Contextual Statement

I am a learning designer, currently working at the University College of Estate Management (UCEM), a UK-based provider of supported online learning with over 3000 students worldwide. My role involves the development of learning materials and course design in conjunction with subject matter experts. The majority of my experience is at UCEM, but my previous roles gave me vital experience that informed my approach to designing and developing learning materials.

From 2009-12, while studying for my MA at the University of Wales, Trinity Saint David (UWTSD), I also worked on campus in the Student Support department. Here I gained experience in Moodle administration and (from 2011-12) in helping students with special educational needs to use assistive technology. Part of my duties included typing lecture notes on a variety of subjects, so sitting in classes on educational theory helped plant the seeds for my future development.

Although I lived just off campus and could visit my tutors, I studied a distance learning programme. Nevertheless, I found the distance learning experience lacking. It was largely paper-based at the time, and a little isolating as UWTSD’s use of Moodle was in its infancy and didn’t allow me to collaborate with other students – something that still inspires me to design better experiences for my learners.

After graduating I took on a web content role at Yell Group during their temporary rebrand as “hibu”. I liaised with product managers to test and write guidance for a range of digital marketing products including website creation and e-commerce tools. At one point I was learning new tools on an almost weekly basis, so I developed a high aptitude for learning new technology and explaining to others how to use it. The role involved XML and HTML coding, image editing, software testing, technical writing, copy-editing and document design – all skills which I have found are readily transferable to a role in learning design.

I joined the College of Estate Management in 2013, before it gained University College status in 2015. When I started it had a huge print room as all its modules were provided to students on paper as well as in digitised form on a Moodle VLE, reflecting its past as a traditional offline distance learning institution. Since 2014, as a result of the “CAO” modernisation project, the institution has undergone huge changes. Courses are now designed to be fully online, with the exception of a blended apprenticeship diploma. Over these few years I have held various roles with a great deal of overlap between them:

• From 2013-15 I was a Content Developer, developing and publishing learning content in multiple formats.
• In 2015, I took on the role of Instructional Designer to design and develop CAO modules; the project won a bronze award at the 2015 e-learning awards. I also assisted with the creation of the blended Level 3 Surveying Technician Diploma as part of a small team which was shortlisted for a Learning Technologies award in 2016.
• In 2016, I was seconded to the UCEM Online Academy as an Instructional Designer and LMS Administrator, establishing its joint Wordpress and Moodle platform and developing commercial CPD courses for alumni and industry professionals.