Committee, CPD, HigherEd

When X is the new Wednesday night date

Dr Teeroumanee Nadan

If you have read my blog post “When the bird chirps at 8pm on Wednesdays” earlier this year, then it will not be surprising to you that I was invited to be part of the organising committee once again – that’s twice in 2023. I obviously accepted the invite, as I was keen to know all the processes in and out and be a mentor next time.

As a mentor, I regularly document my CPDs to encourage my mentees to engage in similar activities, either for them to learn new skills or simply to network with people outside their circle, I, therefore, provide in this blog:

  • What was it like to be part of the organising team a 2nd time?
  • What did I gain being part of the organising team a 2nd time?
  • Will I do it again?
  • What I think could be improved?

Please do check out what LTHEchat is about from my first blog “When the bird chirps at 8pm on Wednesdays“.

What was it like to be part of the organising team a 2nd time?

I got to work with Tracey Madden whom I previously collaborated with from the Antiracism and Learning Technology ALT SIG which I chair. We were a team of only two this time round, with Rachelle O’Brien as mentor, whom I got to e-meet for the first time, with of course Sue Becks overseeing everything. Check out the Sep-Dec 2023 LTHEchat organising team profile.

So what was it like?

  • This time round the process was smoother, I made sure I knew beforehand what week I was in charge of, and contacted the guests 3-4 weeks in advance. So, the blog and questions were all ready and scheduled two weeks before the session!
  • As usual, responsibility and accountability are two key principles that I carry along in whatever I do, whether be it in a paid role or a voluntary role. During my initial e-meet with the mentor, I made sure she knew how I usually work.
  • From my previous experience, I recall setting up the Wakelet posts was the most tedious part, as several people tend to use the #LTHEchat hashtag for general HE posts, not necessarily related to the Wednesday discussion topic only. With ex-Twitter being the new X, TweetDeck and Wakelet could not be used anymore. Sadly, however, from a guest perspective, this is a minus point – I recall a few guests asking if the tweets would be curated so they could have all the contributors’ tweets to their session in one place to draw learnings from them.

This time I upped the game. How you ask?

✨As I was a second-time organising team member, I got to set the tone and pace of how things were done. Both during my first time participation and this time, I set up the Gdrive files, and templates for the other team members to use, ensuring that tasks can be picked up easily if one of us have an emergency. However, this time round, I was able to set the pace of work. This was a major improvement from my first experience where communication was not always uniform. As Tracey Madden puts it – she was “just following @Tee_Nadan‘s phenomenal example!“, we had a plan and were always ahead by several weeks.

✨Previously, I suggested the need to have a form to capture interests for guests to diversify the guests. From my personal observation, LTHEchat guests had been spiralling with connections within a close circle. I am glad to write that my suggestion from earlier was incorporated, so check out the form and get involved as a guest! Here is what Sue Becks has to say “Kudos to [Teeroumanee] for the suggestion for a call for guests.” It is an opportunity for exposure, especially for junior staff and international staff who need to build connections in the UK academic sector.

✨Another suggestion for improvement I made earlier this year, was with regards to recognition of the organising team members – in particular with the fact that I could not be awarded an Open Badge for my contributions. This suggestion was also taken on board and is being implemented. I personally am not a huge fan of Open Badges based on my experience as a researcher, issuer, and receiver (check my reflections on Open Badges), nonetheless, badges and certificates tend to be prized in British academia when it comes to accreditation. I have also requested a LinkedIn recommendation for my double contributions this year 🤜 🤛

What did I gain being part of the organising team a 2nd time?

There have been slight but yet more meaningful benefits this time round:

  • Networking with people who were not already part of my professional circle – this time round, I coordinated 6 sessions, which is twice the number from last time, so more connections were created!
  • More visibility as a brown and int’l consultant.
  • Opportunity to be part of a team for a short period and as usual shine above and beyond.

At a personal level, I felt the experience was much more enjoyable!

Here are some of the blogs that I coordinated with guests (https://bit.ly/3Iclru9)

Will I do it again?

As a mentor or guest ONLY!

Changes are coming to LTHEchat, which will provide open badges for the organising team and guests as well.

As Chair of the Antiracism and Learning Technology Special Interest Group (ARLT SIG), I have already reserved a date for 2024 for guest contribution, where I am bringing forth two officers, who have been in the UK only for just about a year, in order to widen their exposure. So tune in next term for a vibrant and engaging chat with me and other ARLT SIG colleagues.

What I think could be improved?

LTHEchat was created almost a decade ago and with the changes on X, there is a huge need for some radical changes. I have to extend appreciation to Sue Becks who took on board my earlier suggestions and implemented them. I am going to limit myself to five suggestions here.

  1. This time round, I contacted the guests way in advance, and I invited them to attend at least two LTHEchat sessions before their own sessions to familiarise themselves with “how fast” the chat goes. This is definitely an approach that needs to be maintained by future organising teams for no last-minute chaos.
  2. During the session, I was also tagging guests where they had not responded, so they can interact with the participants. Let’s face it, participants are not spending their time on a Wednesday night on #LTHEchat simply for fun, there is a very selfish intent for them and their work to be seen and recognised by the guests. I have noticed that in a few places, I was able to get back the level of interaction that was there before Twitter became X.
  3. Not surprisingly, once guests are done with their sessions, most do not turn up for any future session, they forget to extend support to future guests. Participation can be massively increased by a very subtle strategy – a common chat space for all guests for the term. This will create a space to promote sessions among guests and also encourage them to extend support and visibility to other guest contributors. I started doing this from the penultimate session, a bit late, but nonetheless an improvement from before.
  4. So far, upcoming chats are promoted only a few days before their scheduled dates, this could be improved by being advertised at least 2 weeks in advance, which may attract more people on certain topics. For the upcoming ARLT SIG LTHEchat session Feb 2024, I have already drafted the questions, and currently putting together the blog and bios, so we can publish it on the ARLT SIG blog space and circulate it within our community a few weeks in advance to increase participation on the day. I have put in place a whole strategy to increase engagement.
  5. Participation definitely needs to be diversified both for guest contributors and participants in the session. It would be great to see more People of Colour (POC) as guests and also include students as co-guests. Since I have started to participate in #LTHEchat, I have noticed zero student participation in any of the sessions that I have attended, the timing obviously is unsuitable. There are the odd PGR students, but they tend to be staff undertaking a part-time PhD, rather than full-time PGR students. There is a need for POC and students’ voices!
    • Very often, POC co-contributors and students are left out when co-created materials are presented and discussed to the wider audience in various different channels. A simple workaround for this would be to include, in the Expression of interest to be a #LTHEchat Guest form, a statement for guests if they are the sole author of the work/project they want to bring to #LTHEchat – to probe them to think twice in case they have missed to include contributors. My proposal from Pt 3 would also be a simple solution to this.

I end this reflection blog here, with heartfelt appreciation that it was time well spent with the organising team, guests, and the community!

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Published by Dr Teeroumanee Nadan

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