My professional development plans for 2025 and beyond represent a deliberate and structured approach to advancing my expertise in higher education teaching, technology enhanced learning (TEL), and inclusive pedagogy. Central to these plans is the completion of the Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA) within 2025. Achieving FHEA is not simply a credential; it is a formal recognition of my ongoing commitment to reflective practice, professional development, and evidence informed teaching. The process of completing FHEA encourages systematic reflection on my teaching strategies, assessment design, and student engagement practices. It aligns strongly with the ALT CMALT principle of a commitment to exploring and understanding the interplay between technology and learning, as FHEA requires careful consideration of how technology can support both pedagogical aims and learner outcomes.
From this process, I have learned the importance of critically evaluating not just what I do in the classroom but why I do it, and how it affects student learning. For example, reflecting on past integration of Qlik dashboards, Bloomberg data, Excel modelling, and STATA tutorials highlighted how scaffolded, stepwise learning pathways enhance student confidence and competence. If I were to approach FHEA differently, I would proactively collect more direct evidence of student progression in TEL tasks, such as pre and post assessment analytics, to better illustrate impact. This would not only strengthen my FHEA submission but also create a richer repository of evidence for future CMALT submissions. Complementing formal recognition, I plan to complete advanced certifications in Qlik and Excel during 2025. These certifications are designed to deepen my technical expertise and directly improve my delivery of modules such as Business Analytics I, where students are developing essential data literacy and analytical skills. Reflection on previous cohorts shows that while students often master individual tools, integrating them in applied tasks can initially be overwhelming. By expanding my own technical competence, I will be better positioned to model workflows, troubleshoot issues efficiently, and provide students with multiple entry points into complex tasks. This aligns with ALT CMALT’s principle of a commitment to keep up to date with new technologies, ensuring that both my practice and the learning experiences I offer are informed by contemporary digital tools.
A further strand of my 2025 development is engagement with Continuing Professional Development (CPD) focused on Universal Design for Learning (UDL) (CAST, 2018). My reflection on previous accessibility initiatives, such as captioned Panopto recordings and downloadable PDFs, shows that scaffolding and inclusive design significantly enhance student confidence, engagement, and achievement. By formally training in UDL principles, I aim to systematise these practices, ensuring that all learning activities whether synchronous lectures, Qlik based workshops, or project based assessments are flexible, equitable, and accessible to diverse learner needs. I anticipate that this will improve outcomes for students who require additional support, such as those with hearing impairments or limited prior experience with digital tools. A lesson learned from past practice is that inclusive design must be proactive, not reactive: waiting to respond to accessibility requests can create unnecessary barriers, whereas UDL informed planning can embed inclusivity from the outset. Alongside personal development, I intend to lead peer workshops on inclusive analytics teaching within my faculty. This represents an opportunity to disseminate effective practice and cultivate a collaborative culture, directly reflecting ALT CMALT principles of empathy and willingness to learn from colleagues and learners, and a commitment to communicate and disseminate effective practice. In past sessions, colleagues have sought guidance on integrating Bloomberg, Qlik, and Excel into their teaching. By sharing strategies, step by step guides, and exemplars of scaffolding, I can support colleagues in embedding both TEL and inclusive pedagogy, extending the impact of my professional development beyond my own modules. I have observed that colleagues often benefit most from seeing tangible applications in context, such as walkthroughs of dashboards or anonymised student datasets, rather than abstract guidance. In future workshops, I will formalise these demonstrations and provide follow up resources to maximise uptake.
Looking further ahead to 2025–2027, my reflection emphasizes the importance of linking professional development with scholarly engagement and innovation. I plan to actively contribute to the wider academic community through presentations at conferences such as ALT C 2025 and publications in journals like Research in Learning Technology. My research agenda will focus on the intersection of finance, data analytics, and TEL, including experiments with AI powered formative feedback systems. Reflection on previous attempts to integrate emerging technologies indicates that students respond most positively when the purpose of the technology is clear, scaffolded, and aligned with authentic assessment tasks. In piloting AI feedback systems, I will focus on transparency and ethical usage, ensuring students understand the rationale behind automated suggestions while maintaining academic integrity. This approach demonstrates a direct alignment with ALT CMALT principles of exploring technology’s interplay with learning, and promoting ethical and reflective use of digital tools. Another planned initiative is the launch of a CMALT mentoring scheme within my faculty, designed to build a community of certified professionals and promote reflective practice. Reflecting on my own experience of preparing for FHEA and CMALT, I recognise that structured guidance, exemplars, and peer discussion are critical to successful certification. By facilitating workshops, one to one mentoring, and peer review, I aim to reduce barriers for colleagues and encourage broader engagement with reflective practice. The impact of this initiative will extend beyond the certification process, it will foster a culture of ongoing professional reflection, innovation, and knowledge sharing, ultimately benefiting students through improved learning experiences.
I plan to expand cross faculty collaborations on data literacy, leveraging expertise in finance, analytics, and Python based research. Reflection on prior interdisciplinary projects shows that students benefit when they see the relevance of analytical skills across contexts, from finance to environmental modelling. By co developing learning activities that incorporate real world datasets, Python coding, and Qlik dashboards, I aim to prepare students for the data driven global workforce while promoting innovative TEL practices within the University of Greenwich. This work explicitly aligns with ALT CMALT principles of commitment to technology informed learning, empathy for diverse learners, and dissemination of effective practice. These plans represent a natural progression in my professional journey, synthesising pedagogy, technology, inclusivity, and leadership. Reflection highlights several lessons: proactive scaffolding and UDL informed planning improve student engagement, iterative sharing and mentoring strengthen colleague uptake of TEL, and transparent integration of AI and analytics tools fosters both skill development and professional confidence. Moving forward, I will continue to critically evaluate the impact of each initiative, using student feedback, performance data, and peer reflection to refine practice. These plans not only support my own development but contribute meaningfully to the University of Greenwich’s mission, the ALT community, and the evolving landscape of higher education, demonstrating a sustained commitment to ALT CMALT values and principles.
References:
Association for Learning Technology (ALT). (2021) CMALT: Certified Membership of ALT – Guidelines for Candidates and Assessors. Available at: https://www.alt.ac.uk/certified-membership.
CAST. (2018). Universal Design for Learning Guidelines version 2.2. Available at: http://udlguidelines.cast.org.
El-Amin, A. (2020). Andragogy: A theory in practice in higher education. Journal of Research in Higher Education, 4(2).
Rapanta, C., Botturi, L., Goodyear, P., et al. (2021). Balancing technology, pedagogy and the new normal: Post-pandemic challenges for higher education. Postdigital Science and Education, 3(3), pp.715–742.