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Reindeers, Skating and lots of Salmon
My spring reading weeks have been increasingly more exciting over my time at university. Last year was a trip to Paris and this time, I was heading out furthest North than I have ever been: to the coastal city of Oulu in Finland. Representing UCL EDUCATE and as an Erasmus student, I was joining the European Edtech Network Intensive Study Programme. After delayed flights due to Storm Dennis and precariously catching a connecting flight from Helsinki, I ventured into this beautiful city. On the second day, bleary-eyed at 8am, we got on a bus and headed into a remote village called Yli-li where we were to visit a comprehensive school.…
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Escape to Edinburgh
I finally realized the figment of a plan which began in my 1st year. Edinburgh; the beautiful capital of Scotland. Listening to the Skye Boat Song and imagining the rolling fields of the Scottish highlands had haunted me for many years and when the BUCS annual cross-country championship was planned to be in Edinburgh, I signed up with the UCL cross-country team to take part! After 2 hours of geophysical fluid dynamics and a further 3 hours of cosmology lectures (back to back!), it is fair to say my brain had been fried to a crisp and the only will to live was a train that would whizz me across…
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Thinking through the challenges of building an evidence base for edtech
Most Sunday afternoons are spent in limbo as we reminisce about the too-short weekend and think of everything that needs to be done in the coming week. Not this particular week though! In the run-up to the Reimagine Conference, the Imperial Business School was buzzing with experts and enthusiasts from the education sectors to attend some of the exciting workshops being run by some of the leading experts in their fields. The EDUCATE workshop was designed from the outset to truly learn from the attendees, each with their unique experiences and hailing from all parts of the world. It is not often that you have such an opportunity! Premeditatively, we…
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The Ships’ Grave
Going home for winter break essentially means two things: catching up on the sleep you missed out in term-time and gorging on Mama’s food. Having successfully ticked off that long list of tasks, there was one more thing I was desperately longing (well, maybe three): sun, sand and the sea. Unfortunately, all hopes for this final task dwindled as I was unable to mobilise my old school friends or my family on a plan for this. But as the last night of my break approached, it all suddenly panned out… In just a few hours, a friend and I planned an early morning run along the corniche and then breakfast.…
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Cambridge Venture Creation Weekend
Just a weekend for a breather and then back up at the Judge Business School for another event: the Innovation in Smart Tech and Education Venture Creation Weekend. The weekend kicked off with a talk given by none other than the “Father of Siri”. Blaise Thomson. Blaise founded a startup called VocalIQ in Cambridge which was later acquired by Apple in 2015 and he went on to lead the team that developed Siri! After the insightful talk about how a startup should allocate its resources, we head to dinner (for which I only took a picture of the dessert but that is what matters the most right?) The next bit…
