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Author Archives: Gill Kirkup
Universities are no place for libraries – especially it seems the Women’s Library
Libraries with physical books and archives where people go to research and study are becoming for, many universities, expensive non-core functions that are in the first line for financial cuts. The library in my own university – state of the … Continue reading
Its a girl thing- but is it a science thing?
I have been suprised at the almost universal condemnation of the short video produced by the European Commission as part of a campaign to attract more young women to ‘do science’. You can see it on YouTube if you missed … Continue reading
Women deal better with being lost in Space
I was a science fiction reading young teenager in a small northern British town when the first Space programmes were launched. I remember pictures of a debonair Yuri Gagarin and a serious Valentina Tereshkova looking like innocent twins in their … Continue reading
What I saw in China 2: low tech ‘non-jobs’
Despite the high end high tech products and industries in the major cities of China – and in the hands of many Chinese people –we saw lots of incidences of over-manning: of people working in ‘non-jobs’. China is the only … Continue reading
What I saw in China: 1. Noisy technologies
I have just come back from a three week holiday exploring parts of China. While I was there I was too overwhelmed to blog, but since I have been back I have been reflecting on some of what I experienced. … Continue reading
Gender equity gets closer but not for everyone
This last week I have been participating in an online forum run by UNESCO and IIEP (the International Institute for Educational Planning) on gender equality in education. It is very easy to sign up for online conferences and then never … Continue reading
Can face-to- face universities offer consistent high quality online and distance learning?
For some years those of us working in distance learning institutions have been encouraged to see ourselves as simply part of a continuum of ‘blended learning’. Our older siblings: traditional or face-to- face institutions, declared that they could use e-learning … Continue reading
The boys’ night out
In all the media coverage about the visit of Prime Minister Cameron to President Obama, nobody seemed to think the 800 mile round trip on Airforce One to see a basketball game was anything worth mentioning. I am not a … Continue reading
Don’t dig there, dig it elsewhere – preferably outside my house
My neighbours are quiet guys, they work from offices at home. For years they have been complaining that their internet broadband access is not good enough for what they need to do, and that letters and phone calls to the … Continue reading
Why Read?
I was listening to someone on the radio talking about why she read little when she was a child. Because, she explained, she was a black working class West Indian child and when she was young books for children contained … Continue reading