ALT

The wait is nearly over. The ALT Annual Conference 2025 is just around the corner, and excitement is building fast.

ALT is pleased to announce an exciting opportunity for professionals in Further and Higher Education to deepen their understanding of digital accessibility.

Come along to our Unconference where you set the agenda!

This is your chance to bring along the topics - big or small - that you would like to discuss with the group. This will be an informal event but will be roughly along these lines:

10:30 - 11:00 Coffee and add your topics

11:00 -11:30 Welcome and scheduling

11:30 - 12:30 2 Attendee lead/chosen sessions

12:30 - 1:30 Lunch

1:30 - 2:30 2 Attendee lead/chosen sessions

2:30 - 3:00 Summary

3:00 - Drinks and/or shopping!

We are excited to announce an upcoming interactive workshop that will delve into two critical lenses of reflection from the Digital Accessibility Maturity Model, developed by AbilityNet and McNaught Consultancy. This workshop is designed specifically for HE and FE institutions looking to enhance their digital accessibility strategies and practices.

The workshop will be facilitated by Amy Low from AbilityNet, Julian Tenney from University of Nottingham and Ben Watson from UCL. Julian will bring his experience of using the maturity model to develop and mature practices at Nottingham and Ben will provide insights on the robust procurement guidance developed by himself and George Rhodes from University of Westminster who is also Ben’s business partner at AllAble.

During the workshop, we will focus on the Strategy and Structure lens, where we will explore evidence points that support the development and implementation of effective digital accessibility strategies that align with your institution's goals and objectives. We will also discuss the importance of having a well-defined and resourced structure to support these strategies and ensure their successful execution.

In addition, we will examine the Governance and Accessibility Toolkit lens. This session will review initiatives and evidence points that signal robust governance frameworks are in place and practical tools being provided to manage and monitor your institution's digital accessibility efforts including implementing a robust procurement policy. By leveraging these resources, you can ensure compliance with accessibility standards and create an inclusive digital environment for all users.

The workshop will be highly interactive, with opportunities for participants to engage in discussions, share experiences, and collaborate on best practices. Whether you are just starting your digital accessibility journey or looking to refine your existing approaches, this workshop will offer valuable insights and actionable takeaways.

 

We’re delighted to announce the launch of the Online Programmes Special Interest Group (SIG). 

 

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[3]

ALTC25 - MEET OUR SPONSORS

 

As we get ready to welcome you to ALTC25 [3], we’d like to take a moment
to thank the generous sponsors who are helping make this year’s
conference possible.

Each of our sponsors is bringing their own expertise and energy to ALTC25,
and we encourage you to visit their stands, join their sessions, and
connect with them during the event. They play an important part in shaping
the conversations and innovations happening across our community. [...]

As we get ready to welcome you to ALTC25, we’d like to take a moment to thank the generous sponsors who are helping make this year’s conference possible.

Each of our sponsors is bringing their own expertise and energy to ALTC25, and we encourage you to visit their stands, join their sessions, and connect with them during the event. They play an important part in shaping the conversations and innovations happening across our community.

Hear from Leeds Beckett University’s Digital Learning Service about a project to upgrade the University’s virtual learning environment (MyBeckett) to Blackboard Ultra by the end of summer 2026.

Schools, Subject Areas and Course Teams were invited to register for their preferred upgrade window following an ‘early adoption’ scheme, which enabled the team to gather experiences on supporting the transition and learn how best to facilitate the process at scale. This has enabled us to tailor our support and staff development, building a bank of reusable resources.

With partnership at the heart of this project, this webinar will celebrate and share the collaborative approach taken to balance the need to upgrade against colleagues’ capacity to engage positively with change. We will consider project management, communications, risk, teamwork and lessons learned.

The Digital Learning Service is part of Library and Learning Services at Leeds Beckett University. The team provides phone and email support, colleague development and in-curriculum student sessions, and maintains / enhances digital learning platforms.

CPD Webinar Host: 

   Rianne MacArthur, Digital Learning Service Manager, Leeds Beckett University

 

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[ALT logo] [3]

MONTHLY ALT NEWS - ISSUE 050, OCTOBER 2025

 

WELCOME TO YOUR MONTHLY NEWS UPDATE FROM THE LEADING PROFESSIONAL BODY FOR
LEARNING TECHNOLOGY IN THE UK.

We support a collaborative community for individuals and organisations from
all sectors, and provide professional recognition and development. Each
month, we will update you on latest news and publications, events,
jobs, and calls for proposals from across the learning technology
community.   [...]

As this is a busy time of year for many colleagues, we are extending the deadline to submit Expressions of Interest for the roles of Vice-Chair or Trustee on ALT’s Board to Monday 3 November 2025 at 9:00 AM. We hope this additional time allows members to fully consider this exciting opportunity to contribute to ALT’s strategic leadership.

In October 2025, the ALT Annual Conference returns to Scotland for the first time since 2019.

 

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ALTC25 KEYNOTES REVEALED

 

The countdown is on, ALTC25 [4] is just around the corner, and we’re
thrilled to unveil our keynote line-up for the conference on 23–24
October 2025. These sessions bring together bold thinkers and changemakers
in education, technology, inclusion, and leadership, and they promise to
challenge, inspire, and energise. [...]

The countdown is on, ALTC25 is just around the corner, and we’re thrilled to unveil our keynote line-up for the conference on 23–24 October 2025.

Person-centred care (PCC) has become an integral part of health education with many incorporating this into curricula (McCormack et al., 2022). However, PCC can require whole scale revisions of programmes of study, which can lead to difficulties in time and navigating quality processes (Moore et al., 2023). In the UK, continued workforce shortages have led to pressure on health care educators to increase student numbers (NHS England, 2023). This has exacerbated challenges with learning spaces and equipment availability (Powers, 2020) often leading to the introduction of small-scale interventions to increase coverage of PCC without whole scale changes. Digital technology offers potential solutions to these challenges with increasing numbers in health education turning to these approaches (Knudsen Oddvang et al., 2021; Liao et al., 2022).

This article sought to explore the impact of one such small-scale digital toolkit on student confidence and awareness of PCC. Although limited in nature, results indicated positive changes in confidence levels related to PCC overall with a mixed picture when looking at specific aspects. The digital toolkit helped to facilitate discussion related to delivering of PCC and overall provided students with easy access to these resources. A similar intervention may be used for the education of a variety of health care professionals and in support of interprofessional learning (Malone et al., 2022).

Our 2025 Annual General Meeting will be held online at 11:00 AM on Wednesday, 19 November 2025. 

Our 2025 Annual General Meeting will be held online at 11:00 AM on Wednesday, 19 November 2025. 

To enable more members to attend from across the UK and beyond, we are moving the AGM online this year. All Members are encouraged to attend, and the AGM is also open to guests and observers.  Please register in advance to confirm your attendance. Registrations will remain open until 19 November 2025 for observers.

The AGM will run in Zoom. If you have not used Zoom before, it may be helpful to consult our webinar FAQs. 

In accordance with the ALT Constitution adopted in 2019, the business of the Annual General Meeting will include approval of accounts and annual report, appointment of Trustees and decisions on any resolutions. 

The Agenda for the AGM will be issued at least two weeks prior to the meeting. All papers for the AGM and related information will be published online. We are delighted to announce that there will be a guest speaker joining us. 

The quorum for the AGM is twenty-five members of at least 12 months’ standing. Individual and Certified members and the representatives of organisational, partner or sponsoring members have one vote each (Associate Members are not eligible to vote).

Deadline for resolutions

Any resolutions for consideration at the AGM, should be marked “AGM” and arrive by 5:00 PM on Wednesday, 22 October 2025. Items may be submitted to Susan Martin, Chief Executive, via ceo@alt.ac.uk.

We invite you to the “Training staff to use Digital Assessment Tools”  webinar from The Digital Assessment Special Interest Group on 18th November 14:00 - 15:30. 3 speakers will share the conversations that are taking place at their institutions around the challenges and opportunities of Training staff to use Digital Assessment Tools”, under such themes as:

• Examples of when you have trained individual or groups of staff members to use digital assessment tools
• Commentaries on training and development in digital assessment technologies
• Approaches to institutional/ departmental training for digital assessment/ digital assessment tools
• Approaches to training and development for the scaling of digital assessment tools from a trial to an institutional level of use.
• Case studies of digital assessment tool implementation and change
• Research on staff training for the use of digital assessment tools.

Following the presentations you are invited to stay to take part in an open discussion on this topic where you can share your thoughts, concerns and progress in the area of digital assessment creation.

This webinar is the second in a series that will explore the different parts of the assessment process including:

• Marking and feedback of digital assessments
• Digital exams
• Student voice and digital assessments

Calls for speakers for this session are still open, if you are interested in speaking at this event, please complete the Google form by 17 October 2025. 

Speakers will be announced shortly via the Digital Assessment SIG mailing list.

Join the mailing list to be kept updated on this and other SIG events.

 

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[Assocation for Learning Technology] [3]

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A UNIVERSITY RETHINKS STUDENT ENGAGEMENT?

Dear ALT

When the University of Leeds set out to transform how students interact in
class, they didn’t just tweak the system, they reimagined it.

On Wednesday, 8 October 2025, at 3:30 PM, join Farzana Latif and Stuart
Robinson from the University of Leeds for a behind-the-scenes look at how
they reshaped engagement across campus.  [...]

The pedagogically and ethically sound uses of AI within education are not straightforward. AI can save time and effort, and can find, manipulate and share content but these are both problematic, focussing learning on content rather than other ways of learning and failing to respond to the diversity, culture and agency of learners. This session will equip colleagues to appreciate these issues and argue for alternatives.

CPD Webinar Host: 

  John Traxler

Private universities are increasingly shaping the global higher education landscape, with distance education playing a key role in their expansion. While research has explored institutional and policy factors influencing private higher education, the role of student satisfaction within this framework remains underexamined. This study addresses this gap by analysing the success factors of private distance universities from a student perspective. Utilising text mining on over 10,000 student reviews from a public rating platform, a co-occurrence network analysis identified key themes linked to student satisfaction. The findings reveal that private distance universities successfully fulfil the core psychological needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness, as outlined in Self-Determination Theory. Flexible study structures, accessible digital learning environments, and effective student support systems emerged as crucial factors. These insights align with international research, emphasising that distance education facilitates self-directed learning but requires robust institutional support to foster competence and engagement. This study contributes to the field of higher education and distance learning research by demonstrating the impact of technology-enhanced learning environments on student satisfaction. It calls for comparative studies between private and public distance universities, underscoring the need for longitudinal analyses of evolving student expectations and digital education models in a global context.