I am delighted to have built on my enthusiasm for CMALT with the work I have done with the CMALT committee, and am excited to participate in the organisation of the Cardiff ALT Conference this year. I have always enjoyed academic conferences, and hope to learn more about the work it takes to organise such things, as well as more about how to write a good abstract, and to deliver, as well as to moderate, good conference presentations and panels. I have always found significant value in involving myself “behind-the-scenes” of areas in which I wish to improve, so I can see broader examples of what’s possible, and better involve myself in the work and community.

On a similar note, I hope to do more academic writing in the next couple of years, and to develop my own research work, continuing to understand the nature and identity of Digital Education Specialists in UK HE, and the barriers to work they continue to face. The #LTHEchat in June this year gave me plenty of food for thought, and I hope to have the opportunity to explore this further. I am also currently writing several pieces in new areas for me, which I hope to progress towards publication in the near future. In order to improve my skills in this area, I have undertaken reviewing for multiple journals, which I would very much like to continue, and to advance in the coming years.

In terms of my role at UCL, I will be leading on development of the Faculty Digital Strategy this year, as well as consolidating several years of extensive digital change across both academic and professional services staff. It’s an exciting time to finally be getting all of the proverbial ducks in a row, and I look forward to having the opportunity to really evaluate our progress and process at the end of 2026/27. I will also be heavily involved in significant academic and curriculum development opportunities as part of an institutional project, and again, look forward to developing my own skills, experience and understanding in this area.

July 2026

As with many digital education specialist roles, there is no immediate path to promotion in my role. However, in this instance, I find that I appreciate this aspect, as I relish my work with my Faculty, and feel I can clearly see so very much to do, both in the short, and mid-term future, even without accounting for the technological leaps and bounds we might make.

In the short term, I believe that the students of 2022/23 may be somewhat different from students we have previously known, as a result of their experiences sitting A-levels and undergraduate courses amongst significant amounts of Emergency Remote Teaching. Their expectations and abilities may or may not be different; methods of assessment or collaboration may need to be scaffolded slightly differently. Meeting this year with an awareness and a curiosity will, I hope, serve myself and my colleagues well.

Having come into my role during Emergency Remote Teaching, similarly, I find that there are elements of my own expectations that have yet to be met – there are still basic elements of education design and support, or workflows that I could simplify at module, programme and departmental levels. Then, as covered throughout this portfolio, there are disciplines and individuals looking at all manner of new and interesting technologies, and I look forward, too, to exploring these. Balancing the basics, and the advanced, the shiny new, and the efficient dull; this is the work I so deeply enjoy.

In time, I hope to see Arts & Humanities take on additional learning technologists in the way some other Faculties in my institution have been able to, and, with the benefit of additional colleagues at Faculty level, would be able to encourage a significantly higher level of tailored support and development in the use of teaching and learning technology than I’m able to manage alone. Building the case for this expansion is something I’m already beginning to do, and, given my positive experience in developing my own role and being brought into the Faculty, I have every reason to hope that, in time, this is an achievable progression.

Personally, I aim to complete my MA in Leading Change and Innovation in Education in 2022/23, and hope that the findings from my research into digital education specialists in UK HE will give me further opportunities to present to, and with, the digital education community, which has been so supportive of my research and study. I have enjoyed participating in others’ study, too, as so many of us look at the peculiar roles we inhabit, and try to find terminology, practice, and possibility that will inspire and progress who we are, and what we do.

CMALT was my entry point into the digital education community, and looking at how far I’ve come into participating, engaging with, knowing, and now researching this community, as I apply for SCMALT, I could not be more excited nor more curious to see where this journey will take me next.