I am wary of making “I’m happy to share” posts on LinkedIn, but some things are truly worth celebrating.

I spent the past week in Dublin at the DCU-hosted ILTA EdTech conference, and it was an utter joy. I presented my PhD research-in-progress, as well as co-facilitating a crafty zine workshop with four remarkable women. I also met some of my academic heroes, and not only do I still like them, but I feel connected and empowered (and in some cases, literally fed) by them.

Before I get gushing, I really just need to thank Eamon Costello, the president of the Irish Learning Technology Association (ILTA) and lead organiser of the conference. There were so many of us who had traveled internationally to be there, and I said jokingly to someone last week that we were really all just there to see Eamon. It wasn’t really a joke, though. Eamon – we treasure you. Thank you so much for bringing us together.

What was most powerfully striking about the event was the atmosphere of solidarity in the face of encroaching technosolutionism in universities. This was a particular surprise given that EdTech is, well, an edtech conference. It’s run now for 25 years, providing a platform for conversations about tech innovation, digital transformation and skills development. And yet, this year, we saw three edtech critical keynotes from Abeba Birhane, Ben Williamson and Felicitas Macgilchrist. (The abstracts are here, but not recordings… I wish!) We saw a standing ovation for Ian Linkletter’s gasta, recounting his experience of being penalised by his university and sued by Proctorio for speaking out about consentless surveillance. My team from the Library of Babel Group were granted an hour to make a collaborative zine about resisting institutional pushes to adopt AI. The rep from Instructure (Canvas) came on stage to apologise to everyone. And throughout the week, people approached me to express support, hope, appreciation and a spirit of union. I was overwhelmed, in the best way.

I also got to spend sustained, nourishing time with my beautiful friend and co-author Kaitlin Lucas from Central European University, reflecting on life, scholarship and constructive critique as we explored the campuses and city streets of Dublin. Hashtag blessed, I think they say?

I am energised and excited to connect and hopefully to collaborate with kindred collectives like the Civics of Technology project and the Climate Justice Universities Union – groups whose work I had admired and cited before, and whose members I’ve now had the privilege to hug and dine and drink with.

We’ll be compiling the workshop zine in the coming days, but for now, a little freebie: this is a zine we shared at the conference, one output of a cross-continental collaboration I’ve been involved in with several of my beloved comrades from Babel. We’ll present more on the project at the upcoming Postdigital Backlash conference in Zagreb later this month – I won’t be there in person, but if you are, please say hello to my wonderful collaborators Kaitlin Lucas and Elisa Bone, who will!

This is a screen version, but if you’re proper vibing with it and would like a version to print, just drop me a line and I’ll send it to you!