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Professor Rebecca Eynon elected to prestigious Academy of Social Sciences Fellowship

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Her research examines the injustices that can arise from the use of technologies in learning and education.

Professor Eynon, who holds a joint academic post at the Oxford Internet Institute and the Department of Education at the University of Oxford, said: ‘I am delighted and honoured to be elected a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and join such an esteemed community. I am indebted to my academic colleagues, students, and collaborators from policy and practice who made this recognition possible.’

The Academy’s Fellowship comprises around 1,700 leading social scientists, elected for excellence in their fields and substantial contributions to social science for public benefit through independent peer review.

Rebecca Eynon is a Sociologist of Education whose work sits at the intersection of education, technology and society. In response to the uncritical hype that surrounds digital technologies and AI, her empirical research highlights people’s experiences of using technologies for learning across the life course and examines how and why injustices can arise from their design and use.

At the Department of Education, she convenes the Critical Digital Education Research Group, fostering sociological scholarship on the role of technology in learning and education nationally and internationally. She sits on the editorial board of the British Journal of Sociology of EducationInformation and Learning Sciences, and Learning, Media and Technology, and was co- editor of Learning, Media and Technology from 2011-2021.

She is a steering board member for the Swiss National Science Foundation Digital Transformation Programme, which investigates and presents policy options for digital and social change, and an international investigator for the Australian Research Council’s Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child, which is dedicated to creating research informed positive digital experiences for children. 

Professor Eynon currently leads the Towards Equity Focused Approaches to EdTech Project, a three-year study funded by the ESRC Education Programme. Through ethnographic research in schools, the project examines how EdTech is used in practice to explore how technology can address – or inadvertently reinforce – inequities in education. The team also works with academics, EdTech companies, policymakers, teachers, students and other members of the education community to inform more socially just and equitable design and implementation of technology in school settings.

Professor Eynon is widely published and has engaged with a variety of public, private and third sector organisations concerned with issues of inequity and technology. Her work has been cited by policy actors such as the Sutton Trust, the British Academy, the Royal Society, UNESCO, the OECD, the European Union, the United Nations, the World Bank, and varied national and regional governments. In the UK, where most of her research is located, she has given evidence to the Education Select Committee and provided expert input intoresearch by the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology and the Government’s Open Innovation Team. 

Professor Eynon teaches on the MSc in Education (Digital and Social Change) at the Department of Education and the MSc in Social Science of the Internet at the Oxford Internet Institute. Across both departments, she supervises DPhil students whose research focuses on digital education, technology and social justice.



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Katy Perry forced to cancel gig ahead of Blenheim Festival

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The 41-year-old pop icon was due to perform at Werchter Boutique festival in Belgium last night, Saturday, June 28, when the event was unexpectedly cut short.

The festival’s committee decided to end the day’s performances early, at 9pm just after a set from Pitbull, due to a weather forecast of ‘severe thunderstorms from midnight onwards at the earliest’ and a government warning.

READ MORE: Jeremy Clarkson’s pub staff ‘walk out after many problems’

Perry wrote on Instagram: “Sadly my set at Werchter Boutique tonight can’t happen due to a government mandated cancellation because of the incoming inclement weather and crowd safety concerns.

“I was backstage at the show in the middle of hair and makeup when this news was delivered, and they gave me no choice.

“I am just as unhappy as you are. Unfortunately this is beyond my control, but the safety of all 55,000 of you always comes first and foremost.”

The performance was due to mark the popstar’s return to the one-day event held in Belgium’s Festivalpark for the first time in more than 15 years.

READ MORE: Sara Cox in new venture as UK charity collapses with £430k owed

Perry added: “I am sorry I can’t change the weather, and even sorrier that all of us can’t be together tonight. I was looking forward to being back after 17 years, I was even gonna wear the same outfit from that 2009 show again. I love you all, and please get home safe.”

It comes just a week before the star’s next scheduled festival appearance, at the brand-new Blenheim Festival in Wodostock, Oxfordshire, where she is due to perform on July 4.

The current forecast for that date is sunny skies and temperatures in the mid-20s.





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BBOWT shares tips for helping wild bees this summer

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CAN you imagine summer without the sight of bumblebees buzzing from flower to flower, or a summer lunch without juicy tomatoes or strawberries?

If we don’t help our wild bees, this could be a glimpse of the future.

Our bees are in trouble.

Bees pollinate flowers, but also many of our favourite food crops, equivalent to every third mouthful of food we eat.

But they’re losing the habitat and plants they need to survive.

In the countryside, 97 per cent of lowland meadow has already been lost and the dramatic decrease in suitable habitats isn’t just confined to rural areas.

Gardens used to act as ‘green corridors’ for wildlife to move around towns and cities, and into and out of urban areas, but are increasingly being paved over or even covered with fake grass – with no real plants at all.

Helping bees is easy though.

Anyone can take action to help wild bees whether you have a wall for vertical planting, window box, or back garden.

It’s easy to plant a bee haven and fun choosing between bee-friendly beauties like borage, foxglove and honeysuckle.

There are 15 million gardens in the UK.

Put together they cover an area that’s seven times the size of the Isle of Wight.

If we all made our gardens more bee-friendly it would have a huge impact on our wild bees.

So, what should you plant in your garden?

Bees need a supply of pollen and nectar throughout the year, from late winter/early spring when some emerge from their winter hibernation right through until the end of the year.

Plant a selection of perennials, such as bergamot, globe thistle and knapweeds, for pollen through the summer.

These will provide bees with food year after year.

Add a few annuals each year, such as borage, cornflower and sunflower for variety.

Later in the autumn, hebe and ivy provide food when summer plants have gone to seed.

Then make sure you’ve got a few winter-flowering crocuses and hellebores to help bees as they emerge on warmer winter or early spring days in need of food after their winter hibernation.

Did you know there are around 250 species of bee in the UK?

Just one species of bee, the honeybee, actually makes honey.

Then there are bumblebees, which are familiar to most of us, and many different kinds of solitary bee.

Solitary bees are fantastic pollinators for our garden plants.

They don’t live in colonies, but instead the females make their own nest without any ‘workers’ to help them.

Some make their nests in gaps in the walls of old buildings or dig holes in bare ground (look for small piles of earth with a tiny hole in the middle).

You can help some species of solitary bee in your garden by providing a ‘bee hotel’.

Cut lengths of old bamboo and tie together, or drill long holes in old pieces of wood.

Hang somewhere sunny and sheltered and, in time, the bees will move in.

The exposed cliffs at BBOWT’s Dry Sandford Pit nature reserve near Abingdon are a haven for many types of solitary bee, which burrow into the soft, sandy layers.

Look for the ‘honeycomb’ of tiny holes.

You may see the UK’s newest bumblebee in your garden – the tree bumblebee.

These were first recorded here in 2001 but they’ve now spread throughout much of England and Wales.

They have a distinctive ginger-coloured back (thorax) and black and white abdomen.

Some make their homes in old bird nest boxes as they prefer to nest above the ground.

Help ensure our bees’ survival by making your garden bee-friendly this summer.

You’ll be making a real difference to our bees and helping to ensure our summer strawberries are here to stay.

Find out more about bees and how to help them at bbowt.org.uk/different-kinds-bees.





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Buckland Primary School Weins Homes Badbury Green village

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Year Six pupils from Buckland Primary School visited Wain Homes’ Badbury Green site to learn about the housebuilding process and future career opportunities.

During the visit, students explored the stages of construction, the importance of green spaces, and the wide variety of roles available in the industry.

James Stevens, class teacher at Buckland Primary School, said: “Thank you to the Wain Homes team for giving our children an enjoyable and informative experience in a way they could easily understand.

“The children now have knowledge of how the homes they live in are built and some of the careers they may be interested in as they get older. They particularly enjoyed looking round the show homes and having a go at laying some bricks.”

The pupils toured two show homes and tried their hand at bricklaying.

A time capsule, filled with children’s notes describing life in 2026, was also buried during the visit, set to be be opened in 2076.

Tim Lund, regional sales director at Wain Homes, said: “We hope the visit inspired some of the children to consider construction as a future career. They were eager to learn and now understand each stage of the process of building a modern energy efficient home.”

Wain Homes is building 125 energy-efficient homes at the site.





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