My immediate plans are to ensure that the AmplifyFE Impact research and consultation activity reaches the widest possible audience. I have just attended the Digital Poverty Alliance annual conference online which has introduced me to new groups and individuals I wish to reach out to and connect with. How we can help to narrow the digital divide and reduce digital poverty and inequalities remains a passion of mine and an area I wish to conduct more research in and raise awareness of.
As outlined in the portfolio I am reviewing my current learning resources to update them to embrace a wider interpretation of diversity and to improve accessibility which will require ongoing work and development of my perspective of both of these concepts. I plan to use ETF’s new EDI resource ‘‘Deeper Thinking and Stronger Action: A Personal and Organisational Commitment to Equity, Diversity and Inclusion‘ as a thinkpiece to inform by reflections and development.
Another plan I have is to work to raise awareness of ALT and S/CMALT itself. I have befitted so much from my membership and creation of both portfolios, yet I find that the Association and accreditation pathways are still not well known, especially in FE. I will work to redress this. A useful place to begin this process will be in my work with the AmplifyFE Community Space.
A related development goal is to work to continue to raise the prole of post-16 education in its broader sense with the organisations I work with and beyond. I still find that many organisations working in the sector adopt a college- or HE-centred focus, and this is doubtless where most funding is focussed. The wide diversity of the sector with respect to independent training providers, Adult and Community Education, prison- and work-based learning and the innovative technological approaches being used in these learning spaces, often on far smaller budgets, takes a back seat. I think that it is time for more research focus and promotional activity to be devoted to ‘FE outside colleges’ and for more diverse FE voices to be heard.
My next suite of CPD courses (which I have just enrolled on as I submit this portfolio) is the Erasmus+/DETECT/University of Hull MOOC series Developing teachers’ critical digital literacies. I am beginning with the module on Framing Critical Digital Literacies. I am encouraged to note that the module has a focus on the positive aspects of critical digital literacy development in terms of innovation, empowerment and wellbeing benefits rather than regarding digital development as something that must come first with warnings and caution. I am hoping to use learning from this in teacher education curricula in the future.
Finally, in terms of immediate professional development, I will be continuing mentoring work with new teachers and those seeking advanced professional accreditations. This will give me the opportunity to further develop my knowledge on diverse areas of the sector and the skills and challenges of educators working in them.
Regarding longer term plans, the news that the initial teacher education curriculum for vocational learning is to be reframed in the shape of a new Diploma in Teaching (FE and Skills) launching in Autumn 2024 came as a very significant development for me, and indeed all FE teacher educators. From a personal viewpoint as a learning technologist I was very excited to hear that use of technology and digital tools will play a far more significant part in the new curriculum with a substantial, dedicated module titled ‘Educational Technology‘ in response to the increased demand for online, blended and hybrid learning design and facilitation since the ‘pandemic turn’. I look forward to finding out exact details of the new module and planning curriculum in line with it bringing in aspects of the Critical Digital Literacies modules I am just beginning.
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Lynne Taylerson SCMALT Portfolio 