In Beta is a community of physiotherapy educators who are interested in the idea that most physiotherapy education can be pretty dull and that there may be another way. It started when Ben told Michael that he was wrong on the internet. They both quite enjoyed the ensuing conversation and thought it might be good to create more spaces that foster collaboration and enable in-depth conversations between physiotherapy educators.
From that vaguely utopian beginning, In Beta has grown into the slightly scattergun collection of projects that you see before you today. There are online conversations on topics related to physiotherapy education; An annual 2-day unconference; semi-regular podcasts of both the free-for-all online discussions and conversations with invited guests who share an interest in innovative and critical approaches to physiotherapy education; and a number of teaching and learning projects that you can use or join in with if you like that kind of thing.
Everything In Beta does is free and open to anyone who wants to participate. If you have an idea for a project that might work as part of in Beta, let us know. There is no registration process to join the community, no hierarchy and no titles. If you’ve listened to a podcast, joined in with a project, attended an unconference or just liked a tweet, as far as we’re concerned, you’re one of us.
Ben lives in Birmingham in the UK, but is happy to acknowledge that Venice has the better canals. He continues to stand by his love of 90’s Britpop B-listers Shed Seven irrespective of what you or anyone else might try to tell him. Ben is most happy when he is with his partner Emma and son Ethan, whether that is at home making elaborate stop-motion films with Lego, pottering about on a Pembrokeshire beach or braving the English summer at a music festival. He is disappointed that there isn’t more than one opportunity a year to carve pumpkins as he fancies that he could be quite good given a bit more practice. The list of things Ben wishes he did more of is exactly what you would expect of a white middle class Englishman in his 30s, including as it does; writing fiction, playing the guitar and running marathons. He holds his job teaching physiotherapy primarily responsible.
You can find him on Twitter @bendotellis
Michael lives near Lincoln with his wife and two daughters, who constantly remind him that he is a “silly daddy”, which does nothing for his confidence. This may be why he reads a lot with the intention of learning how to be less wrong. He enjoys mountain biking and would like to do it more often, but the reality is that mountains are steep and getting up early on the weekend is a hassle. He has completed 13 independent skydives and 2 bungee jumps. He has also wrestled a crocodile. His favourite thing to do is find somewhere quiet to sit and listen. Mostly to podcasts. When he is not binge-watching Game of Thrones, he is trying to figure out better ways of teaching physiotherapy.
You can find him online at usr/space.