Dr Simon Paul Atkinson (PFHEA)
Enhancing Institutional Outcomes
On January 27, Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued a directive freezing all new H-1B visa applications for state agencies, including public universities and colleges. Abbott framed the decision as a “Texans first” policy, arguing that specialized roles should be filled by local citizens rather than foreign workers. He also ordered state institutions to provide comprehensive …
Continue reading “Is Abbott going to destroy Texan Higher education?”
First posted on Substack The AI arms race still rages. Students will identify AI writing support tools, educators will rearm themselves with AI-aware plagiarism-detection software, and students will source apps that can bypass the detection software. Institutions are increasingly prioritising the ease with which mass assessments can be marked. Governments are revising legislation that banned …
Continue reading “Ipsative Portfolio Assessment: a response to AI”
FIRST PUBLISHED ON SUBSTACK In 2007, I was invited to deliver a ‘keynote’ at the opening of the National e-Learning Centre in Zagreb, Croatia. I was then the Head of e-Learning and the Head of the Centre for Learning Development at the University of Hull. I argued then that the “e” in e-learning should stand …
Continue reading “Building Beautiful Learning – a Manifesto”
I recognise that specialist courses, ‘Star Wars’ Studies, or Soap Opera Studies, often attract significant criticism from discipline purists. However, having a focus, a passion, and a shared point of reference that engages students across a range of disciplines, including cultural studies, sociology, anthropology, and economics, is a way to engage interest and ensure motivation—exposing …
Continue reading “All You Need Is Love (and a Master’s Degree)”
What impact is flexible learning having on learners from K-12 through to professional development? New Zealand has remarkably high levels of digital access across the population. Why aren’t we out performing other countries in educational measurements? This piece serves to introduce a series of six challenges faced by policy makers around flexible learning. These six …
Continue reading “Flexible Learning and the Policy Challenges”
It was my privilege to answer 7 questions about leadership from Jonno White a Clarity. Read the full transcript and explore others’ perspectives on leadership in educational contexts.
Given my first job out of university was with Vichy L’Oreal where I served briefly as a junior product manager (because I was worth it) I tend to keep an eye of marketing and communication trends, always a moving target. As soon as one has upskilled, or briefed a sub-contractor, the goalposts have moved once …
Continue reading “2025 Trends in Marketing and Communications”
There is a looming skills deficit across all disciplines currently being taught in Universities today. The vast majority of degree programmes are, at best, gradual evolutions of what has gone before. At their worst they are static bodies of knowledge transmission awaiting a young vibrant new member of faculty to reignite them. Internal reviews are …
Continue reading “Psychomotor outcomes and A.I.: the future of learning design.”
I am delighted to release a version of the DEILO: Designing Effective Intended Learning Outcomes on the SenseiLMS platform for individuals self-study, self-paced, learning at USD139.00. The course takes between 3 and 10 hours depending on the depth of engagement. You also have the opportunity, entirely optional, to engage with me virtually by submtting draft …
Continue reading “Designing Effective Intended Learning Outcomes”
In March 2024, in response to New Governmental mandates that all state schools (publicly funded schools) ban all mobile phones from classrooms and playgrounds during school hours, I wrote a blog piece for the Flexible Learning Association of New Zealand. It was a balanced for-and-against piece, highlights arguments for both perspectives. My actual views, my …
Continue reading “Mobile Phones in Schools: On the right track”
It was my pleasure last week to deliver a mini-workshop at the Independent Schools of New Zealand Annual Conference in Auckland. Intended to be more dialogue than monologue, I’m not sure if it landed quite where I had hoped. It is an exciting time to be thinking about educational governance and my key message was …
Continue reading “A.I.: Anticipating Impact of Educational Governance”
I briefly had a form up on my website for people to be able to contact me if they wanted to use any of my visualizations, visuals of theory in practice. I had to take it down because ‘people’ proved incapable of reading the text above it which clearly stated its purpose. They insisted on …
Continue reading “Authenticity: honest authors, being human”
The vernacular definition of plagiarism is often “passing off someone else’s work as your own” or more fully, in the University of Oxford maternal guidance, “Presenting work or ideas from another source as your own, with or without consent of the original author, by incorporating it into your work without full acknowledgement.” This later definition …
Continue reading “Plagiarism: desperately in need of redefinition in the age of generative AI.”
It is my privilege to serve alongside Alison Fields as co-editor of the Journal of Open, Flexible and Distance Learning, an international high-quality peer-reviewed academic journal. I also have a piece in this issue entitled ‘Definitions of the Terms Open, Distance, and Flexible in the Context of Formal and Non-Formal Learning‘. Issue 26 (2) of …
Continue reading “New Issue: Journal of Open, Flexible and Distance Learning (JOFDL) Vol 22(2)”
Introducing a short guide entitled: “Writing Good Learning Outcomes and Objectives”, aimed at enhancing the learner experience through effective course design. Available at https://amazon.com/dp/0473657929 The book has sections on the function and purpose of intended learning outcomes as well as guidance on how to write them with validation in mind. Sections explore the use of …
Continue reading “Book on Writing Good Learning Outcomes”
During the Empower Learners for the Age of AI (ELAI) conference earlier in December 2022, it became apparent to me personally that not only does Artificial intelligence (AI) have the potential to revolutionize the field of education, but that it already is. But beyond the hype and enthusiasm there are enormous strategic policy decisions to …
Continue reading “Empower Learners for the Age of AI: a reflection”
Have you got some time for professional development over the holiday period? Or do you have colleagues or design teams working on course designs over the holiday period? Anyone who has ever tried to assess or teach to poorly learning outcomes, and then tried to defend their practices or results, will tell you that getting …
Continue reading “Free Online CPD Course on Learning Outcomes (until 14th January 2023)”
Who should universities watch? The question is to what extent universities feel the need to step into the developmental space around XR technologies, and who should they be watching. Which evolutionary pathways will win out is unknown. Meta/Facebook has brand identification with the Metaverse concept in its advocacy of VR. Given the serious trust issues …