ALT

Many universities implemented blended and hybrid delivery for the first time during the COVID-19 pandemic, and as such, the use of terms that relate to various manifestations and implementations of blended learning has increased significantly by all higher education stakeholders. However, the meaning ascribed to these terms is often inconsistent and can lead to confusion, making it difficult to set expectations clearly for both staff and students. This study aimed to investigate how higher education staff understand and use these terms and to identify sources of confusion and barriers to adopting standardised definitions. We surveyed 152 higher education staff and asked them to provide definitions of each term as well as completing a categorisation task. An applied thematic analysis identified two factors that were present across definitions: choice (no choice, student choice and choice not specified) and modality (mixed but separate, dual delivery and mixed not otherwise specified). Our findings reveal significant discrepancies in understanding, particularly regarding hybrid learning, which was often conflated with other modalities and involved definitions where neither choice nor modality was clearly specified. Blended learning was most consistently defined and identified as involving separate online and in-person components with no student choice as to the modality in which they could engage with each component. Hyflex learning, despite being less familiar to many participants, was accurately associated with dual delivery and the maximum student choice. Our results underscore the need for clearer terminology and for all stakeholders to provide maximally descriptive definitions. The use of any broad category term should be accompanied by a specific definition that at minimum describes choice and modality, but where best practice would be to encompass additional information based on existing frameworks.

This study aims to investigate the factors influencing teachers’ intentions to integrate Virtual Reality (VR) technology into their educational practices, utilising the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT-2) framework. The research involved adapting and validating the ‘Acceptance of Mobile Immersive Virtual Reality in Secondary Education Teachers’ scale to the Turkish context, ensuring cultural relevance and psychometric reliability. Data were collected from 213 in-service teachers with prior experience in using VR in education. The results of the Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) confirmed the validity of the adapted scale. The findings indicate that effort expectancy, social influence, personal innovativeness and hedonic motivation significantly predict teachers’ behavioural intentions to adopt VR technology. However, contrary to expectations, performance expectancy and facilitating conditions did not show a significant impact. These results underscore the importance of focusing on the ease of use and social support mechanisms, as well as fostering a culture of innovation amongst educators, to successfully integrate VR into educational settings.

Join Constance Henry, a technology enhanced learning enthusiast, for a friendly and practical introduction to HeyZine flipbooks – a simple but effective way to bring your resources to life. This session will explore how flipbooks can be used across all ages and stages of education, from showcasing student work to creating interactive guides, handbooks, and learning materials. You'll see how easy it is to add videos, audio, links, and images, making your content more engaging and accessible. Whether you're supporting learners in the classroom, online, or in community settings, HeyZine offers a creative, user-friendly platform to enhance what you already do.

 

 

We are seeking case studies and example policies of using digital technology for learning, teaching and assessment that address or have implications for ethical considerations. Examples are invited from all sectors and nations.

Case studies and policies could, for example, address the ethical implications of AI, lecture capture, online assessment, blended/hybrid learning, use of student data etc.  

By Maria Toro-Troconis, University of Cambridge

Every time you ask ChatGPT a question or generate an AI image, you’re tapping into powerful servers that burn energy, consume water, and leave a real-world carbon footprint. While Generative AI tools can feel instant, seamless and free, they come at a hidden environmental cost. In this post, I’ll discuss how we can use these tools more responsibly, without trading convenience for climate damage.

Climate change and digital transformation are among the most influential forces shaping our era. How we navigate and integrate these evolving trends will be critical in determining the course of humanity’s future throughout the 21st century and beyond (GPAI, 2021; Masterson, 2024).

Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) has rapidly transformed how we interact with machines, particularly through natural language processing (NLP). From chatbots and automated writing assistants to creative tools and research companions, GenAI is increasingly embedded in our daily digital lives. These tools, like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, Anthropic’s Claude, and DeepSeek, are powered by large language models (LLMs) that generate human-like responses based on prompts we give them. 

How these systems understand us depends on their ability to process natural language, breaking down our words into manageable, computationally understandable pieces called tokens. The ease with which we can now generate responses using GenAI contradicts the immense computational and environmental power behind each interaction.

How do AI models process our prompts?

The way AI models process our prompts has an impact on the environment.  When you type a question into a LLM like ChatGPT, it does not read your message word-for-word in the way humans do. Instead, it breaks down your input into tokens: small fragments of text, typically chunks of 3 – 4 characters or individual words. For instance, the sentence “Think before you prompt” may be split into six tokens. Each token processed consumes computational resources, requiring both energy and water for the massive data centres that power these models. 

It’s not just a technical detail, it’s a sustainability concern.

The environmental footprint of a prompt

According to the World Economic Forum (2024), AI can help us tackle climate change: it can predict the weather, track icebergs and identify pollution. It can also improve agricultural output and reduce its environmental impact. However, engaging with LLMs carries an environmental footprint that needs ethical regulation and greener tech to prevent risks and inequalities (UNU EHS, 2024).  

Let’s break down the environmental cost of an interaction with a GenAI LLM:

• According to the research conducted by Luccioni, et al., (2024), a single generated AI image can use as much energy as half a smartphone charge.
• Charging the average smartphone phone requires 0.022 kWh of energy (US Environmental Protection Agency, 2024), which means that the most efficient text generation model uses as much energy as 9% of a full smartphone charge for 1,000 inferences (prompts and answers). 
• Training a single large AI model can generate a carbon footprint comparable to the total emissions produced by five cars throughout their entire lifespan (Walther, 2024). 
• The energy used to train OpenAI’s GPT-3 language model could directly evaporate 700,000 litres of clean water (Luccioni, et al., 2024).
• AI demand is projected to account for 4.2-6.6 billion cubic meters of water withdrawal in 2027 which accounts for half of the total annual water withdrawal of the United Kingdom (Li, et al., 2023).
• AI depends on continuously operating large data centres which consume vast amounts of energy around the clock. These facilities are estimated to account for between 2.5% and 3.7% of global annual carbon emissions (Cho, 2023).

GenAI also increases the need for resource-heavy hardware like Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) or Tensor Processing Units (TPUs). Producing these components requires rare-earth metals, whose extraction often causes environmental harm and high emissions, adding to AI’s overall ecological impact (Walther, 2024).

It’s not just about AI efficiency anymore—it’s about digital sustainability. And the more iterative or unclear your prompts, the more resources are used (CoDesignS AI Framework, 2024).

Comparing Leading LLMs: Environmental impact

Let’s have a closer look at the environmental impact of some of the leading LLMs.

As presented in Table 1 below, environmental impact is strongly influenced by the LLM’s token input capacities and efficiency. Models with large token limits, such as Gemini 1.5 Pro and GPT-4o, require significant computational power, leading to higher energy consumption. In contrast, DeepSeek V3 claims to be more environmentally sustainable, using only about one-tenth of the computational resources compared to similar models, although this is yet to be independently verified (Calma, 2025). Claude 3.7’s environmental performance remains unclear due to limited transparency. Overall, while handling larger contexts improves capabilities, it also increases environmental costs unless offset by greater model efficiency.

Table 1: Environmental impact of Large Language Models (LLMs) (CoDesignS ESD AI Coach, 2024)

Every additional prompt adds more tokens to the pile—more energy, more water, more emissions. It’s tempting to view interactions with LLMs as “free,” but behind the scenes, there is a high cost.

Less is more: Why every prompt matters

This brings us to a pivotal mindset shift: less is more. Instead of multiple iterations and retries, the goal should be to get the best response in fewer interactions. Every refined, thoughtful prompt saves resources and time.

Prompt engineering is the skill of crafting clear, effective inputs to get the desired outputs from GenAI models. It’s like learning to ask the right question in the right way. The better the prompt, the better (and faster) the answer.

Prompt engineering is an essential tool in reducing GenAI’s environmental footprint (CoDesignS AI Framework, 2024). It reduces trial and error, minimises redundant queries, and shortens conversation length. Not only does this save money and computing time, but it directly reduces electricity and water usage.

But how do we create better prompts? This is where a framework like ROCKS comes into play.

Optimise your interactions: Introducing the ROCKS method

Developed as part of the open access CoDesignS AI Framework (2024), ROCKS is a practical, easy-to-remember method to help us optimise our interactions with GenAI systems. 

Figure 2

As presented in Figure 2, ROCKS stands for:

Role: Identify your role.
Objective: State your objective.
Community: Specify your audience
Key: Describe the tone or style, and any related parameters.
Shape: Note the desired format of the output.

An example of a prompt using the ROCKS method

For example, instead of writing:

“Can you help me make my lecture more interactive?”

Use the ROCKS structure for greater clarity and focus, leading to fewer follow-up questions and lower energy consumption:

Role: I am a lecturer in Pathology teaching Year 2 MBBS students.  

Objective: I aim to make my lecture on the Pathology of the Head more interactive, dynamic, and enjoyable to better engage students during the session.  

Community: The lecture will be delivered in-person to around 300 Year 2 MBBS students in a large lecture theatre setting. 

Key/Tone: The tone should be engaging, energetic, and inclusive, encouraging active participation and maintaining attention across a large group.  

Shape: I would like suggestions for practical, easy-to-implement methods using PowerPoint and Kahoot, focusing on live interaction, quizzes, and gamified learning elements that are scalable for a large cohort.

Using the ROCKS method, you can craft more precise and purposeful prompts that not only improve the quality of AI responses but also contribute to more efficient and sustainable GenAI use.

Conclusion: Prompt with Purpose

GenAI is transforming how we think and work, but every interaction draws on the planet’s finite resources. By learning to prompt carefully and with purpose, we can reduce wasteful iterations, improve response quality and minimise the environmental impact of our digital habits. Tools like the ROCKS method empower us to be not just efficient, but ethical. As educators, learners and professionals, we have a responsibility to pair innovation with sustainability. The next time you engage with an AI, pause to refine your prompt; not just for a better answer, but for a better future.

Think before you prompt—because better inputs create better outputs for us and a better future for the planet (CoDesignS ESD AI Coach, 2024).

REFERENCES

Calma, J. (2025) ‘AI is ‘an energy hog,’ but DeepSeek could change that’. The Verge. January. Available at:

https://www.theverge.com/climate-change/603622/deepseek-ai-environment-energy-climate?utm_source=chatgpt.com last accessed: 7 March 2025

CoDesignS ESD AI Coach (2025). Available at: https://codesignsesd.org/codesigns-ai-coach/ last accessed: 7 March 2025

CoDesignS AI Framework (2024). Available at: https://aldesd.org/7574-2/ last accessed: 7 March 2025

Cho, R. (2023). AI’s Growing Carbon Footprint. June. Columbia Climate School Newsletter. Available at:

https://news.climate.columbia.edu/2023/06/09/ais-growing-carbon-footprint/ last accessed: 7 March 2025

GPAI – The Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (2021). ‘Climate Change and AI – Recommendations for Government action’. Available at: https://www.gpai.ai/projects/climate-change-and-ai.pdf last accessed: 7 March 2025

Li, P., Yang, I., M., Ren, S. (2023) ‘Making AI Less “Thirsty”: Uncovering and Addressing the Secret Water Footprint of AI Models’ https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2304.03271 

Luccioni, S., Jernite, Y., Strubell, E. (2024). Power Hungry Processing: Watts Driving the Cost of AI Deployment? In Proceedings of the 2024 ACM Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency (FAccT ’24). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 85–99. https://doi.org/10.1145/3630106.3658542

Masterson, V. (2024). ‘9 ways AI is helping tackle climate change’. Blog post. February. Available at: https://www.weforum.org/stories/2024/02/ai-combat-climate-change/ last accessed: 7 March 2025

UNU EHS (2024). ‘5 Insights into AI as a Double-Edged Sword in Climate Action’. Blog post. June. Available at: https://unu.edu/ehs/series/5-insights-ai-double-edged-sword-climate-action last accessed: 7 March 2025

US Environmental Protection Agency. 2024. Greenhouse Gases Equivalencies Calculator – Calculations and References. https://www.epa.gov/energy/greenhouse-gases-equivalencies-calculator-calculations-and-references last accessed: 7 March 2025

Walther, C. (2024). ‘Generative AI’s Impact On Climate Change: Benefits And Costs’. Blog post. November. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/corneliawalther/2024/11/12/generative-ais-impact-on-climate-change-benefits-and-costs/ last accessed: 7 March 2025

Maria Toro-Troconis, PhD (she/her) is a Blended Learning Specialist at the University of Cambridge. Maria is also the Founder and Director of the Association for Learning Design and Education for Sustainable Development (ALDESD). She has led digital education transformation programmes for UNICEF, UNESCO, and UNDP and was recognised as one of the top international education influencers of 2021 (Edruptors). Her interests lie in the field of education for sustainable development and digital learning innovations.

Did you enjoy reading this? To become a member of our community, see Membership details here www.alt.ac.uk/membership

We are refreshing the Association for Learning Technology (ALT) East regional group, with a renewed focus is on building stronger regional connections. We are also collaborating with the East Midlands group to widen the opportunities for sharing and collaboration.

Our aim is to set up a regular series of collaborative online sessions. These sessions will provide a forum to discuss key issues, challenges, opportunities, and shared ambitions in technology-enhanced learning within our regional community.

This initial session is a crucial opportunity to gather interested individuals. We will discuss the direction and focus of the revitalised group, identify the most pressing needs and opportunities for our community, and begin building a supportive regional network. If you work (or live) in the East Midlands or East England we would be delighted if you would be involved. Please be prepared to bring any ideas for what you might like to see discussed in sessions, or how we might support each other going forward.

ALT is seeking to appoint new editors to join the existing editorial team for the Research in Learning Technology (RLT) journal.  RLT is a peer reviewed, Open Access journal published by ALT that aims to raise the profile of research in learning technology, encouraging research that informs good practice and contributes to the

By Daisy Ward, Virtual Learning Coordinator, Parkinson’s UK

Education in the charity sector was brand new to me when I took up my role at Parkinson’s UK last year. It’s an area that may also be unfamiliar to many readers of this blog. 

Starting a new role often means hitting the ground running—especially during a period of change. That was certainly true when I became the newest member of the charity’s Education team.

Context

A blend of long-standing team members as well as newcomers like myself, the team had been energised by new leadership articulating a clear vision to revamp our education offer and grow our reputation within the sector. This made it the perfect moment—not just for me, but for the whole team—to pause, reflect, and take stock of what our curriculum comprises, identify the key professional roles within health and social care that we cater to, and extract insights that could inform our curriculum planning and future development. 

With that in mind, I developed three practical tools designed to support both individual courses and the broader curriculum. These tools have already proven useful, and we expect they’ll continue to guide our work well into the future. 

The Tools #1: Curriculum chart

One of my early initiatives was to create a visual representation of our online courses, which came to be known as the ‘curriculum chart’ or ‘curriculum diagram’. Each block within the diagram represents a piece of learning: examples being training videos publicly available on the charity’s website, a 1-hour introductory webinar on Parkinson’s for health and social care staff, and a number of self-directed e-learning courses hosted on our Moodle platform. 

Parkinson’s UK curriculum chart, 2024

You’ll notice that the blocks are colour-coded, with colours representing specific roles within our broader audience of health and social care professionals. Meanwhile each row on the chart corresponds to a level of learning, from Level 0 (‘taster’ level) through Level 3 (advanced). 

Why this chart matters

Creating this chart has already delivered several key benefits:

• It brings together the complexity of our diverse education offer into a single, visually engaging page.
• It provides a shared reference point, enabling more focused and meaningful conversations within our team.
• It supports clearer communication with colleagues across the organisation about what we offer.
• It highlights gaps in our current curriculum, helping us make more informed decisions about future development.

One possible next step is to create an alternative version of this chart which, rather than capturing what we already have, depicts what we would like our curriculum to look like in the future. 

#2: Topic index

While the curriculum chart is a useful visual overview of our education provision, it does not indicate what topics are covered within each piece of learning. For that purpose, I set about compiling an index of course topics. 

The index is organised by alphabetised topics related to the overarching theme of Parkinson’s, and further broken down by levels of learning. As an example, the section on Medication types includes a short summary of how this topic is covered in courses at Introductory, Foundation, Intermediate and Advanced levels (where applicable). 

A preview of the index of course topics created for and by the Parkinson’s UK education team.

At the time of writing, the index has grown to a substantial 60 pages—which may sound like a lot (and it is!). However, thanks to clear formatting and extensive use of hyperlinks, the document remains easy to navigate and user-friendly 

We’ve already seen—and anticipate continuing to see—several key benefits from using this index:

• It allows us to track how topics are addressed across different learning levels, helping us build on existing content and maintain continuity.
• It supports consistency of provision across our diverse audiences.
• It identifies gaps in topic coverage.

#3: Student workload estimator

In the e-learning space, I have noticed an apparent lack of rigour when it comes to estimating course duration. I expected that there would be more tools available for working out an approximate duration of a piece of e-learning, or at least a stronger consensus around how to do that, besides relying on user testing. 

Seeking a more reliable method on which to base our course duration estimates, and in the absence of any readily available tools that fit our purposes, I set out to create what has become known as the ‘student workload estimator’. Built using formulas and data validation in Google Sheets, this tool can be applied to any e-learning course that primarily includes text and videos—just like ours.

The tool relies on three key inputs to estimate course duration:

• Total course word count
• Total video playback time 
• Course level – each one of three levels is linked to a value representing words per minute, based on available data about average reading speeds. 

Student Workload Estimator: Front End

Student workload estimator tool in Google Sheets.

At the back end (on a sheet labelled Formula), there are optional modifiers to account for additional time spent: e.g. video replay (setting this number to 2 would allow for learners watching videos twice).

Using this tool offers several key benefits:

• A solid basis for informing learners of anticipated engagement (important for our audience of time-poor healthcare professionals).
• Common language for curriculum planning: It establishes a consistent vocabulary for discussing curriculum and planning within our team.
• Improved course design.

Conclusion

In summary, the three tools outlined in this article have brought significant benefits in two key areas:

• Improved communication: They’ve enhanced how we discuss our curriculum—within the team, across the wider organisation, and with our target audience.
• Streamlined curriculum management: They’ve supported more effective planning, development, and management of our curriculum. 

Organisations in comparable situations to ourselves may find value in drawing inspiration from these tools.

Did you enjoy reading this? To become a member of our community, see Membership details here https://www.alt.ac.uk/membership

To mark the relaunch of ALT Cymru we will be having a virtual 'coffee and chat'. Our first order of business is to get to know our members and what it is you would like to get from this group. Please come along and say hello and have a virtual coffee. We hope to make these a regular event with a different theme for discussion. FOr this first one as well as a hello we thought it would be great to talk about AI and the Welsh Language! So any concerns, issues or ideas you've got about how AI is working (or not) in Welsh please come and share.

The countdown to ALTC25 has begun, with Glasgow set to host this highly anticipated event on 23 and 24 October. As preparations get underway, there is an exciting opportunity for members to play a key role in shaping the conference by joining the Conference Committee.

The next meeting of the ALT-ELESIG Scotland group is an excellent opportunity to share practice, evaluation and research into learners' experiences of technology enhanced learning and assessment. We have a great afternoon planned with a variety of presentations across the theme of 'Sustainability in Tertiary Education'.

Read the full programme and presenter biographies here.

Register Here,

Delivered by ALT CoOL SIG Chairs, Chris Morrison and Jane Secker, it is aimed at learning technologists and related staff in education.  No knowledge of copyright is assumed prior to the course. This half-day workshop uses Copyright the Card Game to establish a baseline level of knowledge and to give practical examples and scenarios about how copyright relates to the work of learning technologists and those in the field of digital education.
 
Learning outcomes

By the end of the afternoon, delegates will have:

 

• The ability to apply the basics of UK copyright law to the primary activities of learning technology
• An awareness and understanding of the main licences and copyright exceptions that are relevant to those working in this field
• An understanding of issues related to copyright and digital education / online learning including: digitising content for online, using born digital resources, using digital media and lecture recording and copyright in the connected environment.
   

By the Association for Learning Technology

Last week, we were pleased to host our first CMALT Week, from 28 April to 2 May 2025. A week packed with interactive sessions, webinars, and activities to help you along your CMALT journey. As we reflect on the week’s events, we invite you to explore the voices and resources from CMALT Week 2025 and share your feedback. 

A look back at CMALT Week 2025

• Blog Profile Series: A CMALT Journey – Insights from Emily Armstrong 
• BlueSky Q&A Padlet 

You may also find the following CMALT resources helpful: 

• CMALT in FE webinar from 2024 
• #altc Blog: Why being a CMALT Assessor is great for your development
• #altc Blog: How I transformed from CMALT to Senior CMALT in less than 2 years
• CMALT Support

Don’t forget to use your discount

Anyone who attended a CMALT Week event qualifies for a 20% discount on CMALT registration. Delegates must use their discount code to register via the ALT website by Thursday, 31 July 2025. The discount code will be emailed to all delegates who completed the contact form and entitles users to 20% off of new CMALT registrations (all pathways), or 20% off of the cost of upgrading to Senior CMALT for current CMALT holders. Full T&C’s can be found here. 

Share your feedback 

We hope you enjoyed CMALT Week 2025 and found it valuable. Your feedback is essential in shaping future events, helping us refine and improve the experience. Please take a moment to share your thoughts using this form: go.alt.ac.uk/CMALT-Week-Feedback. Every response helps us understand what worked well and what we can enhance next time.

Thank you to those who have already taken the time to share feedback on this week’s activities.  

Stay connected and engaged by following the conversation on social media using #CMALT. Be the first to know about CMALT updates, new events, and additional resources to support your journey. Register for future CMALT events here.

Did you enjoy reading this? To become a member of our community, see Membership details here https://www.alt.ac.uk/membership

Building on the momentum of CMALT Week, which shines a light on professional development in learning technology, we turn our attention to ALT’s upcoming event on open education: the OER25 Conference.

ALT’s new online course for Certified Membership of ALT accreditation scheme candidates, ‘Your guide to Certified Membership of ALT (CMALT)’, launched during CMALT week 2025. The course is designed to provide all CMALT candidates with guidance that enables them to create, and confidently submit, their CMALT portfolio for assessment.

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MONTHLY ALT NEWS - ISSUE 45, MAY 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.   [...]

Are you keen to engage in research but barriers prevent progress? Professional service staff possess unique perspectives that could transform educational practices, yet face significant hurdles when attempting to formalize, conduct, and share this valuable knowledge as research—even when its potential impact is substantial. ALT-ELESIG + the Heads of ELearning Forum are running this session to share the experience of barriers and enablers to doing research. email:j.c.turner@ljmu.ac.uk to attend.

By Karen Lesley Billingsley and Dr Gillian Peiser School of Education, Liverpool John Moores University: Corresponding author: K.L.Billingsley@2019.ljmu.ac.uk

This blog post shares key findings from my doctoral research examining how online Communities of Practice support professional development in the Further Education sector. 

The Research Context

As the FE sector faces ongoing resource constraints and growing digital demands, traditional professional development models are increasingly insufficient (Broad, 2015). My mixed-methods study investigated PDNorth, an online Community of Practice (CoP) serving English, Maths and ESOL practitioners, through surveys (n=20) and interviews (n=7). The research examined how digital environments support different forms of collaborative learning and scholarly activity using Boyer (1990) scholarship framework and Wenger (1998) CoP theory.

Technology-Enhanced Professional Community: Key Benefits Digital Accessibility Transformed Collaboration

The technological infrastructure removed geographical barriers that typically limit professional exchange. One participant explained: “I couldn’t have met people from Manchester… But they were only one click away.” This digital connectivity facilitated cross-institutional networking previously impossible in traditional CPD formats. A survey participant highlighted how PDNorth’s digital nature allowed her to engage despite geographical constraints: “I remember someone was in their car. Someone was in the staff room. I was mostly at home with my son in the background.”

Virtual Environments Fostered Psychological Safety

Perhaps counter-intuitively, the online medium created safe spaces for authentic professional vulnerability. “There’s been quite a few of us that have been tearful in those spaces, but then by the end of it, you know, we’ve all kind of felt like I’m so glad that we came and that’s happened,” shared one participant, describing emotional support received in digital spaces. This aligns with Abedini, Abedin and Zowghi (2021) findings on the importance of emotional support in online communities. Another participant noted how the online environment fostered trust: “It is a very safe space where you can just be honest about things.” Recent empirical research by Chen (2022) provides evidence that CoPs effectively support professional learning when underpinned by emotional connectedness and trust. Her findings demonstrate that creating safe places for discussion and reflection was essential for engagement in professional development activities. This aligns with our observations of how PDNorth’s digital environment supported the psychological safety participants valued. 

Asynchronous Participation Supported Flexibility

The platform’s blend of synchronous events and asynchronous resources accommodated practitioners’ complex schedules. One member described scheduling flexibility as crucial: “I booked time off to be able to pick up my daughter around that time. So, I remember most of them taking place like 4.30pm. For me it was excellent.” The technological infrastructure supported varied forms of engagement, with participants reporting high value from reading newsletters, watching recorded sessions, and participating in live events to fit their busy schedules.

Digital Tools Enabled Identity Development

The online space fostered professional development and identity transformation. One participant described the digital environment as “really, really comfortable. So welcoming, very warm, very friendly. Straight right from the off… supportive and friendly, warm, open and collaborative.” This supports Wenger’s (1998) conception of CoPs as spaces for identity development. Another participant credited online discussions with helping her become “confident in my instinct,” explaining “we came to realise that teaching was something natural and learners are letting you know what’s working and what’s not working.”

Technology-Related Challenges and Limitations Digital Divides in Participation

The data revealed technology engagement disparities. Younger participants (30-45) reported significantly higher scores for online discussions (p=.039), finding community publications informative (p=.024), and comfort with online events (p=.032) compared to older colleagues. These statistics highlight potential digital comfort disparities that could create imbalanced participation, aligning with Lantz-Andersson, Lundin and Selwyn (2018) observations about varying levels of involvement in online teacher communities.

Platform-to-Practice Implementation Gap

Survey data revealed a telling paradox: while participants unanimously valued collaborative learning (M=5.00), implementing these insights into classroom practice proved significantly more challenging (M=3.50). This implementation gap represents perhaps the most crucial challenge for online CoPs. One participant explained: “we couldn’t have done this without the sub circle meetings online and reading circle… without all my questions would have just been left unanswered.” This implementation challenge reflects broader issues identified by Lloyd and Jones (2018) regarding translating collaborative learning into practice.

Technology Access and Time Barriers

While reducing some constraints, the online format introduced others. Time limitations emerged as a significant barrier in survey responses (Mean=3.00), indicating members still struggled to balance participation with workload demands. Interview data revealed challenges with technology confidence, particularly among newer members unfamiliar with digital collaboration tools.

Learning Technology Implications and Recommendations

For learning technologists and educational leaders implementing online CoPs, my research suggests:

1. Design for diverse digital comfort levels – Create multiple engagement pathways that accommodate varying technology proficiency and preferences. Interview data showed members benefited from options ranging from passive reading to active discussion.
2. Structure digital-to-practice bridges – Develop explicit mechanisms for translating online learning into classroom implementation. One successful method in PDNorth was “constellations” where members collaboratively explored how “they could help their organisation with ideas to improve on areas where they struggled.”
3. Balance synchronous and asynchronous modalities – PDNorth’s success came partly from combining live events with archived resources. One participant noted: “I’m using PDNorth to be able to look at the research… whether it’s been in a newsletter, so I can look through things.”
4. Foster digital community facilitation – Interview participants praised PDNorth’s framework as “very well framed… We all focused on the results or the solutions,” highlighting the importance of skilled digital facilitation.
5. Implement complementary supports – Survey data revealed that even with strong online engagement, practitioners needed institutional backing to implement new approaches, supporting Tummons (2022) findings about institutional constraints in FE settings.

Conclusion: Technology-Enhanced Communities as Transformative Spaces

The research demonstrates that online CoPs offer unique advantages when thoughtfully implemented, but their success depends on institutional support structures that bridge the gap between digital inspiration and classroom implementation. As the FE sector continues to face resource constraints, strategically designed online communities may represent one of the most sustainable approaches to meaningful professional development. Digital platforms offer distinctive advantages for connecting isolated practitioners, fostering resilience through shared challenges, and facilitating identity development beyond institutional constraints O’Leary and Wood (2019).

However, realising this potential requires balancing digital connectivity with implementation supports, addressing participation inequities, and creating mechanisms that bridge online learning and classroom practice. By approaching online professional communities with both enthusiasm and critical awareness, we can harness learning technologies to transform professional development in ways that meaningfully impact teaching and learning.

References

Abedini, A., Abedin, B. and Zowghi, D. (2021) Adult learning in online communities of practice: A systematic review. British journal of educational technology, 52 (4), 1663-1694.

Boyer, E.L. (1990) Scholarship Reconsidered: Priorities of the Professoriate. United States: The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

Broad, J.H. (2015) So Many Worlds, So Much To Do: Identifying Barriers To Engagement with Continued Professional Development for Teachers in the Further Education and Training Sector. London Review of Education, 13 (1), 16.

Chen, J.I.-H. (2022)  Working and Learning Together: The Lived Experiences of Further Education Teachers Engaging with Joint Practice Development as a Model of Collaborative Enquiry for Professional Learningthesis, University of Sunderland.

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Writer’s Bio

Karen Lesley Billingsley is Head of Quality at an FE college in the North of England. Her research focuses on professional development in the Further Education sector. This blog is based on findings from her EdD thesis “An investigation of effective teachers’ professional development within the Further Education Sector and the emerging role of virtual Communities of Practice as a vehicle for teachers’ Continuous Professional Development.”

Thanks for reading this AmplifyFE post! AmplifyFE is a strategic partnership between ALT and the Ufi VocTech Trust. AmplifyFE connects over 3000 professionals in Further Education and Vocational Education, providing a strong networking community to share, collaborate and learn. We connect innovators, industry and educators, therefore, AmplifyFE posts may include contributions with a commercial focus. AmplifyFE’s posts are included on the #altc blog to support networking, collaboration and sharing. For more information, please check AmplifyFE’s dedicated submission guidelines.

The #altc blog submission guidelines detail who can post and the type of posts accepted to this blog.

Three academic years have passed since the release of the ChatGPT. In this workshop I share the lessons learnt over nearly 2 academic years of implementing a set of general guiding principles designed for life science students on the responsible use of generative AI. The guidance is modelled on existing approaches to research integrity and plagiarism, framed in a way to demonstrate how to generative AI can support learning without undermining it. The focus is on encouraging healthy, sustainable behaviours through practical advice tailored to different course components. The workshop includes an interactive session where attendees will discuss particular types of learning activities and consider what sort of student interactions with generative AI might be considered as good practice, poor practice or misconduct. 

For this month’s blog profile, in celebration of CMALT Week 2025, we are excited to introduce Emily Armstrong, a passionate CMALT Assessor. We asked Emily a series of questions to gather her invaluable insights and experiences, aiming to provide guidance and inspiration for those embarking on their CMALT journey.

How has having a certified ALT membership impacted your career?

During my career, I’ve moved from being a Chartered Librarian to a Learning Technologist as jobs in libraries became more scarce. CMALT and my MSc in Technology-Enhanced Learning enabled me to build my skills and knowledge so as to be able to make this move.

What do you find exciting about working with learning technology?

I love problem solving and being able to help find a solution or fix something – the helpdesk side is my favourite part of my role. 

How did you first learn about CMALT? 

I first learned about CMALT when my role at Hull College expanded to cover eLearning as well as libraries and I was looking for a way to accredit my skills in this area.

What made you decide to become a CMALT Assessor? Why might other individuals consider it too? 

I first became a CMALT assessor when I worked in Further Education as I was aware there were only a few assessors with that background. However, I kept doing it because it is just really interesting! Anyone should consider doing a bit of assessing if they have the time as it is a fascinating way to see the different roles that make up the learning technologist community and to be inspired by the knowledge and ideas of a whole range of people.

What skills or attributes do you think are essential for success in learning technology today?

I feel the skills I learned in libraries continue to serve me well as a Learning Technologist – friendliness, responsiveness, teamwork, listening and asking the right questions as well as, of course, the more technical skills of trying out new technologies and possibly most important of all, not being afraid to break something…

Who has been the most influential person in your professional journey?

It is hard to pick a single person. A blog by James Gray from JISC made me realise that the issue with getting staff to try something new was not lack of time but lack of prioritisation. This later fed into my own MSc Research on digital competence vs digital confidence.

In terms of a person, my great friend Val Maybury at Hull College was probably the most influential as together I think we came up with the most influential tools I continue to use in my career – using a coaching approach to digital training, ‘Small Change Big Difference’ (bitesize drop-in training) and departmental digital champions.

What was the last thing you read or watched?

I am currently watching ‘Drive to Survive’ in preparation for the new Formula One season and reading a book by Stuart Maconie about the welfare state.

If you were on a deserted island, what is the one thing you would take?

Assuming I am not allowed to take my boyfriend (I think the rule is normally an inanimate object and he is not quite that!) – then I would go for my knitting needles as that is my favourite form of relaxation and a large quantity of wool (if I am lucky, it is a deserted Scottish island with sheep…).

We hope you enjoyed hearing from one of our CMALT Assessors. If Emily Armstrong has inspired you to start your professional development journey, explore registering as a CMALT candidate or register your interest to be a CMALT Assessor. Future profiles will feature colleagues involved with Special Interest and Members Groups, CMALT holders, ALT Members, Trustees, assessors, apprentices and ALT staff. If you are a current member of ALT and would be interested in featuring in an upcoming post or want to recommend someone members would be interested in hearing from, please contact us at blog@alt.ac.uk.