Contextual Statement

Guidelines

This portfolio starts with a contextual statement to outline my career history and current role. Specifically, the CMALT guidelines state that:

Your portfolio should begin with a contextual statement – the kind of thing you might write in a cover letter for a job application. It should provide a concise biography, outlining your career history in relation to Learning Technology and your current role(s). Highlight briefly the operational context in which you work or have worked, and reflect on why you are submitting your portfolio for CMALT and how this relates to your future career aspirations.

My Career History

My early career years were varied having worked in banking, accounting, and lastly, a classroom teaching assistant at a Primary School. This latter role sparked an interest in Educational Psychology which led to me leaving the world of work to study full time. As a mature student, I studied a BSc in Psychology at York St John University, graduating in 2010 with a first class honours degree. Although I started this degree with the intention of going into Educational Psychology, I enjoyed studying so much (and particularly research), that I decided to go on to do a PhD instead. I also had an interest in how people interact with contemporary technology, especially social media. In September 2010, I started my PhD at the University of York, submitting my thesis in June 2013 at the age of 41 years. My PhD focused on how young adolescents use social media to fulfil their feelings of belonging, and how parental strategies affect young adolescents' use of social media sites. The three years I spent on this PhD gave me a good understanding of the psychological theories that underpin human-computer interactions.

During the summer of 2013, I was offered a short-term one year contract as an Associate Lecturer (teaching focused) in the Department of Psychology, University of York. This then led to a permanent position as an Associate Lecturer on a teaching focused contract the following year. Gaining a position in a teaching only focused role at Higher Education enabled me to use my knowledge of psychological theories to not only understand how students learn but also how technology can be used to support their learning. While initially I was the only member of teaching staff interested in pedagogy, the department has since developed a team of four teaching focused staff that I am now part of. This team is headed up by a newly appointed Director of Teaching and Learning.

My Current Role

Since my current role is teaching focused, much of my day to day roles include teaching, administrative tasks and supporting students. My teaching is centred around our undergraduate degree programmes where I teach Social Psychology, Personality and Intelligence, and Cyberpsychology. As part of a wider team of teaching only staff, I am also responsible for delivering academic skills support across all four years of our undergraduate degree programmes.

My interest in using technology to support teaching and learning started from my very first term of teaching. I set up a social media group site where I posted questions to students throughout the week to keep them engaged with the content between lectures. I also used 'clickers' to check their understanding at the end of each lecture my posing MCQs to the group. Since then, I have expanded my use of technology. Attending CPD events such as institutional and external conferences, workshops and presentations has exposed me to various tools that I now use in my own teaching and I encourage colleagues to do the same.

The development of the different tools I now use has led to me being the 'go-to' person in our department, and two years ago, I was given the title of 'Teaching Enhancement Champion'. This role has enabled me to promote the use of technology to support teaching and learning in our department and beyond.

The portfolio on this site is therefore an accumulation of experiences, reflections and evidence from the past few years where I have developed my own and others' use of technology in teaching.

Why CMALT?

I am a strong believer in reflective practice but it is often difficult to do this when day to day tasks of the role draw your attention away from reflection. By working towards CMALT accreditation, this has given me the space to be able to reflect on my current practice, where I would like my practice to go, and to spur me on to continue to support others in using technology to support their teaching.

It is also a formal recognition of the work I do to support students with their learning, and to support my colleagues in developing their own ways of using technology in their teaching.