Digital Garden
A collection of growing thoughts on higher education, edtech, and the future of learning
What Actually Makes Teacher Professional Development Work?
Most universities offer their academic staff some form of teaching development. A workshop on active learning. An induction session for new starters. A seminar series that appears in the calendar each year. The intentions behind these programmes are genuine. The evidence that they change teaching practice is, on the whole, thin.
AI Feedback: Automate Tasks, Not Trust
Conversations about educational technology often orbit around efficiency, but the rapid rise of generative AI has forced universities into a long-overdue reckoning with a much deeper question: what exactly are we doing when we provide feedback? If feedback is merely the transfer of corrective information, then large language models have already won. They can parse essays, spot logical flaws, and debug code with astonishing speed. However, reducing feedback to a glorified diagnostic tool misses the fundamental reality of how university students actually learn.
Slowly but steadily it is happening
Three years in. That's where we are now with generative AI in higher education. ChatGPT's arrival in late 2022 feels like both yesterday and a lifetime ago. The initial panic ("How do we AI-proof assessment?") has given way to something more interesting, more nuanced, and dare I say it, more hopeful.
Cultivating Shared Vision in an Era of Radical Complexity
Step into the lobby of almost any university, and you will likely find a mission statement etched onto the glass façade. It usually speaks of "excellence", "innovation", and "global citizenship". Yet, a mere few hundred metres away in a lecture hall, the reality often feels worlds apart from those lofty aspirations.
Leading, Not Managing
The landscape of higher education is increasingly defined by complexity. As institutions navigate financial pressures, technological disruption, and shifting student demographics, the nature of academic leadership is being actively renegotiated. While strategic plans frequently emphasise "transformation" and "agility", the operational reality often reveals a different trajectory: one characterised by intensified management and data-driven oversight.
How I actually used GenAI in 2025
If you feel a bit overwhelmed by the sheer number of AI tools out there right now, you are certainly not alone. With a new model or breakthrough announcing itself every week, simply figuring out what to actually use this technology for has become a task in itself.
Fixing the Broken Bridge of Educational Innovation
Higher education institutions create remarkable teaching innovations. Early adopters experiment, sometimes grants fund pilots, and conferences celebrate successes. Yet, a frustratingly consistent lifecycle unfolds: innovations remain trapped in their local silos. They flourish within the boundaries of specific modules or departments, but often evaporate as soon as the pilot funding is exhausted or the pioneering professional moves on.
Building Capacity for Educational Excellence: The Role of Digital Learning Support
Conversations about technology in higher education often swing between two extremes. On one side, there is immense optimism that digital tools will revolutionise teaching. On the other, there is a wary scepticism about whether technology adds any real value to the student experience. A more balanced view suggests the reality is far more nuanced: the success of digital learning is inextricably linked to the human element of education.
AI Without the Handover: Managing Research with Model Context Protocol
I've got hundreds of papers in Zotero. When I need to reference something, I know it's in there somewhere—a study about student feedback, that framework on assessment design, the article with the perfect quote. But finding it means scrolling, searching, hoping I tagged or summarised it properly six months ago.
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