Jo Tondeur is professor of educational innovation and technology at the VUB (Milo), and works as a visiting professor at the Australian University of Wollongong. There he met Sarah Howard, a professor in the same field. There was an immediate spark, and after a difficult time during the pandemic, the two academics are finally living together in Ghent. “We share a passion for our work, love and life,” says Jo.
Jo: “I vividly remember the first time I met Sarah. It was at the UNESCO EdusummIT 2017, an event where researchers spent three days exchanging experiences on technology integration in education. During the opening drinks, she stepped up to me with a firm handshake.”
Sarah: “Jo and I worked on the other side of the world – him in Belgium, me in Australia – but we knew each other’s publications. He radiated a special energy. I just had to greet him. In fact, I think I immediately turned away after that handshake (laughs). Later that day, we happened to end up in the same group.”
Jo: “I immediately found her interesting. At lunch, she told me flatly that she found my work rather boring. Funnily enough, I could appreciate that from her.”
“For two years we couldn’t see each other. That period was madness, but it made everything clear.”
Sarah: “I like to tackle things out of the box, Jo is a systematic thinker. Even then we felt that our approaches were very complementary.”
Jo: “After the EdusummIT, we continued to visit each other. We held regular critical friend meetings, meta-meetings where we challenged each other about our role as researchers and the impact of our studies.”
Sarah: “These questions are rarely asked in our profession. Publishing often equals success. But we don’t want to just generate data. Our studies are about online and blended learning and the integration of technology in education. While writing publications, we very much start from the question ‘How can this really advance practice?’”
Jo: “We challenged each other, enjoyed spending time together, going to conferences together... But we were both in relationships and lived thousands of kilometres apart. We didn’t think of anything romantic. Until Covid came along.”
Sarah: “I was about to fly to Belgium when Australia closed its borders. For two years we couldn’t see each other. That period was madness, but it made everything clear.”
Jo: “When Sarah finally came to Belgium in 2021, our love was unstoppable. We travelled back and forth for a while. The fact that I’m a visiting professor at the University of Wollongong, where Sarah works, and she at VUB made it easier, but it wasn’t sustainable.”
Sarah: “Since September, I’ve been living in Ghent. After all that travelling, I felt right at home here, although the start didn’t exactly go well. Shortly after my arrival, I became seriously ill. I was in hospital for two months and am still recovering.”
“I admire her drive to engage in guerrilla research: testing new methods, playing with AI...”
Jo: “We’ve had difficult months, and yet this was easier than missing each other. Although that period without each other was also a good learning experience. Neither of us talks easily about our emotions. And that’s crucial in a long-distance relationship. You have to be able to trust each other, express your emotions... If you can be ‘together’ online, it works so much easier face to face. “
Sarah: “We had two years of practice (laughs). Because we’re both quite analytical, we can dissect difficult situations very well. What does this mean? How do we deal with this? That really helped us.”
Jo: “Of course we don’t always talk about our work, but the energy we get out of it definitely strengthens our relationship. Sarah is my critical brain. I admire her drive to do guerrilla research: testing new methods, playing with AI... Thanks to her, my work is so much better, and hopefully the same applies the other way round. Everything we do is ‘our’ work.”
Sarah: “We both strive for the highest quality and have the same energy. That’s why we started working together and why I insisted on meeting him that time. Although there are also differences. I’m a deadline worker, Jo is much more structured. But we always enhance each other. Over the years, we’ve developed a unique way of working. We write our publications together, as if working with one brain. Jo puts in the raw text, I bring structure to it. We discuss, rework... and trust each other blindly. We share a passion for our work, love and life and want to discover the world together, even if my health means I have to stay in Belgium for the time being.”
Jo: “The past few years have been so intense that this obligatory break also does some good. It teaches us to enjoy the little things. To live from day to day. Something we would be less likely to do spontaneously. I wonder what the future will bring, but don’t really want to know. It took us a lot of time and energy to be where we are. I don’t want to think about the next step.”
Sarah: “Being able to go to cafes together on a Tuesday. Have real conversations instead of online. This was our dream. Let’s enjoy that first and foremost.”