Education is often presented as the transmission of knowledge. Yet Hannah Arendt’s ideas of plurality and natality point us toward a richer promise.

Plurality reminds us that education always involves the meeting of diverse perspectives. Natality highlights that each new generation brings the possibility of new beginnings. Together they suggest that education is not only about continuity but also about creating conditions for renewal.

In a time when digital platforms and institutional pressures often move us toward uniformity, how can online learning preserve openness to plurality and to the unexpected promise of renewal?

Read the full post here:
e-learning-rules.com/blog/0050…

#elearning #digitalpedagogy #education #highereducation

Retro 1970s sci-mag scene: a circular forum of diverse figures around a glowing sapling whose branches become constellations and city paths; circuit grids dissolve into organic forms, suggesting open, plural futures.

How can digital learning move beyond a market logic that frames learners as customers and platforms as products, towards practices that strengthen democracy and the common good?

In this post I explore how imaginaries shape education and how shifting from efficiency and scale to collaboration and shared responsibility might open new possibilities for digital pedagogy.

Read the full post here:
e-learning-rules.com/blog/0047…

#elearning #digitalpedagogy #onlinelearning #highereducation #commongood

Retrofuturist agora: diverse groups co-create under a radiant prism while cold metric towers fade and organic light threads bloom—education imagined as democratic, plural, and caring.

What if the greatest barrier to change in education is not technology or funding, but the way we imagine what education is?

Institutions are never neutral. They carry histories, values, and priorities that shape what is possible in teaching and learning. When we accept these frameworks as fixed, even our innovations can end up reinforcing their limits.

In my latest blog post, I explore how educators can act as moral agents of reinstitution, helping to rewrite the structures and values that underpin education: e-learning-rules.com/blog/0045…

What changes could you make in your own context that challenge the default system rather than adapt to it?

#eLearning #DigitalPedagogy #EducationalTechnology #OnlineLearning #HigherEducation #Pedagogy

Surreal sci-fi painting of silhouetted figures amid glowing architectural forms and a radiant cosmic figure, symbolising moral agency and imaginative reinstitution in education.

Are platform-based evaluations really neutral? Or do they conceal embedded assumptions about what counts as valuable, measurable, or meaningful in education?

In this post, I explore how digital platforms often flatten pedagogical nuance by presenting value-laden processes as objective. I argue for strong evaluation - evaluation that is grounded in explicit ethical, pedagogical, and social commitments.

Read the full post:
e-learning-rules.com/blog/0044…

#EdTech #DigitalPedagogy #eLearning #CriticalEdTech #PlatformStudies #HigherEd #Assessment #educationaltechnology

Retro-futuristic painting of a woman studying data panels with human silhouettes and bar charts against a cosmic nebula background, evoking critical reflection on educational platforms.

What if the real limits of digital education are not just technical or institutional, but moral and cultural?

In my latest blog post, I explore the idea of the social imaginary as a way of understanding the background beliefs and assumptions that shape how we design, deliver, and interpret education. These moral frameworks often go unexamined, yet they determine what counts as legitimate learning and who the imagined learner is.

By surfacing these assumptions, we open the door to reimagining education in more inclusive, democratic, and imaginative ways.

Read the full post:
e-learning-rules.com/blog/0040…

More reflections at:
e-learning-rules.com/

#elearning #digitalpedagogy #education #criticalpedagogy #socialimaginary #learningdesign #edtech

A lone figure stands on a glowing platform in deep space, facing a radiant sun at the centre of a cosmic grid, evoking retro-futuristic contemplation and the architecture of thought.

What values are embedded in the digital infrastructure of our universities?

Too often we assume that platforms and tools are neutral. But the systems we rely on for teaching and learning shape pedagogy, constrain choices, and reflect commercial interests rather than educational ones.

In this post, I explore what it might mean to build a community-owned digital university that reflects our values and priorities.

Read here:
e-learning-rules.com/blog/0032…

#CriticalDigitalPedagogy #DigitalUniversity #OpenSource #HigherEd #PlatformPolitics #EdTech #eLearning

A retro-futuristic painting of a human and a robot seated at a console, gazing at each other, their hands near a glowing interface, evoking tension between organic and technological agency.

Educational technologies are often introduced as neutral tools. But every platform carries embedded assumptions about teaching, learning, and control.

In my latest blog post, I argue that digital policy is not just an administrative concern. It is deeply pedagogical. If we want technology to serve education rather than shape it, educators must engage at the level of policy and platform design.

Read the full post here:
e-learning-rules.com/blog/0031…

#DigitalPedagogy #CriticalPedagogy #EdTech #OnlineLearning #EducationPolicy #PlatformPolitics #OpenEducation

A surreal, retro-futuristic illustration of educators navigating a digital landscape shaped by data streams, control panels, and towering abstract systems, symbolising policy as a pedagogical struggle.

Learning Management Systems do not just organise course content. They also organise thought.

In this blog post, I explore how the design of LMS platforms subtly shapes educational practice and limits pedagogical possibilities. These platforms carry values and assumptions that often go unquestioned.

What has your LMS taught you - unintentionally?

Read more: e-learning-rules.com/blog/0029…
Full blog: e-learning-rules.com

#elearning #LMS #digitalpedagogy #criticalpedagogy #highered #onlinelearning #instructionaldesign

This image shows a retro-futuristic illustration of a student interacting with a glowing computer screen showing a head silhouette, surrounded by psychedelic colours, quiz options, a padlock, and a floating eye symbol.

Too often, digital platforms silently shape our teaching practices. From VLE templates to AI-based assessment systems, technology influences pedagogy more than we realise.

This post argues for reversing that logic. Pedagogy must lead the design and use of digital tools, not follow it.

This is the first in a new blog series exploring how educators can reclaim agency in a platform-driven environment.

Read the full post:
e-learning-rules.com/blog/0028…

#DigitalPedagogy #CriticalPedagogy #OnlineLearning #EdTech #InstructionalDesign #PedagogyFirst #LMS #VLE #AIinEducation

How do we build genuine community in online education - not just simulate interaction?

In my latest blog post, I explore how connection in digital spaces demands more than tools and tech. It requires pedagogical intention, vulnerability, and co-authorship.

What does "community" mean in your online teaching practice - and how do you design for it?

Read the full post:
e-learning-rules.com/blog/0023…

More writing:
e-learning-rules.com/

#OnlineLearning #DigitalPedagogy #EdTech #ConnectedLearning #HigherEd #elearning #CommunityOfInquiry

Open Educational Resources (OERs) once held real promise for widening participation and improving access in UK higher education. But in many institutions—especially within the Russell Group—they’ve faded from strategic view.

In this post, I reflect on why now is the right time to revisit the role of OERs in digital education, equity, and curriculum innovation.

📖 Read the full article:
👉 e-learning-rules.com/blog/0014…

#OER #OpenEducation #UKHE #HigherEducation #DigitalPedagogy #EducationTechnology #CriticalPedagogy

I'm Stephen Wheeler, an eLearning Technologist at The University of Manchester. My work focuses on online and distance learning, including MOOCs, OERs, and student-centred design rooted in critical pedagogy. I advocate for Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) and ethical, decentralised platforms that support authentic engagement and inclusive education.

I'm here to connect with fellow educators, technologists, and open education advocates, and to explore how platforms like Friendica can support collaborative, non-commercial educational spaces.

Looking forward to meaningful conversations across the Fediverse!

#EducationTechnology #CriticalPedagogy #FOSS #OpenEducation #Fediverse #DigitalLearning #AuthenticAssessment