Tag: Bex Lewis

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Speaker

[SPEAKER] Talking about Hybrid Church, the Pandemic and Mission in a Digital Age, with @vahva, at #PremDAC20.

Today, it’s the Premier Digital Conference. Normally, I would be meeting with 5-600+ other Christians in London to talk digital and church, followed by a swish awards ceremony. As with everybody else’s events this year, the event has had to go online – which in many ways is great – because my energy is poor – so this can be done in comfort from the sofa + an early night afterwards… and earlier this week already had 1000+ people signed up!

Rev Bryony Taylor and I are doing two sessions, a 10 minute keynote at 1.15pm, and a 30 minute breakout session on hybrid church and mission at 2.25pm. Our slides are here:

Being One Church for #PremDAC20 from Bex Lewis

Hybridity and Mission for #PremDAC20 from Bex Lewis
We also promised to highlight some of the links in the presentation (and reserve the right to return back and add some more):

Hopefully they’ll be lots more links shared on the hashtag today – there are so many resources online – there could be less reinvention of the wheel and people building on each other’s expertise within individual parishes (which maybe would give a bit more space to continue some of the digital work that has been accelerated this year).

An opportunity to contribute to research:

Have you been to a religious service during the pandemic? We want to hear from you. A major new research project at Manchester Metropolitan University is looking at how religious communities across the UK have adapted to the pandemic and its restrictions. The project examines the new ways that religious communities of all kinds are coming together in these difficult times and use those findings to help these communities build resilience for the future. To help us do this better, please take our survey Whether you’re a regular attender, a religious leader, or just come to the occasional wedding or funeral, we’d like to hear from you. It’s all at our website, https://bric19.mmu.ac.uk/  Please complete it and forward around the link. Thanks!

Categories
Event Speaker

[SPEAKER] #SH2015 Day 2: Chew More: Closer

Having been introduced to the theme of ‘Higher’ in last night’s sermon at Spring Harvest 2015, based upon the theme of ‘Immeasurably More’ by @RabbiRogers, today’s material focuses upon ‘Closer’. This morning Krish Kandiah and I will speak upon the theme. Here are my slides:

#SH2015 ‘Chew More’ Day 2: Closer (with @drbexl & @krishk) from Bex Lewis
Categories
History

About @ww2Poster

Extracts from the original page from @ww2poster blog:

drbexl-phdThis blog was designed to complement a website, created in 1997, constructed as an electronic resource to gather data and disseminate the research-in-progress for my PhD: “The Planning, Design and Reception of British Home Front Propaganda Posters of the Second World War.” In 2010, the blog and the website were integrated.

My thesis was examined by Lord Asa Briggs and Dr Adrian Smith (University of Southampton) in June 2004, and passed without corrections.  You can see the range of roles I’ve had, and I am currently ‘Research Fellow in Social Media and Online Learning’ for CODEC, Durham University … it’s all about contemporary communication!

The Start of All This?

berlin-wallShortly after the Berlin Wall was knocked down, my mother took my youngest brother and I to the Imperial War Museum. I only remember a couple of things from that day, one is standing at this wall which says “Change Your Life” (which that day did), but I think that’s mostly a reminder from the photo. The main think I remember from that day is wandering around the Museum, looking at all this machinery… but I’m into people, so it was when I got to the Home Front section of the Museum, with the brightly coloured posters (I’m highly visual!) that my attention was caught, and my souvenir that day was the “Women of Britain Come into the Factories” postcard, which formed the basis of my A-Level project, myUndergraduate disssertation, my PhD, this blog, and eventually – my book (there’s some publicationsalready) – or do I want to go fully virtual.. decisions, decisions, although the academic life likely demands a book!

As I wandered around I started to think that these had caught my attention, started to wonder why (when I’m not living in the Second World War)… and wonder what it was that made them so resonant now… although my thesis focused more on the posters at the time, structured around the idea of “the planning” (the government/Ministry of Information behind the posters), “the design” (how the artists interpreted their briefs, and how far these were accepted – there was no particular design style imposed as in Germany), and “the reception” (what did people say about them at the time, through newspapers, Mass Observation, etc.) – with a few references to what people remembered of them “now” as lots of people still remembered them and enthusiastically filled in questionnaires for me!

Keep Calm and Carry On

The historical information circulating (generally without citation) around the Keep Calm and Carry On poster, largely comes from my PhD thesis. It took a while for me to pick up on the phenomenon, as the poster was largely insignificant during the wars years, having never been displayed, but I had covered it as one of the first posters produced in preparation for the war. I am absolutely fascinated by how it has become such an icon for the recession.

Find me on Twitter: @drbexl

The Website:

This website is a not-for-profit site produced by Dr Bex (Rebecca) Lewis, who finished her PhD on the subject in 2004. The site is maintained around other working commitments, and plans to publish in book/journal form.

Content
The site provides information mainly on the posters produced by British agencies, in particular the British government, aimed at the Home Front during the Second World War. Information about the posters themselves, the artists who designed them, related books, the research project itself, and relevant events, are provided. Some information is also provided on the general wartime period, and on other posters and graphic design eras.

With Information
Although I have finished the PhD, I am still interested in collecting new information relevant to this topic, particularly as I plan to re-edit the thesis into a format suitable for a book. Please feel free to contact me with information you think may be of interest. I am particularly interested in collecting information on artists.

Requesting Information
Before requesting information, please check the FAQ page.

Categories
Life(style)

Updated CV

I hadn’t updated my CV for a while, it needs a bit more fine-tuning, but in preparation for some bits & pieces of work I’m looking to pick up freelance, moving it forward: Dr Bex Lewis – Academic CV (July 2012)

Categories
Academic Digital

Dr Bex Lewis, Blended Learning Fellow, University of Winchester

This is a draft for a (closed) grant application, for a combination of Digital Literacies & Organisational Development!

Dr Bex Lewis has responsibility for embedding digital literacies among academic colleagues at the University of Winchester. She has recently co-led the JISC funded BODGIT project with the ODHE which sought to explore the interface between digital literacy and organizational development. At Winchester, Bex leads the PGCLTHE module on Blended Learning, and has undertaken online skills-focused [1] and accessibility projects [2]. She is on Learning and Teaching, Learning Network (Moodle) and Distance Learning Committees.

Bex has worked as a lecturer in HE for 13 years, experimenting with digital formats, most recently for an innovative Media Studies module specifically built around Web 2.0 tools. Her diverse background as a lecturer in five linked disciplines (History, Media Studies, American Studies, Film Studies, and Design for Digital Media) has helped her to understand the range of responses to technology among colleagues, and to have credibility as an education developer in this exponentially growing field. Her training as a life coach and mentor has equipped her with a set of skills and theoretical tools about change which she brings to promoting digital literacies. Her theory of change stems from an action research model “that for change to be effective it… must be a participative and collaborative process that involves all those concerned.” [3]

In roles beyond the University, Bex is Director of Digital Fingerprint, a social media consultancy that works particularly within the HE and Christian sectors, including digital literacy workshops for the Church of England. She runs The Big Bible Project for the University of Durham, encouraging ‘bigger Bible conversations’, promoting digital literacy amongst Christians, a project extended to a second year because of the value demonstrated. She is an early adopter of social media tools, using them in everyday life since first developing a website for her PhD  [4], giving her an international profile. She has a growing profile as a speaker, including forthcoming European engagements.

Bex has developed a particularly strong Community of Practice through a combination of social media and conference attendance, with connections in both FE and HE. She was on the International Review Board for the Plymouth E-Learning Conference 2011, and presented twice at the Association of Learning Technologists Conference 2011. She is a member of the JISC Learning & Teaching Experts Committee. She has attended a number of JISC workshops, and is a regular super-delegate for its online conferences.

Bex is the Learning with Technology Specialist who will be responsible for the implementation of programme-wide technology enhancements for assessment and feedback on up to 33 programmes as part of the newly funded JISC project, FASTECH.  This will combine her skills as an education technologist with her knowledge and experience of organisational development.

References

[1] SkillsNet: On-line resources, tips and information to boost your academic performance, www.winchester.ac.uk/skillsnet

[2] Jessop, T., Edwards, S. & Lewis, B., ‘Disabled student views on web accessibility’, Capture, Vol. II, (2009) pp50-57

[3] Cheung-Judge, M. & Holbeche, L. Organization Development: A Practitioner’s Guide for OD and HR, London: KoganPage, 2011, p35

[4] ‘Keep Calm and Carry On and other Second World War Posters’, http://ww2poster.co.uk