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Openness in education – a new hope
There is hope yet. Higher education is going through a turbulent time, so it’s important to recognise the leadership provided through educational research, with a global impact from educational projects and innovation. At OER26, the quiet army of global educational professionals and academics with a shared vision of education for all found their collective voice…
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Institutional appetite for change – Leadership learning for higher education (HEPN)
At the start of the month I attended the Higher Education Partners Network (HEPN) North event and represented the experiences of the online learning operational teams who implemented new technology and processes in a people-centred way. Here are some of the leadership points from the day I attended. Entrepreneurial universities One of the ironies of…
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Assessment, feedback and AI in online and distance education
Contrary to popular belief, contemporary discussion of assessment in higher education is not exclusively the domain of artificial intelligence (AI) evangelists, nay-sayers and everyone else in between trying to make sense of it. No, assessment as a fundamental pillar of teaching and learning has many facets, so it is refreshing to have a little bit…
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Institutional readiness for the future of education
There is an increase in demand for skills-based education, largely arising from the perceived impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on a wide range of professions, industries and job sectors. Formal education providers need to consider how this demand will influence and inform the future provision of educational programmes and the broader, lifelong learning offer. Impacts…
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Expanding the role of higher education: professional learning
Short post. Open thinking. UK higher education is going through a period of significant change and it looks like it will continue for some time to come. Office for Students (OfS) financial sustainability forecasts in May 2025 were grim reading and six months later their update did not hold back with language of “tough decisions”,…
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Why professional educational technologists matter: ALT Annual Conference 2025 – Day 2
I’ve seen a shift in how our community of professionals working in educational technology, learning design and educational leadership has become more attuned in its use of contemporary pedagogy and student-focused practice. There’s a maturity of thought, informed by both established and emerging theory, and design methodology, that is complemented with a renewed enthusiasm for…
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Make the magic happen: ALT Annual Conference 2025 – Day 1
Motivational and a celebration of our professional community. That’s my initial reaction to Day 1 of the Association for Learning Technology Annual Conference 2025 in Glasgow. With all the uncertainty in our sector, I am thankful that we have come together to acknowledge the value of our profession and our collective desire to be responsive…
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Look beyond the edge of the plate
Short post. Open thinking. Bear with me on this one. I don’t normally share encounters on public transport, but I think you will find this resonates. What does a quality manager in the central European automotive industry have in common with a delegate to an education conference in the UK? This rather unpredictable question was…
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Learning Engineering: Collaboration, Context and Challenge
There are many approaches to improve what we do in education, with a sometimes overwhelming number of internal and external factors that bring opportunities and challenges. Learning Engineering (an engineering-inspired approach to educational design, as opposed to the study of engineering) provides a method to tackle these opportunities and challenges in a collaborative, data-informed and…
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Skills-first: responding to the threat to higher education
Short post. Open thinking. Here’s an angle on where we are at this moment in time: Higher education is in an existential crisis. The concept of higher education as a public good is eroded with anti-education politics and populism, costs outpacing funding, and value propositions being dismantled. Institutions are chasing both revenue and relevance to…
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The journeys taken: Research in Distance Education and E-learning Conference 2025 – Day 2
This is the second post writing up my experience at RIDE 2025, the Research in Distance Education and E-learning conference at the University of London (see Day 1 where I discuss themes of Context and Culture). Linda Amrane-Cooper, Director of the Centre for Online and Distance Education (CODE), introduced Day 2 with the rationale for…
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Context and culture: Research in Distance Education and E-learning Conference 2025 – Day 1
Online education brings together many people as educators, students and professionals. It’s a highly collaborative sector and it’s underpinned in many ways by a desire to do good. This year’s Research in Distance Education and E-learning conference at the University of London has the title ‘Empowering and Sustaining Change’ and in any change process the…
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Joyful online learning: reflections on a Lego Serious Play session
Bringing people together and learning from a range of perspectives is one of the most enjoyable aspects of my job. In all my professional roles, working with others and bringing a range of expertise together has been key in achieving successful outcomes. This article is a reflection of a LEGO Serious Play (LSP) session which…
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Strategy, marketing, student insights: triad of online education success
Short post, open thinking. It’s always good to hear Neil Mosley speak and even better when as an audience member, he asks the questions that need to be asked! At an event today hosted by Boundless Learning, Mosley explored three aspects of what makes for successful online education: strategy, marketing and student insights and development.…
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2024 retrospective and a view to 2025: can we make an opportunity out of higher education’s challenges?
As 2024 draws to a close, I’ve taken the liberty of consuming a few minutes of your time to capture some highlights of my work from the last 12 months and also to ponder what role online education may have in 2025. Looking back I’ve learnt a lot from the wider educational sector both in…
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Recognition and microcredentials: have competing agendas limited adoption?
This article explores the challenges and debates around the place, adoption and realisation of microcredentials, drawing on presentations and discussions from the ePIC 2024 Open Recognition conference in Paris (6-8 November 2024). Throughout the conference there were multiple perspectives presented on how recognition, including open recognition which enables devolved and distributed ways for individuals, peers…
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Recognition: Opening doors to new learning journeys – Reflections on ePIC 2024
A key aspect of inclusivity is to establish the ways in which learners are supported to bring their knowledge and understanding into an educational environment. At the ePIC 2024 Open Recognition conference in Paris (6-8 November 2024), the ideas of recognition, qualifications and learning journeys were debated and discussed. For me there are three concepts…
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Humanising digital education: ALT Annual Conference 2024 – Day 3
Initial reflections and summary of sessions from Day 3 of the ALT Annual Conference, Manchester, 3-5 September 2024. Humanising the approach to learning technology has come through as a theme this year. Starting with Chris Friend’s keynote, followed by discussions about learners’ personalisation and spaces of learning in breakout sessions, and on the final day…
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Connected conversations: ALT Annual Conference 2024 – Day 2
Initial reflections and summary of sessions from Day 2 of the ALT Annual Conference, Manchester, 3-5 September 2024. The common theme I extracted from the day is about purposefully connected digital education. This is not just about connecting learners and connecting spaces, but also connecting the curriculum to professional skills through the use of technology. Student…
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Visions of the future: ALT Annual Conference 2024 – Day 1
Initial reflections and summary of sessions from Day 1 of the ALT Annual Conference, Manchester, 3-5 September 2024. Humanising digital education Opening keynote, Chris Friend’s three aspects of humane education (policies, places and platforms) offer lenses on the challenges and opportunities the arise from decision-making over how, when and why educational technology is used. For…
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Getting the most out of education conferences: top five tips
Opinion piece. As I am on the train again, this time to the annual conference of the Association for Learning Technology, I thought it was time I updated my advice for those attending and also to remind myself of what I want to get out of the experience. Here are my top five tips: Everyone…
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AI and higher education: skills, humans and educational experiences
Opinion piece. When it comes to artificial intelligence (AI) and its impact on education, it’s fair to say we’re currently in the murky waters of the unknown, trying to make sense of change and any level of certainty is ill-founded. The current context and rapid pace of change doesn’t offer much in terms of evidence…
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Metaphors of learning design: learning paths
Short post, open thinking. How often do you widen your view when learning? It can be very easy to focus on where you are on a particular path, in a specific moment in time knowing what is right in front of you. As a learner, this is the immediate learning need you’re trying to address…
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Defining quality in online education: engagement and outcomes
This article presents a model for quality in online education to support decision-making by learning designers, digital media specialists and academic colleagues in the design and development of online courses. Whilst there are many standards and, in the case of formal education, regulatory frameworks that provide criteria against which online courses may be measured, these…
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Metaphors of learning design: coffee shop
Short post, open thinking. How long is the queue for a hot beverage in your local coffee shop? Sometimes it may seem as if you’re waiting for the coffee beans to be grown, harvested, shipped and roasted, before you get your hands on a tasty drink. Yet, along with millions of people around the world,…
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Universities as transformative communities
Opinion piece. One of the great advantages of working at a university is the collective passion for learning and teaching. This comes through a community of practice centred on students’ educational experience and the long term impact of higher education. Institutional conferences that bring together students, academics and professional services focus attention in the university…
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Renewing my Senior CMALT portfolio
A little behind the three-year cycle, I have renewed my Senior CMALT portfolio, which (thankfully) passed and captures my commitment to the Association for Learning Technology core principles. Senior Certified Membership of the Association for Learning Technology (SCMALT) is for experienced learning technology professionals or those with leadership responsibilities who are able to demonstrate influence…
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A leadership framework for online and digital education: adapting ALT Framework for Ethical Learning Technology
In a leadership role I adopt reflective practice to explore ways to improve my approach and ultimately enable me to support my team to achieve our team and organisational objectives. Collaboration is one of my underlying principles and I have shared my thoughts on this previously as particularly important in educational settings. Recently, I have…
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Thinkingful design: finding more to learning design through the Online Learning Summit
It’s been a couple of weeks now since I attended and contributed to the Online Learning Summit at the University of Leeds. Like many, I am still processing the many ideas, methods and challenges discussed and using these perspectives to critically appraise my own work and more broadly that in the online education sector. I…
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Thoughts on education, art and finding connection
Opinion piece. When I visited the Hepworth Wakefield in April, the exhibition of drafts, prototypes and completed works triggered a somewhat surprising emotional response in me. In an age where knowledge is on tap, much working time is spent in a digital ecosystem and creative endeavours have the potential to be reduced to the algorithms…