Welcome to my website. Here, I'm showcasing my own research and hosting links to my social media. Enjoy!
I left school at 17 and went to work in a bank. From there, I did a variety of jobs, including working as a graphic designer. Eventually, I could escape my destiny no longer and in my 30s I did a degree with the Open University (BA Hons in English Literature and Art History) and then trained as a secondary English teacher at the University of Exeter.
I worked as full-time teacher for ten years. I was appointed Head of Media early on in my career, and worked hard to build Media Studies into a major part of the curriculum in Key Stages 3, 4 and 5. It was, and still is, my favourite subject. There's always something new to use as an examplar text, and the students never ceased to amaze me with their creativity.
I taught for ten years (in the same school) until 2014, all through the Gove era when Ofsted were dictating all sorts of preferred teaching practices. The workload and pressure increased to the point where I knew I had to consider other options. Whilst at home, suffering from another cold, I found the Web Science MOOC on Futurelearn, worked my way through the first week, and everything changed.
In 2014, I moved to Southampton, and started the first of four years study, beginning with an MSc in Web Science. I've just completed a PhD in Web Science, and I'm now employed as a Teaching Fellow. It's been an amazing experience.
This is my personal & professional Wordpress blog.