Below: Proof shot from one of my Grad presentations.
I think they should let me teach in my cape, don't you? Overtones of the demon headmaster, Hogwarts or Batman?

Below: Ok so those that know me have suspected for some while. Confirmation that I come from a long line of cowboys. My great, great, great grandfather Wild Eric the surest six shooting shot south of Sheffield. Please note the bottle of JD on the table, a tradition I still hold true, especially at weekends.

Welcome to About Me.

I was born in Mansfield near Nottingham. 2nd of 3 boys I had a happy and fairly un-eventful childhood. Almost all my adolescent years were spent in or around Sutton-in Ashfield a small town near Mansfield Notts.

Predominantly my time is divided between my teaching, preparing new material, marking, my MSc course at University and my children. Personal academic interests extend into web design, interactive multimedia, compression and encryption. I am currently engaged in an MSc in Multimedia and Education at the University of Huddersfield. The MSc focuses my main educational interest, which is the creation of interactive multimedia material. Other module interests extend to the design and evaluation of learning technology, concepts and models of interactive media, computer based delivery, assessment and computer mediated learning.

Current Reading:
Laurillard, D. (2002) Rethinking University Teaching, (2nd Edition) Routledge.
Feynman, R, P. (1996) Lectures on Computation, Penguin.
Cohen, J & Stewart, I. (1994) The Collapse of Chaos, Penguin Science.
Ward, M. (1999) Virtual Organisms - the startling world of artificial life, Macmillian.
Comments, discussion on above [email protected]

Almost all my `free` time is spent with my children; we often do something together at weekends swimming, parks, shows, walking on the moors etc. Some of my favourite places to walk are Thunderbridge Gorge, Hardcastle Grags and Newstead.

In the limited time I have to myself I like to go rock climbing and caving see below. Or in my `Quiet time` I'm a great fan of Shakespeare and Thomas Hardy, both books and films. I find it relaxing to sit watching an old film with a glass of something.

Left: Lower section of one of my local climbing sites. I love climbing its great to be out, fingertips griping rock. The buzz I get from climbing is fantastic. For the time that you're on the rock face your totally focused it's like having a bubble surrounding you, your world exists only as far as you can reach.

Do you climb? I'm looking for some local climbing buddies. Since leaving the BEd course at University I have lost contact with most of my original climbing colleagues.

Bottom Left: Proof I was once young. This B/W photo was taken by a friend while we were students on a photography course at Nottingham Uni over 20 years ago. Have I changed that much?

Above: About to descend into the bowels of mother earth. Behind me is a 16-m drop into the pitch blackness of a often wet and sometimes flooded sump. On rollover this is a picture of me after a caving trip on the final walk to daylight. Looks like fun eh.

 

Right: In connection with HNC several other teachers and myself took a group of 20 students to Disneyland Paris for a series of IT related lectures. Obviously we spent a couple of days in the park. Seconds after this picture was taken I pulled Excalibur from the stone. I always said that I had royal blood.

 

 

 

 

Right: In Paris again on top of the Eiffel Tower. I waited and waited, but she never turned up and I had walked all the way up 1,710 steps. - Somebody just told me I should have been on the observation deck of the Empire State building, New York - Typical, story of my life - Still there is next year.

 

I am a member of the Islay Whiskey Society and enjoy the occasional tipple, my favourites being Lagavulin and Bowmore . In homage to this water of the gods I have secured a small plot of land on the Isle of Islay within view of my favourite distillery. Whilst this plot of land is small (one square foot) I still intend to retire there and build myself a cottage.

http://www.islaywhiskysociety.com/

Not for the faint hearted, several photographs that some would say should never see the light of day. Hence giving you the choice to click or not to click. - Sarah & Lorna I shall be watching! -

Mini Me Contrary to popular belief I was born and not created in a lab.

Cyber-me Being a techno-junky I wonder what a virtual me would look like.

More to follow:
 

My daughter and I have for several years sponsored a little girl and her family in Tanzania. We exchange letters and send her toys, crayons, books etc. Over the years we have built a strong bond with our extended family. Through exchanging letters and photographs my daughter and I have learnt much about the community, language and culture of those living in the poorest regions of Tanzania. Our sponsorship of this little girl is providing her with an education and opportunities that would be taken for granted in many other countries.

This sponsorship is organised through Plan International which is a humanitarian child-centred organisation working in 45 developing countries, with families and their communities to help children realise their full potential in life. Click on the logo on the left to learn more about sponsoring a child with Plan International. Click on the Tanzanian emblem on the right to learn more about our sponsored child's country.

 

My college HNC is a `Global College` which maintains many links overseas. It actively encourages its students to become aware and active citizens - citizens not only of their local community and their nation but also of the world. Whilst at College students can develop their understanding of new societies and cultures from Africa to Eastern Europe. Since 1990 we have had an exchange partnership with Moshi Technical School, Kilimanjaro Region, Tanzania, East Africa. Each year a party of students from each institution visits the other and for three weeks experiences life in an environment, culture, and society very different from the one they know. HNC Students should check out our TANZANET (Intranet) to learn more about opportunities to visit or become involved in the exchange.

 

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