Five minutes with … Wayne Barry

This is Wayne Barry, allegedly...
This is Wayne Barry, allegedly…

Despite saying that I wasn’t planning on participating in another MOOC because I was about to embark on a Doctorate in Education (EdD) at Canterbury Christ Church University, so up pops the “Open Education” MOOC from The Open University on the OpenLearn platform. Life lesson #42: Never say never.

So here I am! You can find me on Twitter at @heywayne, or checkout my social media links to follow my digital footprints across the vast shores of the Internet. Failing that, you can always Google me

What three words describe you?

Professional, Creative, Eclectic

Why are you studying the Open Education course?

Originally I had not intended to take on another MOOC-style course especially as I’ll be starting my Doctorate in Education this month. However, I was intrigued to see what this course had to offer and to see whether there was something that I could use or learn which would contribute towards my doctoral thesis. I think this will also complement the MSc in e-Learning that I successfully completed with the University of Edinburgh in 2011. But, perhaps more tellingly, I wouldn’t mind adding some of those shiny new ‘badges’ to my ever-so-slightly-empty open badge backpack.

What’s your job role?

I am a Learning Technologist based in the Directorate of Learning and Teaching at Canterbury Christ Church University supporting the Faculty of Social and Applied Sciences. Essentially, my role entails working in partnership with academic and professional services staff in raising awareness of learning technologies; advising on their strategic use and evaluation; empowering staff to use technologies and advising on the pedagogic implications of using technology in learning, teaching and assessment.

Tell us something ‘unusual’ about yourself

I am, apparently, the “go to guy” for project-based acronyms.

What excites you most about learning technology?

I like the way that technology has enabled people to share ideas and resources; build and connect with large online communities of practice (CoP) via their personal learning environments (PLE) and peer learning networks (PLN); and to empower people to take control of their own learning trajectories. It is that ‘connective’ dimension that technology brings that I find exciting.

Your top tip(s)?

Don’t be scared or put off by technology. Work with one or two pieces of technology that is going to positively enhance your teaching, assessment, research and/or administration in some way.

What have you learned recently?

I have been on a massive open online course (MOOC) called “E-learning and Digital Cultures” which was developed by the University of Edinburgh and delivered through the Coursera platform. Supporting this course has been a number of student-generated spaces using Facebook, Twitter and Google+ that have operated on the periphery. Taking part in this highly connective environment where you are sharing ideas, resources and stories with people with different cultural backgrounds from around the world has been an enormously humbling and enlightening experience for me.

2 thoughts on “Five minutes with … Wayne Barry

  1. Hi Wayne,
    ah, a MOOC addict eh? I’m sure you’ll be saying “this is definitely my last one, ok, maybe one more” 😉
    Welcome aboard
    Martin

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