My name is Tony Sheppard and I am a Geek. Many of you will know me as Tony, some as GrumbleDook or GD and a few as that annoying bloke who was a technician in my school who scared me as he knew *everything* I had been doing on the computers.
Over the the years I have worked as a technician, Network Manager and Director of IT in leading schools and technology colleges, worked with and for a Local Authority delivery a county-wide learning platform, connectivity and services to all schools, management of contracts, implementation and delivery of training programs around security, service management, data protection and eSafety to schools, sat on working parties with government bodies and interest groups on Information Management, Data Protection, IT Support Services and safeguarding, and helped build the largest online community for IT Support staff working in education. In 2013 I won the NAACE ICT Impact Award for Technical Support Services due to my role in supporting multiple communities as they link and work with one another, and for going that extra mile when helping people find the right advice for how technology can have an impact in schools.
I spent over 3 years with a Learning Platform provider based on SharePoint technologies, as Project Manager. My prime focus was the development and rollout of their bilingual, national VLE project with the central government, as well as providing that essential translation service … not between languages, but between technical and educational, geek and learner.
Presently, I work as the Technology Manager for Mobile Guardian, a Mobile Device Management (MDM) provider that has its roots in Parental Controls, making it more user friendly than many others out there. I work with our major partners, supporting the services they buy from us. I focus on Change Management and Service Management, developing best practices for Online Safety, and helping schools move from concentrating on technical controls back to classroom management.
Outside of the day job I continue to support online communities and take a special interest in safeguarding issues (in particular around Information Management).
I am an adoptive parent and I am always happy to help others I know who are looking into the process. It is unbelievably rewarding and any frustrations people might feel during the process are gone when you have your child in your arms, smiling at you.
As GrumbleDook I have a wide online presence, but there are several other using the same name, mainly because it originates from a very funny comedy show called Blackadder.
Please look at the “where’s GrumbleDook” page for details of which online accounts / domains / identities are mine.