Background, skills and experience

I currently work as a Senior Educational Designer at La Trobe University, leading components related to the Digital Learning Strategy which seeks to support the University to move subjects/units to a blended approach and undertake curriculum and online design improvements and staff capacity building. Previous to this role I worked as a Learning Designer for Swinburne Online, and as the Blended Learning Training and Support Coordinator at Victoria University. Leading up to these roles I undertook a number of other roles where I sought to integrate education/training/pedagogy and technology, this included working in roles such as:

• media and multimedia teacher (Secondary, TAFE and Higher Education),
• multimedia support officer within a secondary school,
• freelance director and media author; working on interactive projects that typically held educational value (e.g. designing media products for City of Banyule 'Rethink' centre's recycling education programs)
• blended learning training coordinator and informal staff development mentor

I hold dual qualifications in Film, TV and Multimedia (Bachelor of Arts - Multimedia), and in Education (Graduate Diploma of Secondary Education; Master of Education by Research) and training (Cert IV Workplace Assessment and Training for vocational education). I recently completed my Master of Education (Research) with a major thesis exploring vocational education (VET) teachers' perceptions of e-Learning and the enablers and barriers to adoption and sustained integration. I am planning to continue to explore research related to learning design (including evidence for learning, engagement and good practice design), and to staff support and professional development.

I found through my work within schools such as when employed as a support officer for Kew High School and as a media teacher, I often gravitated toward and enjoyed supporting other staff to feel confident with technology, thereby acting as mentor or critical friend, and to build positive relationship with others.

As demonstrated by my research and by my background and experience, I enjoy opportunities to work in roles where I am able to blend education (including curriculum design, constructive alignment and supporting or resolving pedagogical aims or problems including those related to alignment, engagement, competency building and retention) and digital technologies (including multimedia production, and using digital technologies to meet pedagogical aims). My background and experience has given me a love of education generally but specifically in terms of good practice blended and online design, staff development/staff capacity building and mentorship, and authentic and experiential learning and assessment strategies for adult learners.

Rationale for CMALT accreditation

Through my experience I've demonstrated my commitment to working at and reflecting upon the interplay between technology and learning, and to keep abreast of trends, updates and professional development to continue to improve my practice. I enjoy being able to support and build relationships with stakeholders, act as mentor/critical friend, and contribute to building a community of practice. Working as a learning designer/educational designer allows me to incorporate all of these facets into my role, and I plan to continue to work within this space moving forward.

I also hope to improve my research output - particularly in relation to staff professional development and integrate use of TEL, and to progress my standing and ability to shape and improve institutional strategic direction related to blended and online learning, as I can see there are areas where I could bring a unique perspective to the multi-faceted challenges that institutions and individuals face when implementing TEL, blended and online learning.

CMALT accreditation has gained standing within the community as recognised evidence of learning design skills and experience. I feel CMALT recognition would benefit me within my role moving forward in a number of ways, as it will:

• expose me to further examples of learning design and good practice across institutions and countries
• encourage me to remain critical, reflective and current in my skills and experience and with research in the field
• link me to a network of critical friends and colleagues, both for sharing practice and trends but also for employment and research opportunities and further mentorship links
• allow me to think through and demonstrate my specialist skills and experience related to quality, process improvement, blended learning/TEL strategy, principles and guidelines
• allow me to gain further recognition of my skills which may provide me with further standing when working with institutional and external stakeholders as part of my role. Establishing myself as a credible member of the learning community takes time and CMALT allows me to better communicate my value to others and gives me external recognition within the educational community.