Over the last few years I have been instrumental in creating and nurturing a peer support network for learning technologists within Cardiff University.
I initiated the group in 2016, originally as a college wide group, but after discussing with a colleague in the Centre for Education Innovation (CEI) I decided to open it up to colleagues (in Learning technology facing roles) across the University. A similar group had existed briefly, led by the CEI, and had proved useful before evolving into a wider community of practice that, while also extremely useful, had the wider remit of promoting and sharing best practice in technology enhanced learning, and was attended by a wide range of both professional services and academic staff.
This time around I decided we needed to be very clear about the purpose and identity of the group, and how it differed from other groups both past and present. Importantly, this group is independent from any official University department or group, and is not instutionally sponsored. This makes it distinct from other groups, such as a VLE network (which is formal and accountable) or the wider CESI community of practice. I have always felt strongly that the group should be about us as learning technologists more than 'learning technology' generally; it should a support and discussion group rather than a decision making body; and it should be led by us and not dictated by institutional prerogatives.
Hence the focus is on the personal and professional aspects rather than the institutional and work aspects, although the work context does of course inform much of the shared practice. For example, some of the work of this group so far includes:
As well as regular meetings, we also maintain an online presence in the form of a closed Yammer group. On reflection this has been an absolutely essential tool for the group in a number of ways: continuing discussion and practice sharing between meetings; giving all members access to an ongoing support and problem solving network; and generally helping build a sense of community and identity for the group.
After the first year I implemented a small review of the group, which I then reported back to the group for discussion. I also presented a lightning talk about our experiences at ALT-C 2017 entitled 'Developing professional networks for Learning Technologists in a large University'
From this review, looking at general impact and investigating what colleagues value, it was clear that the group wasn't an unmitigated success - there was not the wide level of engagement we had hoped for, and the group hadn't really functioned as a resource sharing mechanism as some of us had hoped. Indeed, the desired aims, nature and purpose of the group was not universally agreed, and this continues to be a conversation which we have in the group, as we evolve and make tweaks that we think will improve it. For example, I no longer chair / facilitate every meeting, and this function is now rotated to someone else each time. I have been really please with this as it has increased engagement and helped give more colleagues a greater a sense of ownership of the group. For some colleagues it is also a useful experience at chairing a meeting.
So on reflection I feel this group has, overall, been a succes. Due to the innovative, varied and sometimes ill-defined nature of the role, working with others to share advice, resources and good practice, is something that I feel very strongly is essential for learning technologists. In fact this is enshrined in two of the four principles of CMALT:
Furthermore, while this is often accepted and recognised on a holistic, professional basis, sometimes the process of doing this within an organisational context, and connecting and collaborating with colleagues from your own University, particularly in large, complex Universities, is often overlooked, something I have observed a lack of structures to support this in previous roles. And whatever the challenges of the group, it has got learning technologists talking together and working together much more than we had before, and this is something I am proud of.
Being involved (and helping to lead) this group has also supported me in both my day-to-day job and my personal and professional development. Networking has not always been my strong point but the regular meetings and Yammer group have helped me build strong working relationships with many colleagues across the University. For example I have been asked to mentor a colleague, I have just finished writing a paper on student partnership with another colleague, and I have embarked on another writing project on student partnership with another colleague.