CPD Activity 1 - Change of HEI
In April 2023 I changed employer from Bournemouth University
(BU) to Health Sciences University (HSU). This was a huge leap of faith as I
had worked for BU for over 11 years, I felt very institutionalised to BU, and
it had been my longest employer to date. This was a sideways step moving into
another Learning Technologist role. The decision to move was not taken lightly
and was bolstered by a number of BU employees that had already moved to HSU,
who provided me with information and support, this allowed me to make a more
informed decision.
Why move?
During my time as a learning technologist at BU I had directly
supported 3 academic schools and 2 faculties, all of which had varying
disciplines and approaches to TEL. Throughout these years I gained a multitude
of valuable knowledge and experience in effectively harnessing technologies for
educational development while gaining a solid understanding of how they can be
underpinned using pedagogic principles and frameworks. I was involved in
various projects including a change of VLE, introduction and development of
immersive technologies and more recently the increasing development of learner
analytics.
In my final years with BU there was a shift in strategic
priorities and the job of a learning technologist changed significantly from investigating
and facilitating innovations in educational development, to prioritising the roll
out and administration of learner analytics while continuing the day-to-day
support of teaching staff in the use of TEL. While I fully understand the value
of learner analytics, my personal passion is in innovation, and harnessing
technologies to positively disrupt the educational norms. I also felt my personal
development was plateauing at BU, I had more to offer and was ready for a new
adventure. I will always look back fondly at my time at BU and am ever grateful
for the afforded experiences.
Welcome to HSU!
https://www.hsu.ac.uk/
Since moving to HSU I haven’t stopped, it’s been exciting
and exhausting in equal measures. The first big notable change about the 2
institutions is size, HSU with its 1200 students is an institution that is
growing and developing at considerable speed, whereas BU is an already
established, large post 90 university with over 18000 students. HSU was previously
a chiropractic college and was given degree awarding powers in 2017, this led to
diversifying it’s offering to include health science degrees forming a closer
alignment with the local NHS trust. The
breath and scope for change is sizable and I have been exposed to new and
interesting aspects of a learning technologist role at a smaller institution.
Over the summer of 2024 the institution has also been through a merger acquisition
with the college of osteopathy based in London, this is a large ongoing merger
and will involve the merger of our 2 independent VLE’s and teaching and
learning software.
New VLE
Teaching and Learning Software
Over the last year I have taken on the acquisition of all TEL software, or software that falls outside of IT’s remit for standard operating software (word, email etc), into the learning technology department. This has been a sizable project involving the assimilation of various data sets and information to create definitive lists of software and their respective user base. Some of the software I have taken ownership of include, Padlet, Mentimter, Ispring, Jisc Surveys and Jisc capabilities. Part of my responsibilities in taking on the software include the management of the departmental software budget. This has involved negotiating annual subscriptions with software suppliers whilst taking into consideration current institutional usage and forecasting expected future licensing needs. This part of my job role as a learning technologist is new territory and I have gained a lot of new knowledge and experience around software procurement throughout this process. More recently I have been meeting with various external suppliers of online portfolio software in response for a need to refine our assessment processes with our external clinical practice students who are out on work based degree courses. Based on the meetings, I have proposed 3 tools for investigation, which I presented to the clinical and management teams at HSU. Slides below.
As part of the management of the TEL software I have also
been working on creating bespoke student and staff support materials which are
designed around software functionalities but also to promote staff and student engagement.
I have run pedagogically underpinned training sessions with staff teams and
student groups in demonstrating creative ways to harness the software for
bespoke discipline based educational outcomes. Session slides attached.
Clinic staff training for student engagement
Reflections
The speed and breath of change I have seen on a professional
level since creating my original CMALT portfolio have been extensive. I found moving
employer more stressful than anticipated, this was largely due to moving from my
comfort zone where I felt I was an authority within my own discipline to becoming
the new kid again where I had to build new working relationships whilst simultaneously
trying to comprehend the operations of a new institution. Furthermore, I have
identified within myself my impatience to settle and feel comfortable within my
working environment. Professional knowledge and experience can be transferable between
job roles and employers; however, it takes time and persistence to build solid
working relationships and comprehensive institutional knowledge.
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