Technology Enhanced Learning #IGHETech18

I was invited to participate in an interesting event this week, “Embracing Technology Enhanced Learning”. Lots of very useful resources were shared on Twitter, so I’d encourage you to browse #IGHETech18 to pick up great resources.

One of the highlights of the day for me was seeing and listen to colleagues whom I work with for ALT, but whom I don’t often get to see on a stage talking about what they do best!

Very much looking forward to @A_L_T Trustees @sheilmcn and @PeterBryantHE this afternoon #IGHETEch18 pic.twitter.com/QplGKCupDE

— Maren Deepwell (@MarenDeepwell) January 18, 2018

And both Sheila and Peter as well as Chrissi Nerantzi gave great talks that have really inspired me to follow up on a number of new initiatives.

my slides for my talk The Future of Learning Technology in HE” https://t.co/vuaLKVZpUG #IGHETech18

— Sheila MacNeill (@sheilmcn) January 18, 2018

We also joined into a brief periscope session as part of this week’s BYOD4L: AN OPEN LEARNING EVENT FOR STUDENTS & TEACHERS, check https://byod4learning.wordpress.com/ for full details and to catch up on what’s been happening.

The day really inspired me, but it has also left me with some questions: first, it’s reminded me of how unevenly we, as individuals and institutions, take up Learning Technology. There’s a general sense of scaling up, but it feels that there is always a wide distribution across a rather steep curve of adoption – from those who are reluctantly facing change to those who embrace new processes, tools and ways of thinking and empower each other in the process. That is why, I think, we return to talking about the potential, rather than the reality of technology for learning, teaching or assessment. How can we move on?

Also, Peter really struck a chord with me when he emphasised how the one concern that brings everyone together is for students and the desire to improve things for them. I agree with that and my experience working in any sector proves that time and time again. But how can we actually put that concern first when we are faced with ever more complex technologies? How can we ensure that we can understand, interrogate and shape machine-led processes sufficiently to put students’ benefits first?

Last, I was left with considering how we can increase the impact of all the work we are doing? There is such a wealth of experience, resources and insight that everything we are already doing seems insufficient to really leveraging its impact fully.