[SSC] Media stuff

[Megan Robertson]

May an 'outsider' comment, please?

Having discovered you just yesterday through a BBC website article, having
had no idea of your existence before then, I would hope that you would grasp
any suitable opportunity to raise your profile through the media.

It will, however, be important for you to decide just what you think you are
as a collective organisation, and to ensure that you present yourselves
accordingly.

So, what are you?

People who want to share knowledge in a structured way, by offering
'courses' in subjects in which you are knowledgeable in a manner accessible
to anyone who wants to learn.

People who don't like the way in which higher education is developing and
who want to offer an alternative.

People who see themselves as 'activists' seeking to destroy existing modes
of providing education and replacing them with their own vision.

People who do not care for the increasing 'commercialisation' of education
and so want to offer it for free... 

Woolly-headed idealists? :)

Some, all or none of the above?

Different things will attract different people, so you will also need to
consider the sort of people that you want to attract. (You may at this point
decide you'd rather I went away!)

For what it's worth, I followed up the BBC story and stuck my nose in
because I am passionate about the provision of excellent education that
inspires learners, and as an e-learning specialist I'm fascinated about
'alternate' ways of sharing knowledge and skills.

(I also happen to be unemployed, so am always looking for projects that
might want to make use of my skills... at least, until I find someone who'll
pay me! Until then, and even beyond, interesting not-for-profit projects can
have those skills for nothing.)

A few thoughts from an outsider looking in, read, discard at your pleasure.

Megan Robertson
FBCS CITP

"By doubting we come to questioning, and by questioning we come to perceive
the truth" (Abelard)