My background originates in the field of design engineering and then onto multimedia (video and 3D animation) production during my time as a sole trader. These two seemingly unrelated disciplines grounded my current skills with plenty of tinkering and trying out web applications. Various ILT roles and awards along route culminating in a MSc in multimedia and a PGCERT in FE level teaching, all influenced my current role.
The teaching role came about as a direct result of my interest in multimedia, where at a local FE College I began to teach adult evening courses in the use of tools such as Dreamweaver, Photoshop, and Flash. This lead me into a full time lecturing role at the same College teaching AVCE level students the above mentioned tools, underpinned by standard theories in web page design, Human Computer Interface principles and general computing skills.
Towards the end of my short two year lecturing career I utilised my recent Masters level knowledge of Computer Based Training to begin to dabble with a new College Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). That lecturing experience coupled with my burgeoning e-learning knowledge enabled me to secure a new role as manager at a HE College.
That role began in 2004 and my knowledge of what e-learning meant to a busy HE College became very broad very quickly. I was soon helping to set up Computer Aided Assessments and working protocols using the Question Mark platform. I got to grips with their VLE WebCT- and learned how to link it to Qmark. I honed my course design skills, whilst running staff development workshops and forums promoting e-learning as a method to help underpin a more student centered pedagogy. Soon I had replaced WebCT with Moodle and helped create a linked Managed Learning Environment, whilst managing a small team and multiple projects. A very busy time resulted with bags of knowledge and experience about how e-learning relies just as heavily (if not more so) on people as it does the underlying IT infrastructure.
All of this prior experience gave me the confidence to adopt my current role (February 2006) as a JISC funded Regional Support Centre's e-learning advisor across the West Midlands. This current role again has further broadened my e-learning and pedagogic knowledge into new areas such as; Web2.0, senior management support, UK educational policies, and using VLEs to deliver online events. My softer skills have developed by working with other large organisations such as The Academy, to ensure the support I deliver to my customers in Colleges and Universities is both current, pragmatic, and reflects a wider received knowledge of effective practice.
My successful CMALT status will ensure that I and others will view my e-learning experience and associated pedagogic knowledge is scaffolded by a professional reflective framework. That ensures it's current, developmental and career focussed. I intend to contine working in the field of elearning, specialising in the support of others, training/CPD, and using platforms such as VLEs and eportfolios and live webcasts to promote a more engaged and student centered pedagogy.
