When I look at video clips like this one I think how nice it would be to study on campus at Edinburgh. It’s a gorgeous city and I love to visit from time to time. I have to admit to loving Scotland, I love the accents, the friendliness, the mountains (I’ve even climbed Ben Nevis) and of course, the fact that I got married in Gretna Green – perhaps I should just move to Scotland!
So, before I read the paper on this topic I took some time to think about the questions posed as follows:
- How did you arrive ‘at’ the University of Edinburgh?
Having made the decision to retire from my full-time job I was researching opportunities to help me with a certification to teach (in terms of the TPACK framework I’m fine with content knowledge but could do with brushing up my pedagogical knowledge and technological knowledge is always evolving). At any rate there were a few programmes, but none seemed to tick the boxes for me, especially in the online teaching space. Then one day I was teaching my face to face class and popped in to see the learning technologist while the class was doing group work. Ten minutes later I had another programme option under my belt (this one) and so here I am.
- How would you describe your experience of being at the University of Edinburgh?
I’m thoroughly enjoying IDEL and coming to terms with the fact that building community takes time. This isn’t any different than in a classroom environment if I’m honest but it feels a bit more isolated. I was disappointed that I missed the welcome ceremony being streamed (didn’t check my twitter feed!) and haven’t been able to locate a recording of it. It would be nice to feel a part of such a ceremony, perhaps I’ll make it my business to virtually gatecrash a future one!
- How do your study environments relate to your course here?
The third student in this clip (one minute in) talks about the physical environment of walking through Princes Street gardens or climbing Arthur’s Seat that is ‘key to her learning environment’. Since I know those places I can understand what she’s saying and while West Cork is beautiful I feel jealous of not being able to to walk about the Edinburgh campus and still feel like I’m studying, pondering a reading or planning a blog post. I’m also 180km from the UL campus where I teach part-time that is also beautiful but rarely get to enjoy it. Instead, I look out my study room window and think about the (likely horrendous) quote that is coming to get some hard landscaping done in my garden after which I will have a much improved study environment!
In the meantime, I feel privileged to be ‘at’ the University of Edinburgh. When people ask me what and where I’m studying I tell them and their response is ‘how often do you have to go there?‘. The same applies to my teaching when they ask and I respond with ‘I have a face to face class in the spring semester and online classes in autumn and spring‘. To be honest, I’m not sure everyone gets their head around it but it all works for me and I love it!
References:
Bayne, S., Gallagher, M. S., & Lamb, J. (2014). Being ‘at’ university: the social topologies of distance students. Higher Education, 67, 569-583.
Sandra Flynn 