Today I travelled to meet one of our external examiners at Teesside University, to discuss our MBA and MSc dissertation and research processes and procedures. This meant an early start this morning, as I had to fly from Bristol to Newcastle and then catch a train from Newcastle to Middleborough. However, I managed to achieve two firsts for myself. These were firstly, visiting two new cities (Newcastle and Middleborough) and secondly, travelling to an airport via bicycle.
This meant an even earlier morning, and unfortunately, Bristol Airport is at the top of a hill, which didn’t particularly make for a nice early morning sunrise ride. However, there was definitely a certain novelty about cycling to the airport and leaving the bike and heading through customs with very little except some papers and my laptop.
Once arriving in Newcastle, unfortunately the weather was very different, and was not suitable for enjoying the scenery. However, the main purpose of the visit when very well and discussions with the external examiner were very productive and he was supportive of the proposed changes. Plus, we were able to discuss online learning developments and blended learning opportunities. This provided me an opportunity to run through, and gain some feedback on some of the teaching innovations I am planning for next academic year, from one of our external examiners.
Robin Bell 