It’s a bit grey and cloudy this morning as I write, it is cold, but not as frosty as I hear it is in the UK, who knows there could be snow at home before it reaches us here where we have something called the lake effect that will start to bring the white stuff to us in the next few weeks.
I also had a bit of a birthday, a half-century if you must, which passed by quietly and without too much of a fuss, cake and cards from the family, an cool new coffee-machine, and a few beers to tuck into the fridge door. I might have one later. I’m not sure what more to say, it’s still sinking in and I don’t have any grand philosophical points to make, but I will say that time creeps up on you, and hopefully I can be dignified like Messi and not be angry about it like Ronny. I still have my best years ahead of me.
My folks found an old photo, I’m not sure how old I am precisely, but I know that I’m standing outside my Gran’s house on Trafalgar Crescent, Bridlington, in Yorkshire. I love the Stevie Wonder badge, and I think I’m carrying a small paper accordion, otherwise I don’t know why I’m so snappily dressed or where I’m off to, somewhere good I imagine.
I have a few jobs to do today and I’ve started this issue a few times already, so I’ll press on and press publish by the end.
Stephan
Teaching & Learning
That’s teaching over with for another semester, it was a week of snacks and presentations, donuts for my immersive class and patisserie for the French group. We also held a secret Santa for our small team of student workers and administrators, and I was kindly gifted a desktop calendar illustrated with old Parisian tourist posters.
It’s always tricky to ensure that the end of a course isn’t too much of an anti-climax, certainly the students still have about ten days to finish their work and hand in all their project documentation. We held some presentations, so at least the groups were able to get an idea of what each were working on, and there were some good changes and adaptations in the final week, with some having taken on feedback and tweaked ideas. I was very pleased with that aspect, it is always worthwhile.
I’ll spend next week giving final feedback, I usually give students the opportunity to submit as many drafts as they like until final deadline, so hopefully we don’t leave anyone behind, it’s almost like you have to choose to get a lower grade, or if that sounds a bit unfair, then it is because the work they were doing in other courses took priority, or they just ran out of time, finally.
This semester has been tough, two new full courses, a mini, travel to various places, and then a table falling on my foot, and having to miss classes or teach remotely, again. I’m already looking forward to next semester, back to more creative projects, a lighter teaching load and some writing assignments that I can’t wait to get started.
I attended the ETC - Entertainment Technology Festival to enjoy some of the student projects. I’m always amazed by what I see, there were beauties, a nice balance of tech and story. I particularly liked the Jello AR app that the students (including my TA Jingyuan) created, and also some fun tabletop games and headset experiences. Everyone was wowed by the moon boots, a sort of walking simulator for VR which helps you move around a game…but er…stand still.
Life Lessons
The next chapter should be different from the last one, right? Sure some of the content should stay the same, similar characters and settings, but maybe it’s an edit. Keep as much of the good stuff that’s there already, dispense with some of the frippery, trim some fat (literally) and make space for a few new things, some people, places, ideas etc. There, I said I wasn’t going to philosophical about it…
I do know that I need to open my sketchbook on a more regular basis, every now and then when I’ve experienced a slump, I have reached for Felix Scheinberger’s Dare to Sketch (affiliate link) and it’s easy way with words and pictures have inspired me to get back into it.
I’ll also keep cycling, I am waiting for my foot to heal before getting back on the bike, but I’m absolutely bursting inside for a bit bike ride, days of being out there on the trail. I’ve been doing my exercises (see last week’s issue) and I’ve started Yoga again, need to make more space in the basement so that I don’t disturb the family with my moans and groans.
I have found that you have to work hard on keeping in touch with people, you have to be deliberate, so I know I need to send a few emails and catch up with a few folks.
Lost and Found
I don’t have a great deal for you. A few articles that I read this week.
Despite the great efforts of the Welsh Government and S4C, the Welsh language is declining in parts of rural wales. My wife is a welsh-speaker, so we’ll have to do our bit. Wales is my second home, and so much of welsh culture is tied to the language, it needs to be promoted, taught and spoken as much as possible.
The metaverse is our slow death is a poignant phrase to use for Facebook’s investment. I sort of hope so, because if VR is to succeed then it needs to be open and accessible, not walled up.
All.Flows looks like an amazing festival, I’m wondering if I can attend and maybe have a drink with
I forgot I had an ORCID account, does anyone in academia find it useful?
I bought a new iPad for work, it is incredible, the camera is much improved, the speed, haptic sensors, screen, everything is much improved. If you have an old iPad hanging around and you want to upgrade then this might be a good time. The only screw-up is that you can’t use a second-gen pencil with it, just the first-gen because of where the magnets are. Other than that, it is a super bit of kit.
I’m not too fazed by these sorts of articles about the end of assessment Ai paranoia, but I agree, it is going to change things.
Spaces to Connect
GPT-3 is tearing up the internet, this technology could finally replace google. I’ve been using it a search engine this week and it really is amazing, rather than just send you to a load of websites, or definitions and news articles, it tries to actually help you, it creates new information based on references it finds, and closes the gap between what you’re looking for and what you type into a search engine.
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What it isn’t great at is academic referencing, in fact according to this video, it is often fictionalized, because the AI can’t differentiate between reproduction and replication, and that made me wonder where else it might be doing this? I put a few of my assignment questions into it and it gave pretty good results. If students corrected inaccuracies and added a few more relevant examples, then they’d have the basis of a really good essay or report.
I know that academics are going to worry about students using AI, but I think it is similar to having a conversation about google.translate or any of the other tools. You have to ask yourself if you’re faking it, and if your unsupported ability is much lower than your enhanced ability with the Ai, then you’re going to struggle. I worry that a few students will set themselves up for a fall.
Thank you
Hey, it’s all good. I want to say thank you for the kind words of encouragement and support that you sent my way these past few weeks, I think more than a few of you could tell that my injury hit me hard and knocked me in more ways that just physically. Typically, I had thought that being off my feet might give me time to read and write, but I was in such discomfort that anything other than rest or sleep was difficult to do.
I have been listening to music, enjoying songs by Willie Mason, Richard Dawson and Kurt Vile, but it’s the Cate Le Bon album Pompeii that I keep returning to.
It’s been fun watching the world cup, and as I write there are a few more games to play, we’re getting the business end of the tournament. Allez les Bleus!
Take care, speak to you next week, which will probably be the last issue of the year. Let me know how you’re doing, speak soon.