Me - "Doubly proud of being awarded Advance HE #SFHEA & Association for Learning Technology #SCMALT! I've been well overdue in claiming them. They are awarded when individuals clearly demonstrate a sustained successful record of leading and/or influencing impactful #HigherEd academic practice & #edtech." And on Twitter.
I've rightly and proudly obtained two hallmark accreditations, and in this blog post I talk a bit about working towards and achieving them.
I have been doing this level of work and behaviours for years now, but to be professionally recognised for my expertise and practice to such high standards is overwhelmingly great! Upon completing this journey I feel a strong sense of validation and credibility. I'm also left feeling with a greater appreciation for Higher Education (HE), critical thinking, reflection and professional perspectives. A deep thank you to those that have supported and contributed to these achievements. It's clear from both pieces of submission feedback that I undersell the impact I am truly making, and often evidence what I have done rather than the impact on others - though this is very apparent. Whether that be because I am highly shy and modest, unsure how to articulate it clearly or not fully realise the impact. This was a great piece of learning during my application.
I believe that if you are doing the work and not in the assumed designated role I.e. in a senior or managerial role, but can provide required and adequate evidence. Why not make an application? The accreditations are there to be claimed. I carried out senior-level work and behaviours for many years before I got my first officially senior-titled role, and I qualified in management and leadership well before this. More on the origins in my blog post 'Dared to lead'.
EDIT: Later in September 2023, in my workplace I have already experienced and observed the increased sense of credibility and value these accolades have bestowed me. Academics have somewhat changed their perspective of me from just being the 'tech support'. As some are familiar with SFHEA (and maybe SCMALT) and what they entail, which as developed a more respectful view of me and my role. However, this was another reason for me to achieve this fellowship, to increase trust and credibility with my academic peers, not because there is issues, but not be pigeon-holed as technical support and highlight my pedagogical value.
I made re-submissions for both, and I am not ashamed of them. It shouldn't be like a driving test where society shames you if you didn't pass first time. I expected mine to bounce back, especially as I didn't get a critical friend or mentor on them. I decided to just press on with it, and in my own pragmatic style, and that is authentic to my working class attitude. Intentionally avoiding overusing academic language as it's easy to fall in the trap of just shaping a conversation how you want with little conviction of the actual 'doing the work'. I did attend an introductory session and then begun to write around the self-service guidance that was supplied. But I was looking for assessor feedback to help me dive deeper where needed. After all, achieving these is a learning process and revisiting pieces of work to critically reflect and analyse upon, not just about the celebration. I explain below in each accreditation why that was so. I think most of us know why we are doing our work and impact it is having. But have to go through such processes and standards to articulate and evidence it in a certain way. Like many of these things, it's an experience and journey itself reflecting and curating all of what has been achieved, and putting into a particular required format. I often find it difficulty to articulate myself in pre-defined conditions. Hence why I use my blog as a reflective and pragmatic space.
The case studies and evidence I selected were not submitted as a greatest hits, but just focused on what evidence I have at this current time. I actually think this is a good time to obtain these accreditations in my career, as I have a lot of work and experience to support them. I feel like they are a proper award to truly celebrate my work and career, not just one-off pieces of work or projects. Despite achieving SCMALT just before SFHEA, I place the Fellowship before the ALT credentials due to SFHEA representing the sector I am employed in, and my position on learning and pedagogy before technology, even though SCMALT is grounded in pedagogy.
Senior Fellowship recognises and celebrates individuals who clearly demonstrate a sustained successful record leading and/or influencing academic practice in higher education learning and teaching.
I've not pursued any HEA accreditations before, so this is my first. An important milestone as I am soon to cross the point of being in HE longer than FE. I think had an initial talk with our internal accreditation lead in 2018, but put it on hold. I started some brief work in Summer 2019, however despite all the enthusiasm I hold, I didn't have the capacity at the time to focus on it. I was interested but the timing wasn't right. I picked it up again in Summer 2020 and started to re-form my case study ideas. But it wasn't till end of 2022 where I got serious in writing it up, and made an official start on it in January 2023 for submission following month. I used my SCMALT submission as a foundation and improved it. It bounced back twice with minor amendments, first in February. I wanted to submit in the two-week re-submission window but I thought it was best to concentrate on quality, so re-submitted for June deadline. Then I ended up re-submitting again (clarity issues on feedback) for the August deadline.
"There is extensive and outstanding evidence that the applicant is a leader in adoption of technology for learning, and has wide reaching influence across staff in the institution. Their impact is likely huge..."
- Case Study 1: Influencing the university-wide implementation of H5P
- Case Study 2: Leading and supporting the deployment of the VR immersive walls
- Case Study 3: Influencing curriculum redesign and change of pedagogic approach through online asynchronous learning design (incl. recruitment, line management and mentoring of university interns)
- Case Study 4: Leading the continuous improvement and quality of our digital curriculum (incl. Digital curriculum questionnaire and Learning technology manager - a celebration)
I worked and evidence to the following, though up to date standards can be found here.
- Areas of activity
- A1 Design and plan learning activities and/or programmes of study
- A2 Teach and/or support learning
- A3 Assess and give feedback to learners
- A4 Develop effective learning environments and approaches to student support and guidance
- A5 Engage in continuing professional development in subject/disciplines and their pedagogy, incorporating research, scholarship and the evaluation of professional practices
- Core knowledge
- K1 The subject material
- K2 Appropriate methods for teaching, learning and assessing in the subject area in the subject area and at the level of the academic programme
- K3 How students learn, both generally and within their subject/disciplinary area(s)
- K4 The use and value of appropriate learning techniques
- K5 Methods for evaluating the effectiveness of teaching
- K6 The implications of quality assurance and quality enhancement for academic and professional practice with a particular focus on teaching
- Professional Values
- V1 Respect individual learners and diverse learning communities
- V2 Promote participation in higher education and equality of opportunity for learners
- V3 Use evidence-informed approaches and the outcomes from research, scholarship and continuing professional development
- V4 Acknowledge the wider context in which higher education operates, recognising the implications for professional practice
- Descriptor 3
- D3.1 Successful engagement across all five Areas of Activity (A1-A5)
- D3.2 Appropriate knowledge and understanding across all 6 aspects of Core Knowledge (K1-K6) as defined in the UKPSF
- D3.3 A commitment to all 4 Professional Values (V1-V4) as defined in the UKPSF
- D3.4 Successful engagement in teaching and/or learning support practices related to all 5 Areas of Activity (A1-A5) as defined in the UKPSF
- D3.5 Successful incorporation of subject and pedagogic research and/or scholarship to inform the above activities, as part of an integrated approach to academic practice.
- D3.6 Successful engagement in continuing professional development in relation to teaching, learning, assessment, scholarship and, as appropriate, related academic or professional practices
- D3.7 Successful coordination, support, supervision, management and/or mentoring of others (whether individuals and/or teams) in relation to teaching and learning
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Association for Learning Technology is my professional body - I talk more about them in my previous blog posts. My current membership status can be viewed on ALT's CMALT Holders List.
I first gained the typical CMALT accreditation in April 2013. Originally planned to do this back in 2020 as part of my membership renewal (it expired that May) - I talk more about this in my blog post 'Preparing for SCMALT'. However I changed tact on specialist and advanced areas due to changing in the meantime. I then postponed it due to priorities around the pandemic, and then I pursued to achieve my Chartered Management Institute (CMI) Level 5 Diploma in Management and Leadership qualification. Then further delayed in 2021 due to me writing my book, new job, life, and other external work stuff. So I put it on hold for sometime until Summer of 2022 when I officially started work on a brand new portfolio - it was much easier to start afresh than build on a portfolio that was based in further education and updated in the private sector.
I named a particular assessor that I knew would be critical and hold me accountable as a learning technologist. And they did just that, so huge thanks to them (if I got that person - marked anonymously) for their assessment and words. Lots of reminders in there about going deeper with my impact - silence my modesty and shout it out! Although I did feel somewhat like I failed due not being as deep about impact, but that doesn't mean I am not doing impactful things.
I expected it to come back as a major referral 1) September 2022 was my last chance of submitting for SCMALT after registering in 2020. 2) I productively worked on this in quick succession due to my upcoming wedding that October. Therefore some quality aspects would have been overlooked. But I wanted to clear this off 'my table' and be reassured that it is in the system. So I submitted start of August for submission end of September. Having the opportunity to re-submit allowed me to update it with new and stronger evidence, and the writing I did for SFHEA, as well as general refining this following the thorough feedback. Plus lots of work and practice has happened since then too, including my promotion as a Digital Curriculum Manager, so this allowed me to include that detail and impact.
I wasn't interested in aiming for the distinction that is available, especially as it is not a weighted grading system and acknowledged on the paper certificate counterpart. So I felt it wasn't worth me slogging myself to death over, even though I know I am capable of it. SFHEA doesn't have this grading, and it doesn't seem to have two assessor reviews.
I couldn't stop writing on this submission, give it was the first accreditation I started on. I feel this one is a bit messy, but it started out messy so I had to be consistent with that I guess. And the role itself is messy as some will come to know - so it's a reflection of that chaos, and that I write too much to the point its hard to omit anything. I don't encourage it, but sometimes this happens and people are like that. This is why processes and standards like this exist, not just to get the award but the feedback to better articulate our work, expertise, achievements and impact. Therefore I had to let the 'perfect submission layout' go. I wrote that much that ALT added a checklist confirmation word limit of 20,000. Glad to see I inspired change amongst the chaos. 🤭 Achieving SCMALT specifically feels good to be part of a professional body again, having my previous CMALT expire.
Again , I have selected the positive comments from assessors below by way of appreciating my identified strengths:
"This portfolio comes from an interesting and relatively unique academic context, and contains many good examples of practice and broad experience of different learning technologies."
"...some interesting points are made about learning alongside users..."
"The reflection is this section is particularly honest and thoughtful..."
"Two strong examples of disseminating practice and working with colleagues and peers are given in section 4."
"The use of the virtual whiteboard is a particularly good example of use of technology."
"This section is particularly well-researched and your pedagogical approach to VR and Immersive Learning is well supported. You have developed a strong approach for converting academics ideas into immersive experiences using the technology."
"You describe your ambition and goals for your current role well in this section, and are clearly passionate about your role and focussed on what you can contribute in future. You have articulated well the impact you hope to make at your institution and wider..."
"Thank you for your portfolio submission. It was clearly presented and easy to follow."
"2b. A good example of drawing conclusions from student survey and consideration of what to do next."
"4a. Well evidenced and reflected on your specific approach and shows how you bring others along with you."
"Section 1a covers an interesting topic, and the critical evaluation of H5P clearly show how you compared and contrasted the constraints and benefits of H5P and its alternatives to meet the needs of users, as aligned to a number of pedagogical theories."
"Section 1c. You make some interesting points in your reflection on learning alongside users, and the unique insight this has given you in developing supporting resources. [Evidence] is provided in the form of a blog post, which does include further detail of the training plan, and a competencies mapping document. In particular, the SFHEA advocate statements are particularly strong evidence of your impact."
"In Section 2a. It is interesting to read about the CPD you are engaging with to developed your pedagogical skills. A strong example is given of the impact of your work on the practices of your colleagues."
"Section 2b. Reflection on the clarity of questions in the questionnaire is good, with some interesting points made on the confidence levels of students in different disciplines. Some interesting next steps are discussed, and it is good to see a commitment to making consultation with learners a regular occurrence."
"Your approach is well-researched, and you describe how you apply specific pedagogical approaches to asynchronous learning design, such as Laurillard’s practice learning type, and Gilly Salmon’s E-tivity invitation. along with flipped learning and internal frameworks. This demonstrates your commitment to exploring and understanding the interplay between technology and learning...The mentoring provided to the graduate intern demonstrates your ability to adapt your approach in response to learner needs. The virtual placements project is a particularly strong example of your evaluative process, and your planning and development skills. The workshop again provides strong evidence of your empathy and willingness to learn from colleagues from different backgrounds and specialist areas."
"The learning process you have undertaken to become a leader in this area is particularly well-documented, and very interesting to read. This section is particularly well-researched and your pedagogical approach to VR and Immersive Learning is well supported. You have developed a strong approach for converting academics ideas into immersive experiences using the technology."
"Your operations plan, as you reflect, contains a lot of content, and your plan for a self-away day or deeper discussion with your head to identify realistic priorities is a particularly good one."
"You describe your ambition and goals for your current role well in this section, and are clearly passionate about your role and focussed on what you can contribute in future."
I worked and evidenced to the following structure and criteria, up to date standards can be found here. I successfully achieved Senior CMALT accreditation by:
- Demonstrating and reflecting on my knowledge and experience in the following four Core areas and subsections;
- Demonstrating and reflecting on my knowledge in two Specialist areas;
- Demonstrating and reflecting on my knowledge in one Advanced area.
- Demonstrated my commitment to the core principles and values which underlie CMALT;
- Demonstrated and reflected on the impact of my work, and showed that I am providing leadership and influencing others, within your particular context
Whilst addressing the four core CMALT principles and values:
- A commitment to exploring and understanding the interplay between technology and learning
- A commitment to keep up to date with new technologies
- An empathy with and willingness to learn from colleagues from different backgrounds and specialist areas
- A commitment to communicate and disseminate effective practice
My portfolio consisted of the following, again I have hyperlinked to blog posts that detail the work I referred to:
- Contextual statement
- 1: Operational Issues
- 1a: An understanding of the constraints and benefits of different technology
- 1b: Technical knowledge and ability in the use of Learning Technology
- Digital curriculum technologies
- 1c: Supporting the deployment of learning technologies
- 2: Learning, Teaching and Assessment processes
- 2a: An understanding of teaching, learning and/or assessment processes
- Learning, teaching and assessment expertise
- 2b: An understanding of your target learners
- 3: The Wider Context Understanding and engaging with legislation, policies and standards
- 3a: Understanding and engaging with legislation
- H5P content type accessibility
- 3b: Understanding and engaging with policies and standards
- Aligning Quality Matters standards rubric to online content
- 4: Communication and working with others
- 4a: Communication and working with others
- 5: Specialist areas
- 5a: Specialist area 1:
- 5b: Specialist area 2:
- VR and immersive learning
- 6: Advanced area(s) One or more Advanced areas:
- Advanced area: Digital leadership and management in the effective application of learning technology EDIT: I have since realised it should be; Digital and academic leadership and operational management, in the pedagogical and technical design and application of learning technologies, to create and support effective and innovative digital learning experiences in healthcare higher education. But strategy should also have presence somehow.
- Future plans
Anne Felton - "That's brilliant news Dan! Congratulations!! I'm so pleased."
