverse is a science fiction hypothetical iteration from the book ‘Snow Crash’ (Stephenson, 1992) set in a near future where the global political structure has collapsed (!), a tiny number of super-corporations control most aspects of life, and the rich spend their time in the metaverse (Ball, 2022). Today the metaverse is the Facebook-owned platform Meta, which Mark Zuckerberg (2021) explains as “an embodied internet where you’re in the experience, not just looking at it”. Rather than our current 2D, screen-based internet, the metaverse will be a 3D virtual space, accessed by either a VR headset or AR (augmented reality) glasses, which superimpose a layer of digital information on top of the visible world....
Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education
The morning tea break performs several useful and evidence-based functions, in providing a space ... more The morning tea break performs several useful and evidence-based functions, in providing a space for networking and exchanging information, for building relationships, and for reducing stress. However, in a higher education context predicated on outputs and performance, the time spent in talking to colleagues over a cuppa is often considered a wasteful indulgence, and even harder to organise meaningfully with our post-Covid hybrid patterns of working. In an audit culture, how can the qualitative value of social relations be recognised, cultivated and strengthened, so that we might all benefit from the productivity that inevitably follows? Questions: How do we make space in our week to get to know each other as people? What are the best methods for developing and maintaining a collaborative workplace community for hybrid workers? Is coffee ever an acceptable substitute for tea?
Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education
Learning Development (LD) as a profession is predicated upon the values of collaboration and part... more Learning Development (LD) as a profession is predicated upon the values of collaboration and partnership, sharing practice and critical self-reflection. Working within this ethos, it can be difficult to recognise ourselves as leaders – particularly when the idea of leadership is often tied to line management, and promotion often results in movement out of learning development altogether. How, then, do we recognise leadership in learning development, much less embrace it for ourselves? This presentation outlined findings, derived from interviews with 20 self-selecting members of the LD community, about conceptions and perceptions of leadership in LD. It examined what leadership looks like and who can be a leader by exploring learning developers’ conceptions of professional identity and networking, and confidence in those areas. The aim was to show delegates that the role of a leader has much in common with the values of LD, making it open to anybody with a purpose, a goal, and values...
Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education
This workshop was aimed at aspiring leaders/leaders/those interested in models of wellbeing and r... more This workshop was aimed at aspiring leaders/leaders/those interested in models of wellbeing and resilience. VUCA stands for Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity, a leadership model based on the theories of Bennis and Nanus from the late 1980s (https://www.vuca-world.org/). Leaders are often required to navigate uncertainties, paradoxes, conflicts, pressures and ambiguities. The VUCA model calls for new approaches to management centred on a personal approach and is extensively used in intercultural business masterclasses (University of Cambridge; MIT; Jagannath International Management School Kalkaji, India). The model inspires and encourages leaders to move from the idea of the leader who ‘knows all’ towards a vision of developmental leadership. This approach clarifies the leader’s ability to develop others’ capacity to handle problems and make difficult decisions, based on the idea that every individual can contribute their skills. In strategic terms, leading in a VUCA ...
Research and writing are integral to academic identity; however, professionals identifying as Lea... more Research and writing are integral to academic identity; however, professionals identifying as Learning Developers form an international practitioner community with limited expectations for publishing. Inhabiting the liminal space between academic and professional roles, they have only recently begun to develop their own disciplinary scholarship. In this paper, the authors-Learning Developers who have transitioned from discipline-based to LD-based writingargue that Learning Development (LD) struggles to be perceived as a distinctive academic field because it has not yet sufficiently written itself into existence. They propose a model for writing as liberatory practice that facilitates scholarly conversations and co-creation of an academic field. Through collective autoethnography, the authors build on their own positionality in LD in order to outline a framework for knowledge production, and demonstrate that scholars in emerging disciplines need encouragement and support to unlock their practitioner knowledge and articulate what makes them a unique scholarly field.
The psychological impact of video gaming has received considerable attention in recent years, ref... more The psychological impact of video gaming has received considerable attention in recent years, reflecting their continually increasing popularity. Much of the research has been driven by concerns over the negative impact of video game play, particularly in relation to violent games and young people. However, there is evidence for positive effects in relation to perceptual skills and cognitive abilities. Furthermore, casual video game play has been shown to reduce stress and improve mood. This study was designed to further investigate the potential benefits of video game play on psychological wellbeing. Two commercial, but non-traditional, video games were selected. The games chosen were developed to engage players in an interactive exploratory journey intended to “contribute meaningful, enriching experiences that touch and inspire them”. The two experimental game conditions were compared to an internet search control condition. Participants took part in several sessions over a number...
Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education
Drawing upon a section of the co-created Learning Development (LD) Manifesto (ALDinHE, 2018), in ... more Drawing upon a section of the co-created Learning Development (LD) Manifesto (ALDinHE, 2018), in this workshop we invite participants to come and be creative – and imagine beyond what Learning Developers do now into what they may do in the future, inspired by the metaverse. The metaverse is a science fiction hypothetical iteration from the book ‘Snow Crash’ (Stephenson, 1992) set in a near future where the global political structure has collapsed (!), a tiny number of super-corporations control most aspects of life, and the rich spend their time in the metaverse (Ball, 2022). Today the metaverse is the Facebook-owned platform Meta, which Mark Zuckerberg (2021) explains as “an embodied internet where you’re in the experience, not just looking at it”. Rather than our current 2D, screen-based internet, the metaverse will be a 3D virtual space, accessed by either a VR headset or AR (augmented reality) glasses, which superimpose a layer of digital information on top of the visible world....
Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education
The morning tea break performs several useful and evidence-based functions, in providing a space ... more The morning tea break performs several useful and evidence-based functions, in providing a space for networking and exchanging information, for building relationships, and for reducing stress. However, in a higher education context predicated on outputs and performance, the time spent in talking to colleagues over a cuppa is often considered a wasteful indulgence, and even harder to organise meaningfully with our post-Covid hybrid patterns of working. In an audit culture, how can the qualitative value of social relations be recognised, cultivated and strengthened, so that we might all benefit from the productivity that inevitably follows? Questions: How do we make space in our week to get to know each other as people? What are the best methods for developing and maintaining a collaborative workplace community for hybrid workers? Is coffee ever an acceptable substitute for tea?
Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education
Learning Development (LD) as a profession is predicated upon the values of collaboration and part... more Learning Development (LD) as a profession is predicated upon the values of collaboration and partnership, sharing practice and critical self-reflection. Working within this ethos, it can be difficult to recognise ourselves as leaders – particularly when the idea of leadership is often tied to line management, and promotion often results in movement out of learning development altogether. How, then, do we recognise leadership in learning development, much less embrace it for ourselves? This presentation outlined findings, derived from interviews with 20 self-selecting members of the LD community, about conceptions and perceptions of leadership in LD. It examined what leadership looks like and who can be a leader by exploring learning developers’ conceptions of professional identity and networking, and confidence in those areas. The aim was to show delegates that the role of a leader has much in common with the values of LD, making it open to anybody with a purpose, a goal, and values...
Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education
This workshop was aimed at aspiring leaders/leaders/those interested in models of wellbeing and r... more This workshop was aimed at aspiring leaders/leaders/those interested in models of wellbeing and resilience. VUCA stands for Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity, a leadership model based on the theories of Bennis and Nanus from the late 1980s (https://www.vuca-world.org/). Leaders are often required to navigate uncertainties, paradoxes, conflicts, pressures and ambiguities. The VUCA model calls for new approaches to management centred on a personal approach and is extensively used in intercultural business masterclasses (University of Cambridge; MIT; Jagannath International Management School Kalkaji, India). The model inspires and encourages leaders to move from the idea of the leader who ‘knows all’ towards a vision of developmental leadership. This approach clarifies the leader’s ability to develop others’ capacity to handle problems and make difficult decisions, based on the idea that every individual can contribute their skills. In strategic terms, leading in a VUCA ...
Research and writing are integral to academic identity; however, professionals identifying as Lea... more Research and writing are integral to academic identity; however, professionals identifying as Learning Developers form an international practitioner community with limited expectations for publishing. Inhabiting the liminal space between academic and professional roles, they have only recently begun to develop their own disciplinary scholarship. In this paper, the authors-Learning Developers who have transitioned from discipline-based to LD-based writingargue that Learning Development (LD) struggles to be perceived as a distinctive academic field because it has not yet sufficiently written itself into existence. They propose a model for writing as liberatory practice that facilitates scholarly conversations and co-creation of an academic field. Through collective autoethnography, the authors build on their own positionality in LD in order to outline a framework for knowledge production, and demonstrate that scholars in emerging disciplines need encouragement and support to unlock their practitioner knowledge and articulate what makes them a unique scholarly field.
The psychological impact of video gaming has received considerable attention in recent years, ref... more The psychological impact of video gaming has received considerable attention in recent years, reflecting their continually increasing popularity. Much of the research has been driven by concerns over the negative impact of video game play, particularly in relation to violent games and young people. However, there is evidence for positive effects in relation to perceptual skills and cognitive abilities. Furthermore, casual video game play has been shown to reduce stress and improve mood. This study was designed to further investigate the potential benefits of video game play on psychological wellbeing. Two commercial, but non-traditional, video games were selected. The games chosen were developed to engage players in an interactive exploratory journey intended to “contribute meaningful, enriching experiences that touch and inspire them”. The two experimental game conditions were compared to an internet search control condition. Participants took part in several sessions over a number...
Research and writing are integral to academic identity; however, professionals identifying as Lea... more Research and writing are integral to academic identity; however, professionals identifying as Learning Developers form an international practitioner community with limited expectations for publishing. Inhabiting the liminal space between academic and professional roles, they have only recently begun to develop their own disciplinary scholarship. In this paper, the authors-Learning Developers who have transitioned from discipline-based to LD-based writingargue that Learning Development (LD) struggles to be perceived as a distinctive academic field because it has not yet sufficiently written itself into existence. They propose a model for writing as liberatory practice that facilitates scholarly conversations and co-creation of an academic field. Through collective autoethnography, the authors build on their own positionality in LD in order to outline a framework for knowledge production, and demonstrate that scholars in emerging disciplines need encouragement and support to unlock their practitioner knowledge and articulate what makes them a unique scholarly field.
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