Abstract (revised 12 February 2021).

There is no doubt that there have been sweeping changes in the role of educators in the FE (Further Education) sector over the last few decades as a result of not only drastic funding cuts instigated by the implementation of educational reforms founded on the polarised institutional memory of policymakers (Norris, Adams, 2017), but also as a result of a shift towards a global, a digital and a knowledge economy society (Chen, Dalhman, 2006). Yet, no change in educators’ practice has been brought on so rapidly as the unfolding of the Covid-19 pandemic, and digital and mobile technologies are taking centre stage in the shifting education landscape, if perhaps more by necessity than by design. There is therefore an expectation that the 21^st century educator is a digitally competent practitioner (Bates, 2016). With little or no preparation for the current online teaching exodus, educators on the wrong side of the digital divide are struggling with the implementation of this unfamiliar model of provision delivery.

Through a lack of access to quality CPD (continuous professional development) (Frontier Economics, 2020), many educators in FE (Further Education) are facing additional challenges to implement ILT (information and learning technology) in their practice. My project aims to provide support to educators in my organisation by creating a simple website which can serve as a close, yet open, channel and a sandbox to explore and tinker with hybrid apps so that they can make informed choices about which apps would best suit their situated pedagogical strategies, where learning and teaching can be enhanced using hybrid apps. Hybrid apps offer both web and collaborative functions and so are an ideal medium for the application of heutatogic principles, from an instructional design perspective, in supporting the process of double loop learning (Blaschke, 2012). Heutagogy supports the development of SDL (self-determined learning) and the transition from teacher-directed to learner-directed practice, often by designing learning in non-linear ways. As competing institutions look for more sustainable and flexible methods to deliver learning, heutagogy puts the learner centre stage and the process of learning transforms into a participatory and collaborative process in which the learner determine their own learning path to build capabilities (Hase, Kenyon, 2000).

A reliance on educators to adopt a self-directed learning approach to acquire digital competencies based on the assumption that freely available digital micro-learning content offer a quick fix solution to the development of digital competence of educators in FE should not be understood as being the only mode through which to acquire digital competencies. Free resources such as MOOCs (massive open online course), and professional competencies frameworks such as the DTPF (Digital Teaching Professional Framework) (ETF, 2018), can of course act as information banks to develop skills in an autodidact fashion but are they really effective? Like apps, not all MOOCs are born equal, but those that follow connectivist principles in design do provide opportunities for open and networked learning and reflective practice (Siemens, 2013). However, they can lack opportunities for sustainable and prolonged in-service practice, or to be more precise, they can lack opportunities for educators to tinker in their personal educational context.

The website presentation will also demonstrate how tinkering with hybrid apps can foster impactful and inclusive practices that nurture a sense of agency and creativity by way of exploration of multimodal modes of communication and resource creation (Kress, 2010). This, in turn, can induce shifts in pedagogical practice (Cope, 2018), and how we assess learning. Traditional methods of assessment do not always translate well when mediated by, or delivered through the medium of, technology and neither do they always capture the learner’s capabilities. Thus, adopting a heutagogical approach can serve different purposes. The first concerns the nature of assessment methods itself where moving from a summative to a formative assessment model provides instances for negotiating learning with learners. The second and while this is not without its challenges or risk, is that it nevertheless provides the opportunity to design active learning experiences that promote engagement and motivates participants. As Hase (2009) states, “…learning, harnessing that learning and knowledge management are each seen as an integral part of everyday practice in organisations…and related technology provide a great opportunity to facilitate this by encouraging people to share, discuss, develop and record their learning and content…” (Hase, 2009).