iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Beccy Dresden @dresdeb.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

New office mate: current status 😁

A 9-week old Border Collie pup fast asleep on a home office floor, with his nose and front legs tucked under a soft pet bed and the rest of him squeezed between desk and chair legs

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Beccy Dresden @dresdeb.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Interrupting your timeline to introduce you to the new member of our household, Badger the Border Collie pup 😍

A photo of a black and white Border Collie pup holding a monkey soft toy in his paws while curled up in a furry dog bed.

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Beccy Dresden @dresdeb.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Boyf took some amazing pics of the eclipse with his #DwarfMini Have done my best with the ALT text but this is way out of my wheelhouse!

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Beccy Dresden @dresdeb.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

We've had these in the garden lately. Have lived in this house for nearly 25 years and this is the first time I've encountered them!

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Beccy Dresden @dresdeb.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

Really wasn't sure we were going to make it for a long-awaited trip to our fave campsite. First my old car died out of the blue 10 days ago (combo clutch/gearbox failure), then my mum kindly lent me hers and about 1/3 of the way there I got a low power warning and the engine light came on 😱

Photo of a cream coloured bell tent pitched in front of a woodland, with the trees casting interesting shadows on the sunlit grass in the foreground

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Beccy Dresden @dresdeb.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

I used to like a hot cross bun, in my carby days, but the traditional kind, none of the nonsense like this being touted by M&S (and probably every other retailer). Why does every traditional food have to be messed with beyond all recognition these days? #GrumpyOldWoman

A screenshot from an email promoting Marks & Spencer food, showing three types of hot cross bun: Granny Smith Apple, Extremely Chocolatey, and Extremely Cheesy.

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Beccy Dresden @dresdeb.bsky.social · 04/01/2026

One nice thing about the freezing cold weather is that it brings the gorgeous little long-tailed tits into the garden 😍

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Beccy Dresden @dresdeb.bsky.social · 13/12/2025

Whoa, I've never spanked the Bot that thoroughly before 🤣

Wordle Bot's solving process for today's Wordle puzzle, showing that I reached the solution in 2 steps but the Bot took 6 steps.

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Beccy Dresden @dresdeb.bsky.social · 04/12/2025

Can anyone hear this track without picturing the glorious Christopher Walken?!

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Beccy Dresden @dresdeb.bsky.social · 01/12/2025

Not all long-tailed tits have a long tail though - this is one photographed in my garden a few years ago 😁

A photo of 3 long-tailed tits on a feeder in a snowy garden. One of them is missing its tail.

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Beccy Dresden @dresdeb.bsky.social · 07/09/2025

Sainsbury's have Christmas chocolate on display 😱😱😱 #FarTooSoon

A selection of Cadbury Christmas-themed chocolate on display in my local Sainsbury's supermarket

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Beccy Dresden @dresdeb.bsky.social · 11/07/2025

Hopefully it’s OK to share this! #OLS2025

Slide showing the proposed characteristics of 30 for-credit University of London microcredentials at level 7 adapted to a new lifelong learning format:
• Start any time (register, pay, start)
• No application form
• Advisory entry requirements
• Study at your own pace
• Al tutor: no human online tutors
• A named student progress advisor throughout
• Take the assessment when you are ready
• Assessment: practical, authentic, transparent
• Unlimited re-sits
• A single academic delivery model and set of regs
• Employability embedded in curriculum
• Automated feedback and formative assessment points
• Uses our in-house CAFÉ learning design model
• Digital badges on completion (and credit)
• Provisional marks within 2 weeks, rolling exam boards
• Affordable, with ability to geo-price

Stop at 1 module, or accumulate credit over time into a named academic award, an award in 'interdiscipinary studies', or use it to transfer into a full degree.

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Beccy Dresden @dresdeb.bsky.social · 08/07/2025

I don't think Jock or Prep have much meaning in the UK, but Goths and Nerds are definitely more my people 😁 Take the test yourself at: www.idrlabs.com/jock-nerd-pr...

Results from the IDRlabs.com Jock-Nerd/Prep-Goth Test showing that I am 32.7% Goth, 46.4% Nerd, placing me in the True Nerd category.

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Beccy Dresden @dresdeb.bsky.social · 29/06/2025

This came up as a Facebook memory from 10 years ago, but it seems timely to reshare it in the current heatwave. 5 seconds is all it takes to check for the safety of your pup's paws. If it's too hot for you, it's too hot for them.

Photo illustrating how to test whether the pavement is too hot for your dog's paws - the five-second rule. Place the back of your hand on the pavement. If you cannot hold it for five seconds, it's too hot to walk your dog.

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Beccy Dresden @dresdeb.bsky.social · 21/06/2025

#ShowYourStripes Day. For me, this version of the chart (for the city where I live, Milton Keynes, UK) conveys a much more impactful message about #ClimateChange than the one that looks like a colourful bar code. #ItsGettingHotter

Bar chart showing temperature change in Milton Keynes (an English city approximately 60 miles north of London) from 1850 to 2024. From left to right, most of the chart comprises blue bars extending down from the horizontal axis, but the last quarter of the chart (on the right) shows a dramatic swing to mainly red bars extending upwards.

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Beccy Dresden @dresdeb.bsky.social · 14/06/2025

Having a pretty good Wordle run, she says, immediately jinxing herself.

Average of my last 12 Wordle Bot scores from the past 2 weeks, showing that I have “beaten” it 3 times in recent Wordles, solving in fewer steps, and tied with it 8 times.

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Beccy Dresden @dresdeb.bsky.social · 07/06/2025

...but inside was this 🥳🥳🥳

A close-up of part of the contents of the Lego set pictured in the previous post, a polystyrene compartment full of mini-figs, including the knights from the castle and a variety of spacemen.

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Beccy Dresden @dresdeb.bsky.social · 07/06/2025

Ooh, but the story has a happy ending after all! Just before I left, mum remembered another box. It didn't look especially promising...

Lego set #910, "Advanced Basic Set", a tattered box with images of a house, a plane, a truck, etc., constructed from mainly red and blue bricks.

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Beccy Dresden @dresdeb.bsky.social · 07/06/2025

Thought my mum had given away all my childhood Lego, so was excited to spot this (pic 1) in her office... Then I opened the box (pic 2) 😭

Lego set 375, a castle constructed from yellow bricks, with mini-figs knights armed with axes, swords, lances and shields, and several horses

The contents of the Lego box showb in pic 1, which includes just some of the yellow bricks, none of the mini-figs, a random selection of Lego wheels, and completely different set of instructions (for space set 6930),

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Beccy Dresden @dresdeb.bsky.social · 28/05/2025

Feeling the bearded iris love 😍

A cluster of apricot coloured bearded iris blooms, which we think are Edward of Windsor variety.

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Beccy Dresden @dresdeb.bsky.social · 14/03/2025

One very cool thing from CODE's #RIDE25 conference yesterday (which continues without me today!) was the badge. Instead of the usual plastic sleeve, we had this...

A plantable conference badge made from surplus cotton from the textile industry, with tomato seeds inside.

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Beccy Dresden @dresdeb.bsky.social · 11/03/2025

This slide from Paul Iske's opening keynote for #Digifest25 elicited a ripple of knowing laughter from the live audience.

A screenshot of Paul Iske's Digifest25 keynote, showing the formula NT+OO=EOO, which means new technology plus old organisation equals expensive old organisation

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Beccy Dresden @dresdeb.bsky.social · 25/02/2025

Even in the north-facing, shady little flower bed we created at the front of our house, signs of spring are emerging in the form of the various primula denticulata.

A purple primula denticulata partially in flower, surrounded by ivy and heuchera leaves as well as other twigs and foliage.

A white primula denticulata just starting to be in bud, surrounded by other twigs and foliage

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Beccy Dresden @dresdeb.bsky.social · 10/02/2025

Just had a sparrowhawk in the garden, for the first time in years 😍 I only saw it resting briefly in our plum tree, so I don't know if it was pre or post hunt, but it was still a beautiful and welcome sight. Here's one from 2019, who actually stayed long enough for me to grab my camera.

Photo of a female sparrowhawk's head and shoulders, framed by branches.

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Beccy Dresden @dresdeb.bsky.social · 24/01/2025

I knew I wouldn't have the time to commit to the January 2025 #30Faces30Days challenge from @sktchy.bsky.social, but looking back through previous versions has just reminded me how much fun it can be. Need to get back to drawing ASAP!

A collage of 25 portrait drawings (done by me), in a variety of media and styles, from various Sktchy #30Faces30Days challenges over the last 5 years.

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Beccy Dresden @dresdeb.bsky.social · 10/01/2025

I have a nasty feeling I'm going to regret this... #Windows11Update

A Windows laptop screen showing the text:
"Working on updates 4%
Please keep your computer on.
Your computer may restart a few times."

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Beccy Dresden @dresdeb.bsky.social · 23/12/2024

That was back in the 80s, but I just found this from 2015!

A photo of a garden at a UK school that contains a Marbles Court (an area for playing marbles) with a tiled area in the centre in the shape of a Fibonacci spiral, surrounded by benches, raised beds and trees.

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Beccy Dresden @dresdeb.bsky.social · 13/12/2024

If you see this, drop a pic from the last place your passport was stamped. Gastown, Vancouver, Canada.

Mural by Ilya Viryachev symbolising the history of Vancouver, concentrating primarily on its surroundings between 1855-1955. It represents various significant processes to reveal how Vancouver’s current model of tolerance and multiculturalism was forged through histories of violence, racism and inequality. (text adapted from https://streetartcities.com/markers/3922)

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Beccy Dresden @dresdeb.bsky.social · 20/09/2024

Still thinking about our wonderful camping trip to Suffolk last week. B/f took advantage of the low light pollution and did some astrophotography while we were there, so here's a composite showing the Milky Way above our tent! Obviously you couldn't see that with the naked eye, but it's legit data.

Photograph (a composite/stacked image) of an illuminated bell tent pitched in front of a small woodland, with the top half of the shot dominated by the night sky, showing the Milky Way.

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Beccy Dresden @dresdeb.bsky.social · 17/09/2024

A bit chilly at night, but we had this bad boy outside the tent to keep us toasty while gazing up at the stars, and the lovely campsite owners are thoughtful and generous 😁 Plus Suffolk is a really beautiful part of the UK. Hope the rest of your trip was fun!

A chimney full of burning logs, with a BBQ behind it, at a woodland campsite.

A basket of hot chocolate sachets in front of a noticeboard that says "Chilly nights need hot chocolate! Please help yourself"

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Beccy Dresden @dresdeb.bsky.social · 10/09/2024

This is where I'm spending the rest of the week, so I'm really hoping the night-time temperatures don't drop as low as they're forecast to! But hey, we have thermals #bracing

A bell tent pitched at the edge of a woodland campsite.

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Beccy Dresden @dresdeb.bsky.social · 06/09/2024

This is what happens when your partner 'forgets' to pick the garden veg while you're away at a conference: I just harvested nearly 1kg of tomatoes and a pile of beans that are about twice the size I would like!

A bowl full of purple French beans that have been picked later than ideal so are rather large, with two small tomatoes on top

A cardboard carton of home-grown tomatoes of various shapes and sizes, mostly red but a few yellow, with some so overripe they have split.

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Beccy Dresden @dresdeb.bsky.social · 05/09/2024

The presentation from eCampusOntario's Robert Luke included an infographic called the Anatomy of an Empowered Educator, which definitely ties in with the discussion my table had at @johnbrindletel.bsky.social's collaborative learning design session yesterday. Love it when that happens! #ALTC

Infographic on the anatomy of an empowered educator, which highlights the 6 roles they play: teacher; curator; technologist; collaborator; experimenter; and scholar.

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Beccy Dresden @dresdeb.bsky.social · 03/09/2024

I've already had several conversations today about workload issues for educators (in the widest sense) in HE, so @emilynordmann.bsky.social's point about the lack of a consistent understanding of the terms hybrid, hyflex and blended having workload implications is an important one.

A presentation slide highlighting the inconsistent use of the terms hybrid, hyflex and blended in higher education, and its impact on workload and teaching quality.

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Beccy Dresden @dresdeb.bsky.social · 02/09/2024

Finally en route to #ALTC 😊 Don't be deceived by that grey sky, it was definitely high-summer warm in MK. Now enjoying train aircon.

View of railway tracks - and a grey, cloudy sky - from a round window at the train station

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Beccy Dresden @dresdeb.bsky.social · 12/08/2024

Our cardoon started flowering in earnest this morning, and I was delighted to discover a bee gorging on it just now 😍 #UrbanGarden #HelpTheBees

Photo of a cardoon - also known as an artichoke thistle. It has a bright purple flower head on top of a silvery green globe covered in triangular leaves

Photo of a bee feeding on the cardoon described in the previous photo.

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Beccy Dresden @dresdeb.bsky.social · 22/05/2024

I can't think of anything better than this!

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Beccy Dresden @dresdeb.bsky.social · 21/04/2024

Today I planted out my first batch of pea seedlings, in warmish sunshine. I've just discovered it's forecast to be 8⁰C here tomorrow: wtf?! 🥶🥶🥶

A photo of sugar snap pea seedlings planted in a raised bed, with a mesh cover protecting them.

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