I recently presented at the Powered by people: community-led transformation in education event at the University of Lancaster by Jisc. It was an amazing event bringing together people from across HE and FE to share their stories of impactful communities of practice. During the main keynote Deb Millar OBE mentioned something that I am very passionate about: Learning has got to be fun. If I can link a skill to their hobby it will automatically help them see how to utilise it in their work As those who have followed me for a long time will already know, this ethos is something that drives what I do in the education sphere.

Box art image from Mighty Boards Art Society is a fun, 30 to 60 minute game where you spend your turns bidding on artwork to add to your collection, aiming to create the best display in town! How to play How to play image from Mighty Boards Players start with their playing board - art wall they are working with, 20 numbered bidding cards, and a randomly selected starter artwork which they place touching the starting spots on their wall. They then ranomly draw from the starting bidding cards numbered 1 to 4.

Is the goal to win? No, the goal is to tell a great story. In this interview segment, Jon Bernthal speaks with Deborah Ann Woll about Dungeons and Dragons, where he questions if winning is the objective. The realization hits him that the essence of the game lies in creating a great story with friends, navigating strengths and weaknesses along the way.

Bot factory box art This game is an amazing concept for educators, particularly any involved in project management. The key mechanic that makes the whole game work is the Kanban method. This is one of those games where both the premise and the mechanic make it incredibly clear what the educational benefit of the game can be. Kanban is a style of project management that is very popular, involving selecting tasks and moving them along a completion board as you complete the components of them.

Image representing learning from all aspects of life. Generated using Adobe Firefly Lifelong Learning Chances are everyone has heard of lifelong learning. Its a good concept. Acknowledging that you will be learning your whole life, not just within the school setting, but throughout your career and possibly in your personal interests as well. The only problem with this is many see this lifelong learning as transactional.

Discovering Character and Key Life Skills through Play

Discovering Character and Key Life Skills through Play

This week (w/c 10th March 2025) was my favourite conference for personal CPD (continuing professional development) - Jisc's Digifest. Its an annual 2 day event where UK Further and Higher Education staff involved in the use of educational technology come together for talks on innovative pedagogical uses of technology, exploring issues of note to the sector, meeting companies who provide great resources and, most important of all, networking with hundreds of educators who are also keen on embracing digital pedagogy!