Excited to be speaking at the Online Iatefl #LTSIG Open Forum about addressing AI bias. It’s time to move the conversation beyond shiny AI tools and focus on helping students engage more critically with AI. 📅 22 Feb, 2-4pm UK time Free but need to register 🔗 www.iatefl.org/events/653 #AIEdu #ELT

Also me 😂

"The trick of finding writing time is to make writing time in the life you've already got. That's where you've got leverage. Stop imagining some other life as a "real" writer's life". - Julia Cameron #WritingSky #AcademicSky

Great advice about academic publishing. And it extends to other measurable end-of-year targets too. Rushing to “tick the box” before the holidays may lead to burnout, not quality. A rested brain in the new year will probably bring better ideas and better results. #AcademicSky #wellbeing

That’s good news!

I’ve been giving this more thought and am currently flirting with the idea of moving to #Substack. I have a self-hosted website where I used to blog, but my host provider has become overly expensive. Right now I mainly use it as a portfolio for edu clients to see my work and contact me (1/2)👇🏻

😱💔 horrible to see what is happening to our friends and colleagues in UKHE. Some of the hardest working, good people I know. It just keeps getting worse and worse.

Starter pack with #ELT #TESOL #appliedlinguistics peeps to follow. You can follow individuals or the whole list. Add a comment with your bluesky handle if you want to be included. Hopefully organisations will be migrating here 🦋 as well. go.bsky.app/L9JMNA6

New Cambridge Element free to read+download for 4 weeks! A useful read for understanding plagiarism in L2 writing, although I’d expected more on how digital & postdigital landscapes challenge notions of originality & authorship. cup.org/3VAOyO9 #TESOL #AcademicSky

Clearly we needed this word.

Wrapped up to the max for my daily walk today. 6°C but feels like -1 according to my weather app! I’m not a cold weather person, but I love the crisp fresh air and the warmth of my cosy house waiting for me after ☕️🔥 #DailyWalks #Leicester #UK

There’s a lot of truth in this. COVID was a collective trauma we were never given time to process. Instead, we snapped back to ‘normal’ even though things are far from normal. In education, the load hasn’t lightened, it keeps growing, and every new challenge adds to it. #EduSky

I know I need to write today, but I just can’t seem to get going. Yesterday was a disaster writing-wise (though otherwise, it was a lovely day) #AcademicSky

Serving as internal assessor for a PhD student’s annual review. Ready to get started 👩🏻‍💻

@gabiwitthaus.bsky.social hi Gabi! Lovely to see you here 😊

#KnowledgeBuilding in #LanguageEducation, #AppliedLinguistics, #TESOL

Please don’t ask students to cite AI outputs. It’s problematic and makes no sense. AI has no epistemic authority. It’s just generating strings of words based on probabilities. Acknowledging AI use is one thing, but citing it is entirely different. #academia #AIEdu #AcademicSky

Taking time off with your family is never something to regret. It’s what keeps you grounded. The to-do list will always be there, but recharging with loved ones gives you the energy to tackle it. One thing that helps me: prioritise just one or two tasks for the day and let the rest wait #EduSky

Realised Lost is on Netflix, so I’ve started rewatching it (first watched it in 2008). Not entirely sure how 2024 me will feel about it, but it’s fun revisiting the nostalgia. Kind of like how BlueSky reminds me of the old Twitter days. Anyone else rewatching it? #nostalgia

@sophiamav.bsky.social has created an ELT Starter Pack go.bsky.app/L9JMNA6

I feel blessed to be able to work from home. It actually boosts my productivity, not the opposite. I’m also grateful to work in a culture where I feel trusted and not monitored. But… 👇🏻1/2 #WFH #AcademicSky #EduSky

Going for a walk won’t solve everything, but it’s hard to think of a problem that feels worse after a good walk🚶🏻‍♀️ #DailyWalks #Leicester #UK

Correct. And some don’t even realise they lack the confidence (or skills) to challenge AI’s persuasive tone.

@helenagalani.bsky.social hey Helena 👋🏼. I’ve added you to the starter pack.

@warschauer.bsky.social hi Mark! Good to connect here. I’m not active on Twitter anymore.

"money has flowed to tech giants and others in their orbit... [and] raises an uncomfortable prospect: that this supposedly revolutionary technology might never deliver on its promise of broad economic transformation, but instead just concentrate more wealth" www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...

Yesterday, I overheard an MA student explain a tricky concept to their coursemate about language teaching approaches vs methods. I couldn’t help but smile in the background 😊. It reminded me why peer learning is so powerful #tesol #elt #EduSky

New Cambridge Element “Intercultural Communication in Virtual Exchange” free to read and download for 4 weeks! Grab you copy if interested👇🏻 cup.org/49bUouD #tesol #appliedlinguistics #language

#TeamOxford comma here. Where do you stand?

Hey all, do you use #AltText in your images? On BlueSky, you can turn on an ALT text reminder in your accessibility settings and it won’t let you post without it. Because accessibility matters 💙. See screenshot + useful guide below👇🏻 #AltTextChallenge #EduSky

This is from @sophiamav.bsky.social go.bsky.app/L9JMNA6

Enshittification - the gradual deterioration of a service or product - has been named Word of the Year by Macquarie Dictionary. If words are coined because we need them, what does this say about our times? #language #edtech www.canberratimes.com.au/story/883076...

Officially wooly hat weather here #DailyWalks #Leicester #UK

Very interesting guide positioning refusal to GenAI as a disciplinary and principled response. While I may not agree with all their arguments, I absolutely welcome the critical stance and refusal they advocate. We need more voices to counter the narrative that AI is inevitable. Any thoughts? #AIEdu

The plane into Luton made two super bumpy attempts to land - being tossed around by the wind. Then circled above the airport for over an hour before finally diverting to Stansted. Now waiting for the buses to take us back to Luton, but honestly, we’re just glad to have our feet on solid ground!

Genuine question: why do people choose Substack to write their articles instead of their own blog? The interface is clean and attractive but wouldn’t you want your own space? A third-party platform can change its terms whenever it wants. Maybe there are pluses I’m missing? #writing #blogging

@iatefl.bsky.social welcome! I’ll add you to this starter pack go.bsky.app/L9JMNA6

I love the analogy of the bird 🐦 transforming into a butterfly 🦋. It captures exactly how I feel about the migration here: beautiful, free, and bright like the blue sky #EduSky

The “efficiency” narrative around AI in education is driven by more complex factors than meeting a student’s need for feedback. When you save time on assessment, how will your time be re-purposed? #artificialintelligence #aieducation #aiedu

Sure enough, Common Sense Media has watered-down its ChatGPT review (www.commonsensemedia.org/ai-ratings/c...). I have some somewhat scathing quotes from their October 2023 ChatGPT review (before their partnership with OpenAI) in this post (www.criticalinkling.com/i/143961697/...). #EduSky

Good reminder! Please, consider using Camel Case when you use hashtags - capitalise the first letter of each word (e.g., #EduSky). It improves readability for everyone, including users who rely on screen readers for accessibility.

Will give it a try 👇🏻

Bluesky user count hits 20 million, with 8 new users joining every second 🎉. Great to see the academic community growing here on this decentralised place. It’s like stepping back into 2008 Twitter, only more mature 😂 #nostalgia bcounter.nat.vg #eduSKY

A timely article. TLDR? Here's my neat summary: "...we risk producing minds that are primed to accept neatly summarized information at face value rather than question it, analyze it from multiple angles, and draw their own nuanced conclusions." #edchatie #English #LeavingCert

Insightful article alert🚨& discussion on AI-assisted reading! AI reading assistants are being sold to students as the ultimate time-savers, but at what cost? Here’re my thoughts prompted by the article: marcwatkins.substack.com/p/no-one-is-... #AIedu #eduSKY 1/5

Interesting article shared by @jhengstler.bsky.social sky.social on how prompt wording can influence bias in LLM outputs. Like in research, asking ‘Why X is effective’ or ‘How effective is X’ assumes X is effective, prompting answers toward positives 1/2 #AIedu #AILiteracy #EduSky

18.500.00 bsky users and counting 🎉 bsky-users.theo.io

@danielxerri.bsky.social welcome. Have just added you to the starter pack 🙂