We are delighted to update members that the Association has appointed Billy Smith as our new Chief Executive. Since the announcement of this leadership transition in February, the recruitment panel, chaired by ALT’s Chair Helen O’Sullivan, has worked through a rigorous and competitive selection process that involved the staff team, Trustees and ALT’s HR and EDI advisors. Helen commented: “Billy immediately stood out from the strong pool of applicants through his strong commitment to the values and…
Category: leadership
In this month’s update, I want to share how things are going now that we are entering a very busy period, both in ALT’s year and my coaching business. Reflecting on the past month at ALT… This month at work has been incredibly busy, but also included a wonderfully relaxing week of annual leave! May is the month in which we review progress made in Q1, finalise our annual accounts, start working on our Annual…
In February I shared the news that I will step down as ALT’s CEO this September to focus on my work as a coach. This is a monthly update on how things are progressing from my perspective, sharing some of the experiences along the way. Reflecting on the past month at ALT April had a very busy start indeed, as it was time for this year’s OER Conference. No matter how busy it was, OER23 was a…
This week, I am looking forward to speaking at Bett for the first time in a few years, having missed last year’s event with Covid 
. This year however promises to be a lot of fun, and I am excited to speak alongside two inspiring colleagues: uiyin Wong and Julie Voce. Here is what’s in store for our session: The Association for Learning Technology was established 30 years ago, in 1993. Since then, much…
A month ago, I shared the news that I will step down as ALT’s CEO this September to focus on my work as a coach. It’s been a hectic few weeks since the announcement and I want to take a moment to step back and reflect. In 2018 when ALT started to work as a virtual team, we shared monthly updates on that transition and what we as a team learnt along the way. Just…
At the moment, a lot of my work is focused on the upcoming OER23 Conference. OER23 is the 14th annual conference for Open Education research, practice and policy is organised by ALT, the Association for Learning Technology, in partnership with UHI, the University of the Highlands and Islands. OER23 will bring together the strong Scottish Open Education movement and international participants to leverage our shared expertise for change in policy and practice. The conference will…
Many of my clients are looking to make progress in their work or personal lives: to make a change, develop their career path or build personal habits. Many of us have goals like ‘progress in my career’ or ‘be happier’… but it can be hard to break down exactly what to do in order to achieve our aims and define what ‘success’ means to us. Here are five tips that will help you create a…
At this time of year, it’s easy to focus on ever busy work schedules instead of activities that help with balance. Here in Cardiff the weather is dreary and grey, and not particularly inspiring even in the lightest hours of the day. Leaving my desk and screens in favour for a proper break feels much easier on sunny days. When I came across a book called Gone for Lunch: 52 Things to do in your…
It was a great pleasure to return as a guest to the wonderful #LTHEchat for a conversation all about hybrid working. For #LTHEChat 254 we shifted our focus from learning to work. We discussed ways in which learning and teaching practices can inspire a more sustainable and equitable hybrid workplace. If you haven’t yet seen it, read the original post on the #LTHEchat site. I was very curious to hear different perspectives and see where…
In my last post, I reflected on the benefits of a monthly newsletter as a tool for reflection and monitoring progress. For example, I shared how looking at my blog posts for the month gives me a chance to think about aspects of my work I have enjoyed and want to do more of, things I’d prefer to spend less time on, what I want to focus on in the coming month and what is…