ALT

We're excited to share that we have several trustee roles available in 2025. As set out in our constitution, some of these roles will be filled by appointment and some will be decided by elections.  All successful candidates will take up their positions at the Annual General Meeting in October 2025. If you're passionate about shaping our future, this is your chance to get involved and make a difference.
 

This online conference picks up where OER25 left off, offering a chance to revisit key themes and continue the conversations that shaped this year’s event. Taking place on 16 September, the programme brings together practitioners, researchers and policy-makers from across sectors to explore what’s next for open education.

Themes from OER25, including equity and social justice, open practice during times of change, and the politics of openness in the age of AI, remain at the heart of this event. Whether you joined us at OER25 or are new to the community, this is an opportunity to reflect, share your work and connect with others working in open education.

The conference will be held entirely online, with a mix of live sessions, discussions and opportunities to engage with presenters and participants throughout the day. All sessions will be recorded and made available to registered attendees.

Tickets are available now. We look forward to welcoming you.

We know it’s a busy time of year, so we’re giving you a bit more breathing room. The deadline for the ALTC25 call for proposals has been extended by a week. You now have until Sunday, 20 July to get your submissions in for consideration for the event.

The Call for Proposals for this year's ALT Annual Conference is closing soon on Sunday, 13 July 2025.

Traditional teaching methods in Aircraft Maintenance Technology (AMT) often struggle to maintain student engagement, motivation, and knowledge retention. While gamification has been recognised as a potential solution, its application in AMT education remains underexplored, particularly in bridging theoretical knowledge with practical skill acquisition. This study investigates the effectiveness of Kahoot-based gamification in enhancing student engagement, motivation, knowledge retention, and practical skills development. A mixed-methods approach was employed, integrating quantitative surveys, pre- and post-assessments, and qualitative interviews with students and instructors. The study assessed 120 participants, revealing statistically significant improvements: engagement increased by 43.8%, motivation by 55.2%, knowledge retention by 41.2%, and practical skills by 51.6%. Qualitative findings supported these results, with students reporting higher participation, improved concept recall, and greater enthusiasm. Instructors observed enhanced confidence in applying theoretical knowledge. Despite these benefits, challenges such as internet connectivity issues, time constraints, and question format limitations were identified. The study recommends a blended learning approach integrating gamification with hands-on training, scenario-based exercises, and emerging technologies such as Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality. Beyond AMT, these findings highlight gamification’s potential in technical and vocational education, emphasising the need for future research on adaptive gamification models and AI-driven learning platforms.

For this study, 350 university students in Germany were surveyed to understand how they perceive ChatGPT’s educational advantages and challenges. Using a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods, it found out that students tend to see ChatGPT as helpful for academic performance (53.14%), writing (47.14%), and exam preparation (50.00%). Nonetheless, a large majority of people expressed doubt regarding its ability to understand queries (61.72%), reliability (52.29%), privacy (52.57%), bias (47.43%), security (55.14%) and displaced jobs (56.29%). These concerns were reinforced by open ended responses, which showed that attitudes towards AI can be based on factors such as a person’s digital literacy and their experience with AI. In the study, the researchers propose a need to incorporate AI education into curricula in order to teach students to critically assess AI- generated content and to identify biases. Moreover, it suggests setting ethical standards that AI systems need to meet such as accuracy, security, and transparency. Perspectives between cultures vary, and require the teacher to conduct more global research, and approach teaching context specifically. The overarching goal is to promote the thoughtful, ethical, and context-aware integration of AI into educational practices worldwide.

Entries for the 2025 ALT Awards are closing soon.

Thomas Pocklington Trust’s (TPT) latest ‘Give Me Access to College; report reveals that blind and partially sighted students continue to face significant barriers in accessing specialist vision impairment (VI) support in post 16 education. Despite efforts to reform education for students with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). Further Education (FE) continues to be overlooked, and unacceptable gaps remain limiting opportunities for young people with a VI.

This report revisits our earlier findings, ‘Give Me Access to College’ and highlights the urgent need for targeted reforms. We call on the Government to ensure that blind and partially sighted young people are included in the SEND improvement agenda, with consistent support, training, and access to a full range of post 16 pathways.

We request your support and encourage you to take action by sending a letter to your MP, you can help encourage positive change for blind and partially sighted young people. It’s quick, simple and it can lead to real change.

Read our full report here, and send the letter to your MP

You can also read our LinkedIn blog  written by Krupali Parshotam, sharing her experiences of college as a blind and partially sighted person.

If you would like to learn more about our work, then sign up for our Education Newsletter. Or if you would like a more in-depth conversation, contact us at educationpolicy@pocklington.org.uk

Webinar leader: Karishma Punwani

Many maths learners find it difficult to connect with abstract course content, and as a result, not only do they struggle to learn the material, but they can also become demotivated, anxious, and disengaged. Fortunately, learning technologies for maths make lessons much more "touchable", visual, and relevant, offering an effective means of engaging and motivating students, deepening their understanding of fundamental concepts, and reinforcing learning through practice.

In this session, we’ll explore some of the ways interactive maths technology can be used effectively in the classroom, from illuminating visualisations to interactive, learner-led activities that naturally foster investigation, collaboration, and discussion. Demonstrations will be done using Maple Learn, the online maths tool from Maplesoft, with examples taken from the A-Level and GCSE content collections, which conform to the AQA and Pearson exam specifications. These collections make it easy for educators to deliver engaging, interactive maths experiences to their learners through the use of customisable content created to meet the specific needs of their class.

Details to be announced shortly 

Following the conclusion of OER25 in London this week, we are pleased to invite submissions for our upcoming online conference, “Speaking Truth to Power: Open Edu

The Research in Learning Technology (RLT) journal is delighted to welcome its newly appointed Editor-in-Chief, Professor Peter Bryant, and Deputy Editor-in-Chief, Dr. Erika Corradini. These appointments mark an exciting new chapter for the journal as it continues to advance research and scholarship in digital learning.

The Fundamentals of Copyright in Learning Technology Workshop is just around the corner. Join us on Tuesday, 15 July 2025, from 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM for a dynamic and practical session tailored for education professionals working with digital tools and content.

Join Jane Secker and Chris Morrison, who will be discussing copyright and audiovisual works with their collaborator and friend, Bart Meletti, who is working on his PhD at CREATe at the University of Glasgow. Together the three of them produced the Code of Fair Practice for Film Educators issued in 2023. We will catch up on where we are with audiovisual works and what the needs of the sector are as many of us rely increasingly on streaming platforms.

Details to be announced shortly. Save the date for the next ALT Online Conference, expanding on the theme discussed at OER25. 

The integration of generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools, such as ChatGPT and DALL-E, presents transformative opportunities and challenges for K-12 education. This mixed-methods study investigates educators’ perceptions, familiarity, and preparedness for AI adoption, as well as institutional strategies and barriers. Quantitative findings indicate strong relationships between AI familiarity, perceived readiness, and institutional planning stages. Qualitative analysis highlights challenges such as insufficient professional development, ethical concerns, and infrastructural inequities, alongside opportunities for enhancing personalised learning and operational efficiency. The findings underscore the need for targeted training, equitable resource access, and clear institutional policies to ensure effective and ethical AI integration. This research offers actionable insights for educators, policymakers, and leaders seeking to navigate AI’s potential in K-12 education.

As we do every year, we are collecting links to blog posts and resources for and about the conference. If you’d like to add yours, please share it on social media with #OER25 or email enquiries@alt.ac.uk.

We also encourage you to share your conference feedback.

• Blog: OER25 – Stepping back and speaking truth to power, Lorna Campbell
• Blog: From OER25 to Reclaim Open 25, Maren Deepwell
• Howard Scott’s powerful open access paper from his session, “Sumud as Connected Learning: Towards a Collective Digital Commons in Palestine”. Shared by Kate Malloy
•  Resources from workshop, ‘Fighting the good fight – go rogue or go home’. Shared by Kate Malloy
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Join us at this year’s ALT Annual Conference in Glasgow, taking place on Thursday 23 and Friday 24 October, will explore the following theme: ‘Stronger Foundations, Broader Horizons’. 
In a time marked by uncertainty, complexity, and rapid digital change, purposeful action matters more than ever. ALTC25 will provide a space to reflect on how robust digital foundations can empower more expansive, inclusive, and imaginative possibilities for education. We hope to see you there.

The Sixth edition of Icepops (Icepops 2025) is happening – as another Pocket Edition (meaning on a slightly smaller, but no less inspiring or fun, scale). Icepops will take place at John Rylands Research Institute and Library, University of Manchester on Tuesday 9th September and Wednesday 10th September 2025. The main conference will start mid morning on 9th September and include an evening social. The ALT CoOL SIG AGM will take place on the morning of Wednesday 10th September and we’ll be arranging tours of British Pop Archive at the University of Manchester.

Our confirmed keynote speaker is Monica Westin, Associate Director at Manchester Metropolitan University. The programme will be published in July 2025 and include lightning talks and a world cafe. 

Learn more.

Register here: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/cilipinformationliteracygroup/1699906

Since 2021, ALT has hosted 30 CPD Webinars, with more than 40 ALT Members sharing their knowledge on key topics in learning technology. Now, we’re calling for more presenters to keep these engaging and valuable sessions going.

For this month’s blog profile, we are excited to introduce the chair of the revived ALT Wales/Cymru member group, Elizabeth Jones. She shares the group’s plans and focus for the coming year, providing insights into what members can look forward to from this dynamic and forward-thinking group.

How has being a member of ALT impacted your career?

In lots of ways, big and small. For example, just being on the ALT Jisc mailing list is a regular source of information, ideas, and news from across the sector. I’ve also been able to attend the ALT Conference a few times, which was truly amazing when I was new to the sector and got to see the range of work being done by colleagues at other institutions and get feedback on my own work. Most significantly I think was getting my CMALT. Once that was on my CV, I felt so much more confident applying for roles as it evidenced my experience really strongly. 

What do you find exciting about working with learning technology?

I love that it’s such a dynamic field, there’s always more to learn about. 

What inspired you to get involved with the ALT Wales/Cymru member group? How can other members get involved? 

I was inspired by a chat with a colleague from another Welsh HE institution when we were both at a conference. Our universities use different VLEs and other tools but we faced so many of the same issues. We wanted a forum where we could discuss them and wondered what had become of the old ALT Wales/Cymru/Cymru group. I contacted ALT to ask about it and coincidentally they were about to put out an open call for people interested in restarting it. The rest, as they say, is history! 

If you’re interested in joining the group and to keep up to date with the news and events, subscribe to the ALT-Wales mailing list. Our first coffee and chat meeting will be on Thursday 3 July, 10 – 11 AM, where we will be exploring AI and Welsh language.

What are the key plans and initiatives that ALT Wales/Cymru will focus on this year?
This year, we’re focusing on getting the word out that we’re back and then finding out what issues and themes are important to our members. We want the group to support members working in Wales/Cymru as we’re often governed by different regulations and educational frameworks than colleagues in England. Obviously the Welsh Language is a big one! How various tools work in a bilingual environment and what we need to do to ensure compliance and promote the use of Welsh. 

Can you share a memorable moment or achievement during your time as an ALT Member?
Presenting at ALT for the first time many years ago. I was so nervous to present at such a big conference but everyone was super supportive and interested in what we were saying. I now love encouraging new members of my team to do the same and being able to offer them that opportunity is one of my favourite things. 

What was the last thing you read or watched?

I’ve just finished the new series of Severance. I thoroughly recommend it. 

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

As many books as I can carry! 

We hope you enjoyed hearing from the chair of the ALT Wales/Cymru member group, Elizabeth Jones. If she has inspired you to get involved with ALT Wales/Cymru, join the group and keep up to date with the news and events, subscribe to the ALT-Wales/Cymru mailing list. If you would like to get involved in the organisation of the Group and its activities, let us know by expressing an interest.

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.