ALT

by Katie Stripe, Imperial College London.

This post is the fifth of a series based on the Animated Inclusive Personae (AIP) project. The posts so far have covered generating images, the language we use, representation of disability, and the deployment of these characters in specific outputs. One question that has come up numerous times when speaking about this project is about how these characters are created, where the stories come from, and how much input others have. It is a difficult question to answer because there is no defined process on how to create these characters. There are structural components, defined by the project, which give a level of uniformity to the output. These are based on UX design principles like those found on the Adobe Blog: Putting Personas to Work in UX Design. However as each persona, or set of personae, is made in collaboration with, and to meet the specific needs of, a certain department or project,it is necessary that the way they are developed will change, and the people that provide input will differ. Despite the varying circumstances, it is possible to split these into broad categories, as with previous posts I will describe these different scenarios using the personae characters.

The original characters that sparked this project were developed for an online, not-for-credit, self-enrolment course for postgraduate students. These original characters had a very simple role in the course which was to provide cohort specific examples. Christina (drawn by Ksenia) was one of the first characters to be created.

Christina Jai
Preferred name: Chris
Details: 24, from Medway, UK
Imperial Course: MSc Genes, Drugs and Stem Cells
Optional Modules: Attributes and Aspirations
Previous Education: BSc (Hons) Biological Sciences, University of Leeds, 1st
Tags: Home, PGT, FoM, LGBTQ+

She was developed as a user experience personae to help us identify the needs and motivations of those who would be taking the Attributes and Aspirations (AA) short course. This design session surfaced three archetypal students that we needed to cater for when designing our course. In a normal user design process, we would have used this as a resource on which to build out content. Instead, we decided to integrate these students into the course as pseudo peers, as a narrative instrument, and as a way of providing exemplar content. We created a fourth personae at this stage to make a deliberate effort at gender balance and this is what sparked the journey into Inclusive Personae.

As part of the AA course, we developed exemplar CVs for our students and were able to give them certain characteristics like religion, mental health problems, or in Chris’s case involvement in an LGBTQ+ society. Her main role as a character was to present exemplar content. However the subtle inclusion of her links to the LGBTQ+ community were enough to give the character some diversity and to show the community that we had considered them. The majority of her story, however, was around her career planning and this information we gained from subject experts in the careers service. Staff have a much broader knowledge of students’ motivations and frustrations from years of working with different cohorts. This makes them an extremely valuable human data source.

The second example of these personae is one which addresses common issues for a certain cohort of students. For example, Karl (drawn by Kate).

Karl Hassan
Details: 22 from Belfast, with Syrian parents
Imperial Course: BSc Biological Sciences
Optional Modules: Imperial Award
Job: Bike courier
Tags: Home, UG, Muslim

He was developed to help share information on issues specific to Muslim students. Much like the characters in post three who all share aspects of disability were created with the institution’s Disability Advisory Service, Karl was developed with our student service desk and student finance teams to help share information on the challenges that Muslim students face particularly around finance and student loans.

This story, again, comes from a human database of knowledge around what questions students ask around different situations and scenarios. The information that has been delivered through this persona however is not personal. Like the teaching content above it will get sense checked and validated by student groups, usually paid consultants, but the content is information that is readily available on the college webpages or on the wider web. The reason for presenting information in this way through the personae is twofold: Like Chris it shows underrepresented groups that we have thought of you and we want to cater for you. The additional layer here is that we also want to share information with the wider community (staff and students) which may help with cultural understanding, for example elements of Muslim law that restrict borrowing.

These two types of personae are simple to create and need limited input from the communities that they represent as their main function is simply to exist. As a creator, and as someone who cares about wide ranging visibility across the whole project this is comfortable and relatively safe, from an individual perspective. To this point, working with colleagues who are experts in their fields, we have reached a good place: Highlighting information or communities in a general way can often be done with minimal risk of causing offence and without necessarily requiring direct representation.

However, we can do more. We can tell more stories. But that is when it gets difficult, morally, and ethically, to do it well and to do it safely. To tell more personal stories we need to go to those communities and ask for the stories and that can be a burden on those people. We do not have all the answers on how to do this but we have some ideas, and some plans for the future. That is stage three, and characters like Karl, and the three students with disabilities will be part of that. We have ambition, and some colleagues in the student union who want to help us tell those stories so phase three, maybe, will be Flo (drawn by Mingke).

Jake Flockett
Preferred name: Flo
Details: 18 years old from London, UK
Imperial Course: MEng Mechanical Engineering
Optional Modules: Attributes and Aspirations
Clubs and Societies: Mech Eng Soc
Job: Part-time shift manager at his local Co-Op
Tags: Home, UG, full-time, FiF, commuter

I hope that we will be able to explore some stories about the difficulties faced by first in family students like Flo when it comes to institutional belonging and why they need to work alongside studying. These are important stories to tell, they combine the representation given by Chris, the element of cultural understanding that is seen with Karl, and the real, personal stories that we can tell without asking our students to take on too much of that emotional load. I don’t know how, or if it will work, but I am prepared to try in a way which makes sure our students, particularly those we want to represent, are safe, supported, and ultimately feel like they belong.

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

Please join us in welcoming Dr Emily Nordmann, Laura Milne, and

In the dynamic landscape of higher education, the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into learning has emerged as a transformative force, ushering in tailored, adaptive, and immersive educational experiences for undergraduate university students. This study employed a thematic analysis to scrutinize focus group discussions with 25 undergraduate participants majoring in English language at a university in Jordan to examine how these learners engage with AI-supported self-regulated learning. The findings revealed five prominent themes: accessibility and inclusivity, adaptive feedback mechanisms, impact on learning habits, technological proficiency and preparedness, and social dynamics in AI-infused learning. Within these themes, diverse student views were categorized according to Ab Rashid and Yunus’ (2016) framework of perception evaluation: the Avid Category (very positive perception), the Analytic Category (enthusiast but critical), the Anxious Category (enthusiast but with worries and fear), and the Agnostic Category (negative view). These varied views collectively reveal the profound implications of AI integration in reshaping the educational landscape. This study contributes to the discourse on AI in education by highlighting the importance of integrating AI tools with pedagogical approaches that foster independent learning and critical engagement. Recommendations include combining AI feedback with peer reviews and instructor guidance, enhancing digital literacy programs, and ensuring robust support measures. By addressing these areas, educational institutions can create more inclusive and effective AI-supported learning environments that cater to diverse student needs and promote a balanced approach to technology in education.

Subheading: 

OER25 will feature two compelling keynote sessions and an interactive plenary session, offering sharp critique, hopeful vision, and community-driven action for the future of open education. Explore the programme here. 

Join us online or face to face at the University of Stirling in the Jisc Interactive Classroom for our annual get-together. We'll hear updates from across the Scottish educator sector (ALT, Education Scotland, College Sector, Jisc, QAA Scotland), and there will be interactive sessions on blended learning, AI developments, and MOOCs and microcredentials. Those participating in person will get a demo of the Jisc learning lab and Stirling's approach to blended learning.

The M25 Spring meeting 2025 took place online on Monday 24 March 2025.

The agenda was open to contributions from the learning technology community resulting in a diverse agenda that covered a mix of tools, projects, reflections and ideas.

Project Managing as Educational Technologists

First up, Miranda Melcher, Matthew Green and Daniel Johnson-Mathison, from City St Georges, University of London, presented on her team’s support of an online and asynchronous MSc in Computer Science where students can enrol in the programme at any time. You can imagine the logistical challenges this creates. Miranda explained the importance of collaboration, constant communication, keeping checklists, and automated assessment to pulling this off. It was great to hear about the programme, which sounded both innovative and complex, and the coordination behind it. 

‘Fail we may. Sail we must’ Reflections on navigating social media use in higher education

Alex Spiers from Kings College London, spoke next, sharing his thoughts on the history of social media and what to do now given the recent tumultuous history of Twitter (X!). His message was that though things may be difficult; we must push on. Alex explored several alternatives to Twitter, such as Mastodon and Threads, but noted they typically have less users or limited interactions. Alex suggested that Bluesky was the most promising of the options, and although its numbers are small, this might mean that it can be more easily shaped to promote productive discourse. This was a moving personal and reflective talk and hopefully inspires us all to try to create ongoing and new social media communities. 

 Exploring the Microsoft Teams Webinar Tool in Higher Education: Is this one small step for an educator or one giant leap for education?

Next up, Manasa Panikkamparambil Manomohanan from London South Bank University (LSBU) presented on her project to move LSBU from MS Teams to MS Teams webinar. She outlined how LSBU previously relied on manually setting up Microsoft Teams for student classes, but this led to issues with a lack of registration data and reminders, and staff not receiving join links. Manasa outlined her role in supporting the move to Microsoft Teams Webinars to solve these issues.

LSBU has also automated the creation of these webinars saving time and energy. Manasa explained that when integrating technologies, we should always ask ourselves are we taking small steps or giant leaps? Whilst the shift from MS Teams to MS Teams Webinar sounds small, it’s clear that it has led to some significant benefits for staff and students. It always important to look out for these opportunities.

Pros and Cons to customising your VLE look and feel for online learning.

Finally, Annora Eyt-Dessus from King’s College London spoke on how universities often want to customise the look, feel and functionality of their Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) to support fully online students whilst maintaining an internal VLE for blended learning students. Customising the same VLE for these two sets of users with different needs can take many approaches, and Annora outlined two examples she had worked on.

The first approach taken at Bayes Business School was to build a custom Moodle theme which was then activated for users in specific courses. The theme was designed in house but developed by a third-party contractor as a child-theme of the public Moodle Snap theme. Whilst being positively received by users, there were challenges with maintaining the theme, transferring content between the external and internal VLEs, central support, contract tendering and costs to upgrade.

The second approach, taken at Kings College London, was to develop a design system in CSS and Javascript, which is added to a course manually through a hidden course block on Moodle. The design system is developed in house and informed by KCL’s UX team research. Whilst this approach can customise less than a theme, Annora explained that it is easier to maintain, and ensures the customisation can be managed and informed in house. In future, KCL wants to improve the speed and robustness of this approach and possibly create a plugin for the customisation.

You can watch the recording of the meeting to learn more.

The next meeting will be held on Thursday 17 July 2025, 2-5pm in person at Chancellors Hall, Senate House. The theme is Making Digital Life Better for International students in London. See you there!rnational students in London. See you there!

By Constance (Connie) Henry, Essential Skills Practitioner, Gower College Swansea

What is TechTober?:

TechTober is a free, month-long event that brings together educators and digital practitioners from Further Education (FE), Higher Education (HE), and Work-Based Learning (WBL). They make time in their schedules to share their favourite tools, ideas, and strategies for technology enhanced learning. 

This event was created and brought to fruition by Kirsty Ingelson from Kirklees College, to really create a community of sharing with one another instead of competing or gate keeping great tools and ideas. 

“ TechTober started with a simple idea: lots of us are doing great things, but we don’t always share them.”

Kirsty Ingelson

As soon as she mentioned the idea to me, I was on board as it was such an amazing idea!  I got about making a digital advertising book to showcase the event. Anyone who knows me, knows how often I use these multimedia books! (Side note- I’m doing a webinar about HeyZine Multimedia books on the 17th June with Amplify FE – click here to register and come along! If you are reading this after this after the live session you can catch up on the  Amplify FE YouTube Channel  and catch other great webinars!) It was a great way to showcase the involvement of everyone and advertise the event. I love the whole feel of TechTober, where people are genuinely happy to work together, supporting each other navigating the murky, ever-changing world of education! 

“I love people come together to help others, it ran so well with people taking bits of responsibility naturally, use their talents and strengths to pull off the event- I pull it together, but it doesn’t work without people agreeing to do sessions, helping market, and sharing their knowledge time and effort to do something for someone else- that continues to blow me away.”

Kirsty Ingelson

The sessions that run throughout October are a huge collective of webinars to help improve classroom engagement, streamline marking, planning, and communication, along with useful tools for educators. In this blog, we look back at last year’s TechTober, share the link to our recordings and resource book, and give a sneak peek at what’s coming up in 2025!

Looking back: What made TechTober 2024 so special

Last October, we launched TechTober as a way of highlighting, sharing, and celebrating great digital practice across the education sector. What started as a simple idea grew into a vibrant, month-long digital event that brought together contributors and attendees from FE, HE, and WBL settings across the UK.

“TechTober gives people a platform they might not usually get and helps build a community focused on embedding EdTech in a way that genuinely improves teaching, learning, and assessment. It doesn’t need to be a bolt-on we can do this better, together.”

Kirsty Ingelson

The aim was simple: to create an open, inclusive space where colleagues could freely share tools, tips and tricks that help them not only in the classroom, but also in streamlining processes, saving time, and improving outcomes. Whether it was making lesson planning more efficient, reducing workload around marking, or simplifying how we communicate with learners, TechTober showed that digital doesn’t have to be complicated to make a big impact!

Weekdays through October, we hosted live sessions, either early morning, lunchtime or after work, giving flexibility to those who wanted to join. These webinars spotlighted examples of digital tools being used to tackle real challenges. From interactive whiteboards to collaborative documents, accessible design to automated feedback systems and from AI tips to resource creations it was a feast of practical ideas.

What really stood out was the collaborative spirit of the event. Educators were generous with their time and expertise, creating a ripple effect where attendees not only gained inspiration but also felt empowered to try new approaches in their own settings.

Bringing the sectors together

One of the most powerful aspects of TechTober was the blending of voices from across the sectors. We had sharing of creative ways to use tools like Padlet, Multimedia books and Quizziz, showing how immersive experiences can support learning with BodySwaps and Immersive rooms, and ways to utilise AI effectively in in the classroom, creating resources, using with learners and supporting accessibility. It really had a great mix of topics and something for everyone.

This mix of perspectives was intentional and important. Too often, we work in silos. TechTober broke that down. By bringing together educators with different experiences but who shared goals, we were able to spark new conversations and highlight common challenges. Whether you’re in a college classroom, delivering remotely to a workplace, or supporting learners in a university lecture hall, the threads of digital innovation, inclusion, and efficiency link us all.

Recordings, summaries and connections – All in one place

If you missed any of the live sessions, or want to revisit your favourites, you can find everything in our TechTober 2024 Webinar Recordings Book

 This digital collection includes:

• Recordings of sessions
• Resource links
• Summaries of sessions
• LinkedIn profiles from our contributors 
• Information on current projects to get in touch
• Ideas for how to take the next step in your own setting

It’s freely available and we encourage you to share it widely within your networks.

What we’ve learnt

While the sessions themselves were brilliant, we also gained valuable insight from the event overall. Here are just a few of the key takeaways:

• Digital doesn’t mean complicated – Sometimes the smallest tools make the biggest difference. Several contributors shared how a single app or shortcut had transformed a time-consuming task into something manageable.
• We all benefit from sharing – People appreciated the honesty of the presenters, many shared any struggles they had with tools and what worked. That realness helped others feel more confident to give things a try.
• Collaboration is key – Bringing people together across institutions and sectors generated ideas that simply wouldn’t have emerged in isolation.
• The appetite for this kind of space is huge – Feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with many saying they’d never attended anything quite like it: informal, practical, and full of ideas they could use straight away.

Looking Ahead: TechTober 2025

The great news? TechTober will be back in 2025!

We’re already working on plans to make this year’s event even better, with more opportunities to contribute, connect, and collaborate.

We’ll be bringing in fresh themes based on last year’s feedback, including:

• Digital tools for learner engagement
• Supporting wellbeing through technology
• Using AI responsibly and effectively
• Simple solutions to reduce marking and admin overload
• Creating accessible, inclusive learning spaces

Once again, we’ll be drawing on the strengths of FE, HE, and WBL colleagues to lead the way.

We have announced our call for contributors on LinkedIn so if you have a tool, idea, or digital success story to share, we’d love to hear from you. Whether you’re confident in presenting or would prefer to submit a recorded piece, there’s a space for everyone at TechTober.

Get Involved

Please fill out the TechTober Application Form for the chance to be involved. We’re aiming to cover a broad range of topics, so while we welcome all applications, there may be some overlap in the tools or themes suggested. If that’s the case and we’re unable to offer everyone a slot, we’ll be in touch to explore whether there’s an alternative session you could lead. Deadline for contributors is the 30th of June. 

Explore the TechTober Book and share it with your colleagues, we want to be able to share information, ideas and wins with everyone, they may not even be in education but can still benefit from the recordings!

Keep up with updates – follow us on LinkedIn:

• Kirsty Ingelson https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirsty-ingleson-250bb3133/ 
• Constance Henry https://www.linkedin.com/in/constance-h-26277b209/  

TechTober was designed to be a space where people could come together, learn from each other, and walk away with something practical. Thanks to your energy, creativity, and willingness to share, it’s grown into something much more!

We can’t wait to see what TechTober 2025 brings!

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.

By the Digital Assessment SIG

 A summary of the Digital Assessment SIG Webinar that was held online on 25 March 2025.

1. Dr. Seda Battiliani from University of Edinburgh discussing “Designing Inclusive Digital Assessments with Scenario-Based Learning.” 

2. Professor Samantha Pugh from University of Leeds – Enabling Competency-based and Programmatic Assessment using Digital Platforms 

3. Ben Atkinson from University of Nottingham speaking on “Facilitating Student Choice in Assessment Task in Moodle with the School of Psychology” 

Dr. Seda Battiliani: Designing inclusive digital Assessments with Scenario-Based Learning

Dr Seda Battiliani from the University of Edinburgh presented about how they revamped a course which was expected to grow from 45 students to 400 students. The course initially had an essay based assessment but the growing number of students and the need for the course to promote collaboration, needed changes in the assessment methods. From an initial assessment idea that was to get students to interact with AI chat bots, they developed it to include particular AI personas that students needed to interact with, to come up with solution(s) to set problem tasks.

The personas were created in Storyline and designed by Seda using the Edinburgh Language Model (ELM). Seda explains how she came up with and improved on the prompts to create various specific and expert personas and how she used the constraints of the learning activities and the help of AI to hone them. She also notes how interacting with AI in the persona creation helped her, including, encouraging her to consider aspects she previously didn’t think about and also the speed in which she could test out various scenarios in a practical and reasonable pace.

She explains practical steps taken to develop a prototype for this assessment.

She concluded that she used AIs ability to help analyze large amounts of information, run tests, troubleshoot, and compare scenarios but stressed that the starting point for using AI in assessments should be grounded in pedagogical expertise.

Enabling Competency-based and Programmatic Assessment using Digital Platforms

Professor Samantha Pugh from Leeds university spoke of how they completely revamped their physics programme during an institution wide curriculum refinement. Her session describes how they successfully transformed their method of assessment as part of this initiative.

The previous assessment included low stakes coursework and high stakes exams.  With these, students who appeared to be doing well throughout the year would do very poorly in the final exam. She pointed out also that students could still pass the course having serious gaps in their knowledge because of the set pass mark of 40%.

The new approach focuses on threshold-based assessment, which they called “vitals” (Verifiable Indicators of Threshold Abilities and Learning). They made it possible for each vital to be assessed multiple times throughout the course. This made it possible for students to achieve all vitals at least once to pass. Students who meet all vitals are guaranteed the set pass mark of 40%. Grading assessments at the end of the year allow for differentiation after the pass mark.

They implemented the quizzes using Mobius, an assessment platform that supports mathematical expressions and variable-based questions, creating a large number of question variants. They also used an in house-built vitals website to track student progress. Throughout the course, as the students take their quizzes in Mobius, the vitals website shows which vitals have been passed and provides a comprehensive overview for students as well as tutors.

Samantha touched on some of the challenges they had with the new method which were related to module size not being compatible with program-level design, also redefining how resitting this method of assessment works with the student record systems. But they were able to overcome these with clever workarounds and very supportive colleagues.

In conclusion she mentioned that the changes ensured that all students can meet all learning outcomes, it removed high stakes assessments and provided more opportunities for success. She said the technology enabled students to pace their learning and continue attempting assessments until they succeed.

Facilitating Student Choice in Assessment Task in Moodle with the School of Psychology

Ben Atkinson described how he worked with colleagues to introduce a new activity type to Moodle at the University of Nottingham called Group Choice. This activity facilitates student engagement in their choice of assessment topic. It was used in pilot form in the School of Psychology in Autumn 2024-25. In the pilot, some flexibility was already available with a range of questions which allowed students to align the assessment with their personal individual learning style. 

However, the problem was how to deliver choice effectively inside Moodle whilst minimising manual intervention.

The solution developed not only addressed this problem through a streamlined combination of group choice and release conditions, but reduced the administrative burden on staff, and at the same time improved their ability to monitor extenuating circumstances. 

An additional benefit of the process is that automated marking groups are created to aid academic colleagues in their marking and feedback for large cohorts in Moodle and Turnitin assignments. 

Ben outlined how the activity has many versatile applications within teaching and learning, but essentially at its core, it provides the ability for students to enrol themselves into a group or groups which have previously been set up on the module. 

Ben described how, through the combined use of group choice and release conditions, powerful automated processes were achieved, dramatically improving the student experience while at the same time reducing the administrative overhead for the teaching team. 

Finally, he outlined how the method could be used in other contexts, for example by creating groups for sub-topics within the module, so that students could opt-in to a specific pathway.  Moodle’s conditional release functionality combined with the Group Choice activity could be used to ensure that certain topics within a Moodle module are only visible to relevant groups. In this way, whole sections of content could be made available only to students who had opted-in to the relevant topic via the Group Choice activity, a level of personalisation that could benefit students without staff needing to manually intervene.

For this month’s blog profile, we’re excited to feature Zoe Tierney, winner of the ALT Award for Use of Technology in Vocational Education, in partnership with Ufi VocTech Trust in 2024. Zoe shares her inspiring journey, highlighting her achievements and insights that led to her winning an ALT Award. By sharing her experiences, Zoe sheds light on the significance of the ALT Awards in adopting progress and acknowledging the visionaries driving change.

What do you find exciting about working with learning technology?

What excites me most about working with learning technology is how it can create meaningful, even emotional, learning experiences, particularly when the technology goes beyond screens and software. The CRDL (pronounced ‘cradle’) is a perfect example of this. It brings together innovation, human connection, and therapeutic engagement in a way I hadn’t seen before. Technology like this allows us to reimagine what learning looks and feels like, especially in areas like healthcare, where empathy and communication are just as important as knowledge and technical skill.

What inspired you to enter the ALT Awards 2024? 

We entered the ALT Awards to share our journey with the CRDL and celebrate how something so unique was having a significant impact in the classroom—and more importantly, in real-life care environments. The CRDL allowed learners in healthcare to experience and understand dementia care in a deeply human way, enhancing their empathy, confidence, and emotional intelligence. But it also sparked curiosity across other curriculum areas—sparking interest in creative arts, SEND provision, and pastoral support. We felt this cross-disciplinary potential, combined with its emotional and educational impact, made the story worth sharing.

What would be your best advice for someone considering entering the ALT Awards 2025, particularly from within further education like yourself? 

My advice would be: don’t underestimate the value of what you’re doing just because it’s different or specific to FE. The ALT Awards aren’t just about large-scale systems; they celebrate innovation that makes a difference. If you’re using technology in a way that connects with learners, improves practice, or starts new conversations—write it up. Let your context be your strength and don’t wait for perfection—impact happens in many forms.

Can you share any tips on how to effectively communicate and evidence the impact of your work in an ALT Award submission?

Tell a clear story. Start with the ‘why’—what gap were you trying to fill or what challenge were you addressing? With the CRDL, we focused on the lack of emotionally immersive learning in dementia education. We then demonstrated the difference it made, not just through anecdotal feedback, but also by showing how it influenced learner confidence, tutor delivery, and wider curriculum development. Use quotes, pictures, lesson observations, or reflections from learners—they bring the story to life and demonstrate real-world outcomes.

How has winning the ALT Award impacted your career or professional journey?

Winning the ALT Award has brought wider recognition to the work we’re doing—not just for me personally, but for the team and college as a whole. It’s validated our belief that digital innovation isn’t just about devices or platforms—it’s about thoughtful implementation. The award has opened doors for new partnerships and encouraged others across the college to think creatively about how specialist tools like the CRDL could be adapted into their own teaching practice. For me, it’s reinforced the importance of continuing to lead and advocate for purposeful digital change.

What’s the best prize or award you’ve ever won, whether in your personal life or professional career?

Professionally, the ALT Award definitely tops the list, it was a moment that acknowledged not just a single project but the demonstration of commitment to improving digital learning in FE. Personally, I’d say any moment where a learner or colleague has thanked me for helping them see things differently – that’s always been the most meaningful reward.

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

A solar-powered journal and audio recorder. I’d want a way to reflect, create, and record stories, because even on a deserted island, learning and connection still matter.

We hope you enjoyed hearing from the chair of the ALT Award winners from 2024, Zoe Tierney. You can learn more about her journey to winning the prestigious award in her blog post: My Journey with the CRDL and Winning the Ufi VocTech Award. If she has inspired you to enter this year’s Awards, make sure to submit by 14 July 2025. Learn more about the Awards and how to enter here. 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.

The draft programme for the OER25 Conference is now available. Join us this summer on 23 and 24 June 2025 in London. Explore the sessions, discover key speakers, and start planning your experience - view the programme here. 

Join us on Tuesday, 15 July 2025, for a half-day workshop designed specifically for education professionals with an interest in learning technology.

The ALT Awards 2025 are officially open for entries from Tuesday, 20 May 2025. Since their inception in 2007, these prestigious awards have celebrated excellence in Learning Technology. Now in their 19th year, the awards continue to set a national benchmark, attracting competitive entries from across the UK and beyond. 

By Jane Secker, Associate Professor in Educational Development and co-chair of the ALT Copyright and Online Learning SIG

This post is written by Jane Secker, Associate Professor in Educational Development and co-chair of the ALT Copyright and Online Learning SIG. Jane reflects on the work of the CoOL SIG over the past 4 years and how their group aims to help build more confidence in copyright matters in the learning technology community.

The ALT CoOL SIG was created around 4 years ago, largely on the back of the Copyright and Online Learning webinar series that Chris Morrison and I started during the Covid-19 pandemic. The webinars were an attempt to support the community during a difficult time where institutions had pivoted to online learning and were grappling with many challenges. As copyright was our area of expertise, we hoped that we might share our knowledge to at least help reassure people that with all the scary stuff going on, copyright shouldn’t be a barrier to education continuing. After nearly a year of running the webinars, ALT suggested we set up a special interest group and the CoOL SIG was born.

Our group acts as a community of practice to share knowledge about copyright. Much of the copyright expertise lies in the library community, so we are an open group and delighted to have learning technologists and librarians as members, as well as copyright specialists. we have been really pleased to see the ongoing interest in attending our webinars – last Friday we ran our 77th webinar! And this was the 5th edition of a series of webinars we’ve done called ‘Becoming a Copyright Specialist’ where people in our field share their stories about why they got interested in copyright and insights from their work. It was great to be joined by Christine Daoutis, UCL, Irene Barranco-Gracia (Imperial) and my colleague Kathryn Drumm (City St George’s) who is an educational technologist and also Secretary of the CoOL SIG. Kathryn’s talk may be of particular interest to learning technologists as she explained how she doesn’t view herself as a copyright specialist, but has enough knowledge to support academic colleagues and also embed some copyright literacy into the training she offers.  We record all our webinars, so if you’ve ever missed one you can catch up on the ALT YouTube channel and last Friday’s was no exception and is available online.

Beyond the webinars, the CoOL SIG committee meet 4 times a year online and have a wide range of interests, with sub-groups looking at topics such as Copyright and Accessibility and also copyright education. However, the other event the group supports, is the Icepops conference. While this conference was founded by Chris and I in 2017, we do try and make our work sustainable and we now have support from the CILIP Information Literacy Group and ALT to enable this one day event to take place at as low a cost as possible. We find online meetings and webinars are fine, but copyright folks love to get together and share their passion, and also have a bit of a party too! This year Icepops 2025 will be taking place at the University of Manchester John Rylands Research Institute and Library from 9-10 September in what we call a ‘Pocket Edition’ format. This means, it’s a half day event, but if you want to extend your stay we have an evening social and tours.

Our keynote speaker will be Monica Westin, Associate Director, Content and Discovery, Library and Cultural Services at Manchester Metropolitan University. Monica has held roles at Google and the Internet Archive and we know she will provide some fascinating insights into the interesting times we are living through. We will also be joined by Mat Bancroft, Curator at the British Pop Archive, John Rylands Research Institute and Library.

The call for papers is now open until Monday 9th June and the conference theme is “Copyright, safe spaces and sanctuary” with the following sub-themes:

·         Reflection, empathy and emotion

·         Long term thinking and planning for the future

·         Building and supporting communities

·         Supporting and nurturing others

·         Finding joy in your work

We are always keen to have new members involved in the CoOL SIG, and you can sign up for mailing list and receive our the regular newsletter that our Comms team put together. We share topical ‘copyright news’ and it ensures you never miss a webinar! I really enjoy being the co-chair of this group and over the past 5 years I’ve really enjoyed seeing how a copyright community of practice works in practice. There is always more to do, and I’m looking forward to presenting some findings from recent research that Chris and I conducted with Amanda Wakaruk, on ‘Copyright Anxiety’ and how it impacts on higher education. That’s the topic of our next webinar scheduled for the 13th June at 3pm. I hope to see you there.

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.

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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