Friday 24th May 2013 - What are people doing on their iPads?

At one time if people were getting a little bored in a conference presentation they doodled on their note pads, whispered to their companions, or rifled through their papers for something more interesting to keep them occupied. I will confess that in some boring lectures when I was a student I wrote my weekly letter home.

My first encounter with mobile technology in a lecture or conference setting came in the very early days of mobile phones, when they were the size of a house brick.  It was at an 'international' conference in Italy ('international' although I was the only foreigner present).  As the afternoon turned into the early evening (many of the papers were too long, but the chairman held no one back to their allotted time) a man on the other side of the auditorium from me decided to make a call to his wife to explain that he would be late home.  That simple message led to a domestic dispute, which we could appropriately (since it is an Italian term) describe as molto crescendo during which the conference speaker gave up his address from the rostrum so we could all participate in the more engaging drama of the phone call - the audience member involved being completely oblivious to the fact that he had his own personal audience of 50 or so.

Mobile technology in lecture rooms, conference presentations or in training sessions is now ubiquitous.  And perhaps we have all learned how to use it more discreetly.  But when I am giving a presentation, as I was today, and everyone is busy with their iPads, I am never sure what is happening.  The room is quiet - probably quieter than in the days of the whispered conversations.  But what are colleagues actually doing on their iPads?  Are they taking down notes? Are they switching the microphone on to record some of the gems of the presentation?  Are they checking their e-mails?  Are they writing messages to others?  Are they checking ther diaries for their next engagement?  The speaker can't tell.  At least I've never yet had anyone plug in their earphones when I have started speaking, but that could yet happen. Will I be up against their favourite YouTube clip, or will the soundtrack from their favourite music accompany what I am saying?  Conference audiences today may outwardly appear to be more attentive than they were years ago, but the possible distractions are actually much greater.  That attentiveness may be deceptive.   

Monday 13th May 2013 - Normative gender and images on the walls of rooms

The Higher Education Funding Council for Engalnd (HEFCE) has moved out of its former London offices in the Centreproint Building into an office block near Chancery Lane. I was there today to take part in the appraisal for a research contract HEFCE wishes to place with a consultant.  The offices are bright and airy, with lots of glass partitions giving a feeling of transparency.  There are a lot of decals on the glass, in modern designs. And one wall is decorated with an enlarged photograph of two young students, a male and a female.

Images and decoration make a big difference to work environments.  They help to create the mood of the space, and also say something about the unspoken assumptions of expected behaviour.

On Friday I was on the interview panel for the appointmennt of a chief executive position within higher education. The interveiws took place in a fine modern room in the Enegineering faculty of another university.  The walls of the room were decorated with stunning photographs in which I counted 11 males and only 1 female - and she was apparently a technician being instructed by one of the males.  In one of the breaks between interviews I explored other parts of the building to see how the gender balance of images worked there.  All the pictures (some as oil paintings, others as posters, some as photographs of key staff) were of men.  Finally I spotted a female image on a small poster on a noticeboard - and when I got close I saw it was a picture of a woman with her head in her hands and a message about getting advice from the Counselling Service.  I sympathised with her - in such an apparently male dominated faculty I was not surprised that she might be feeling low.  I am pleased that here in Sheffield Mike Hounslow, with the help of Elena Rodriguez-Falcon and colleagues, is keenly aware of issues around encouraging women in and into Engineering.

But that evening I was sitting next to the newly-elected Student Union Womens' Officer at the annual Union Academic Awards.  The event was taking place in Firth Hall.  I mentioned my experiences that day at the other university and concluded with remarks about our attitude in Engineering here in Sheffield.  But, rightly, she then pointed out that the portraits of former Vice-Chancellors on the walls around us were all of men.