#CMALTcMOOC 2020 call for participation

Are you interested in gaining international accreditation for your experience and expertise in integrating technology in teaching and learning? The Certified Member of the Association for Learning Technology (CMALT) provides peer reviewed recognition aligned with the UK higher education professional standards framework. The Melbourne Centre for the Study of Higher education at the University of Melbourne are hosting a cMOOC (connectivist Massive Open Online Course) to support academics and allied staff develop portfolios for CMALT accreditation, and facilitate an experience of participating in a global network of higher education professionals. The 2020 CMALT cMOOC starts 14th September and will run for 7 weeks. The cMOOC is completely free and is aimed at participants sharing experiences as they explore developing CMALT eportfolios, and building their professional academic online profiles.

The 2020 iteration of the #CMALTcMOOC launches with an introductory Webinar on 14th September 9:30am AEST – Australia time (11:30am 14th September, New Zealand time; 10:30pm 13th September UK time). Join us over 7 weeks as we explore the elements of a CMALT ePortfolio within an international support network.

The Weekly Webinar – you will be emailed the Webinar link after Signing Up.

Put the calendar event in your calendar.

What is CMALT?

More info at:

#CMALTcMOOC Week7: Future Plans & Feedback

This week we cover an overview of digital publishing formats and CMALT portfolio submission requirements. We hope you have enjoyed your participation in #CMALTcMOOC 2019, and although the 7 weeks finishes at the end of this week, this is just the beginning for the community that has been established! We hope that you now have an understanding of what is required for producing a CMALT portfolio, and encourage you to continue working on developing and sharing your portfolios. You are invited to further PD activities such as

You are also invited to take part in a final participant survey to give us feedback. This week we will also host our final Participant Hangout reflecting upon their CMALT cMOOC experience.

cMOOC Feedback Invitation:

We want to get your feedback on how we can improve #CMALTcMOOC. We have an information sheet, consent form, and online survey for your feedback. Also, if you are willing to let us use your CMALT portfolio as an example there is also a portfolio showcase opt-in. The links are:

Info Sheet: http://bit.ly/1XywKQ5

Consent Form: http://bit.ly/26bPN4B

Survey: https://goo.gl/forms/cDhKGbGbudf221312

Portfolio showcase option: http://goo.gl/forms/J629u943tGsM4OGy2

Future Plans

Remember to check out the growing list of examples for the CMALT Portfolio sections in the Project Bank at https://cmaltcmooc.mosomelt.org/project-bank/

While the “Future Plans” section is not assessed you must complete it. This can be as detailed as you like. The purpose of this is to help you plan for your professional development; it will also be useful when preparing to meet your continuing professional development requirement to remain in good standing.

This week we will also look at an overview of digital publishing formats suitable for an ePortfolio to be submitted for CMALT accreditation. Portfolios can be submitted for review by three different dates throughout the year: 31 January, 31 May, and 30 September https://www.alt.ac.uk/certified-membership/submitting-portfolio

CMALT ePortfolio Examples

A list of Australasian CMALT holders can be found at: http://ascilite.org/get-involved/cmalt/

Example AUT CMALT portfolios

#CMALTcMOOC Week6: Choosing a Specialisation

This week we explore participants’ individual areas of specialisation in learning technologies . Use the Project Bank https://cmaltcmooc.mosomelt.org/project-bank/ to share a Blog post or VODCast describing an area of specialisation in the use of technology in teaching and learning relevant to your context.

Join us for a webinar discussion 9:30am Friday (NZ time) where participants can discuss and share their specialisations.

Reflect upon why you have chosen this specialisation?

Comment on one another’s PODCasts or VODCasts giving feedback.

As well as the core areas, CMALT candidates are required to demonstrate evidence of independent practice in one or more specialist options. This reflects the fact that, although there are common areas of work for learning technologists, practice is extremely diverse and everyone specialises in something different.

Your specialist topic should reflect an area where you have particular expertise. This may be unique to you or common across your team, but goes beyond what would be expected as standard activity.

In describing your specialist option you should refer to the CMALT principles and values:

  1. A commitment to exploring and understanding the interplay between technology and learning.
  2. A commitment to keep up to date with new technologies.
  3. An empathy with and willingness to learn from colleagues from different backgrounds and specialist options.
  4. A commitment to communicate and disseminate effective practice.
Because these are specialist options you should be clear what makes your work distinct from common practice;, for example: many people teach on online courses, but designing and delivering fully online courses requires specific skills and would be considered specialist. . Similarly, many teachers provide blended learning, but developing and sharing guidelines for such practice or working with a distinctive blend of contexts might distinguish your work as specialist. It may be that your specialist option is common amongst the group that you work in as you all work in a similar area; that is perfectly acceptable.Evidence for your specialist activity is likely to be very specific but could include: reports, papers or presentations you have written; this could be backed up by a job description plus written statements supporting your specialist knowledge from colleagues, clients or managers; active membership of professional or other bodies; certificates of completion of specialist training programmes or courses.

#CMALTcMOOC Week5: Collaboration & Communication

Collaboration and communication are key attributes for educators and our graduates. Laurillard et al., (2013) emphasise the benefits of collaborative curriculum design and the role of modelling collaboration and communication skills to our students. Weaver et al., (2012) also argue for the value of collaborative research to improve teaching practice. The fourth core area of a CMALT portfolio requires CMALT candidates to demonstrate their knowledge and skills in communication through evidence and reflection upon working with others.

Use the Project Bank to share examples of how you collaborate with your peers – this could be an interactive Google Map of research presentations or a team project, an online Community forum, a social media hashtag, a Twitter ‘Moment’ of a collaborative event, etc… Also a reminder to create an ORCID profile and share it with the #CMALTcMOOC Moodle Forum Community if you have not yet done so at http://orcid.org

For example, you can find a collection of ORCIDs from the ASCILITE Mobile Learning Special Interest Group at https://ascilitemlsig.wordpress.com/member-orcid-portfolios/

You can also find example collaborative SOTEL research clusters at https://sotel.nz/groups/

Join us for another group Webinar via Zoom for a live discussion this Friday 9:30am NZ time – the archived Webinars on YouTube are another form of evidence of “Collaboration”!

Hints:

In your CMALT portfolio: Evidence statements could describe the way in which your work involves collaboration, for example through participation in a team or acting as an interface to other groups.

Relevant evidence would include reflection on collaborations with others, reports outlining your activity within a team process, how you have brokered support for a particular initiative (for example from a technical or legal support service) or how you have worked with others to solve problems. Where your evidence involved collaboration, please acknowledge the contribution of others. You may also chose to discuss how you select appropriate forms of communication. Think how some of the tools we have explored throughout #cmaltcmooc could be used to provide evidence of communication and collaboration – for example a collaborative video of you and your peers discussing an issue relevant to a course, or an archived YouTube Hangout On Air with a guest lecturer or a working group, etc…

References:

Laurillard, D., Charlton, P., Craft, B., Dimakopoulos, D., Ljubojevic, D., Magoulas, G., . . . Whittlestone, K. (2013). A constructionist learning environment for teachers to model learning designs. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 29(1), 15-30. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2729.2011.00458.xdoi:10.1111/j.1365-2729.2011.00458.x

Weaver, D., Robbie, D., Kokonis, S., & Miceli, L. (2012). Collaborative scholarship as a means of improving both university teaching practice and research capability. International Journal for Academic Development, 18(3), 237-250. doi:10.1080/1360144x.2012.718993

#CMALTcMOOC Week4: Exploring the wider context

This weeks suggested activity includes a Blog post or VODCast discussing legislation, policies and standards, and exploring the wider impact of alternative research metrics Altmetrics and the Scholarship of Technology Enhanced Learning SOTEL.

We will discuss these issues in our weekly Friday Webinar.

Create and share via the Project Bank a Blog post as an embedded audio PODCast or VODCast (Video PODCast) discussing legislation, policies and standards that impact upon the use of educational technologies.

Comment and provide feedback to other participants Blog posts on the wider context.

You could use an audio or video streaming mobile App to create and share either an audio PODCast, or video via YouTube, Vimeo, or Periscope for example to create and share a VODCast. There are several simple video capture and sharing Apps that you could use on your Phone, such as Clips on iPhone, or Adobe Premier Clip for iOS and Android.

In exploring the wider context CMALT candidates should demonstrate their awareness of and engagement with wider issues that inform their practice.

Candidates must cover at least one legislative area and either a second legislative area or a policy area. That is you need to cover a minimum of two areas, at least one of which must be legislative.

a) Understanding and engaging with legislation, policies and standards

Statements here should show how relevant legislation, has influenced your work. You are not expected to have expert knowledge of all of these areas, but are expected to be aware of how they relate to your current practice. These issues will vary depending upon the country and Government policy.

In the UK you would be expected to demonstrate how you work within the context of relevant legislation such as:

  • Accessibility including special educational needs
  • Intellectual property (IPR)
  • Freedom of Information (if you work for a public body)
  • Data protection.
  • Child protection
  • Anti-discrimination law
  • Points Based Immigration System (PBIS)
  • Other related examples

In your country there may be different requirements, and you should indicate this in your portfolio. It is suggested that you pick at least two areas to discuss. In New Zealand see the Government HE strategies and policies website: http://www.education.govt.nz/further-education/policies-and-strategies/tertiary-education-strategy/

 

b) Policy

You are not obliged to address this area so long as you have addressed at least two legislative areas. Examples of policy issues you may address include:

  • Policies and strategies (national or institutional)
  • Technical standards
  • Professional codes of practice

You might also be expected to engage with institutional policies and, where appropriate, national policies and evidence of some of this should be provided. The kinds of evidence that would support this would include minutes of meetings with legal advisers, documentation showing how legal issues have influenced work (such as reports or data protection forms), justifications for modifications to a course to reflect new policies or a record of how technical standards have been taken into account during system development.

#CMALTcMOOC Week3: Learning Teaching and Assessment

This week’s suggested activities include:

Create and share a new assessment design around student generated content for integration into your teaching practice. Share this assessment project via the Project Bank for peer feedback, and rate another participants assessment project.

This should include evidence of:

a) An understanding of teaching, learning and/or assessment processes

b) An understanding of your target learners

Reflect on this process on your WordPress Blog. For more info on what is recommended for this section of a CMALT portfolio see the notes at: https://cmaltcmooc.wordpress.com/week-3/

#CMALTcMOOC Week2: Exploring the benefits and constraints of learning technologies

This week involves three suggested activities:

  • creating and sharing a Blog post or VODCast discussing the constraints and benefits, technical knowledge, and deployment of learning technologies. Keep it succinct – 500 words blog post or 2-3min VODCast embedded in your blog. You could use: YouTube, Vimeo, Instagram, Clips (iOS) etc… to create and share the VODCast.
  • Sharing a Digital Literacy mapping exercise. Create your own Visitor/Resident-Social/Professional map (#VandR cc @Daveowhite) of your use of online and social media tools, and share it via the Moodle discussion forum https://Community.sotel.nz , and Twitter with the #cmaltcmooc and #VandR hashtags. You can see some examples from the 2017 participants at            #VandR maps for #CMALTcMOOC        . Reflect on how your map may look different to your students’!
  • Exploring innovative pedagogies during our weekly Webinar discussion. We now use Zoom to facilitate these – see the link in the discussion forum at https://community.sotel.nz .

“Operational Issues” is one of four required core elements of your CMALT portfolio. Create a Blog post or VODCast (Video PODCast) discussing the constraints and benefits, technical knowledge, and deployment of learning technologies, particularly within your own teaching context. Explore potential creative solutions to any of these constraints. Share your Blog post or VODCast using Twitter with the #cmaltcmooc hashtag, and link to your example reflection by adding the URL and description to the Project Bank for Week2 https://cmaltcmooc.mosomelt.org/type/2-operational-issues/by selecting “Submit Project” from the Project Bank main menu on our WordPress hub. For example: How might a V&R Map give you insights into the issues surrounding the use of social media in education?

From the CMALT Guidelines:

Core area 1: Operational issues

Candidates should demonstrate both their understanding and use of learning technology. “Use” might include the use of technology to enhance learning and teaching, the development, adoption or deployment of technology to support teaching, training or learning.

This should include evidence of three sub areas:

a) An understanding of the constraints and benefits of different technologies

You should show how you have used (or supported others to use) technology appropriately, given the constraints and benefits it provides within your context. This might include how you selected particular technologies to meet the specific needs of users (students or staff).

Evidence in support of such statements might include a brief commentary on the choices behind the development and use of learning technology that influence its fitness for purpose. (This might discuss issues as affordances of the technology, viability, sustainability, scalability, interoperability and value for money.) You may already have something like this in the form of a design outline, proposal, conference presentation or similar. You should include such existing documentation wherever it seems relevant. Alternatively, you might want to take this opportunity to find out more about a technology you have deployed and produce a report on its viability.

b) Technical knowledge and ability in the use of learning technology

You should show that you have used a range of learning technologies. These might include web pages, Virtual Learning Environments, Computer-Aided Assessment, blogs, wikis, mobile technology, e-books, programming languages and so on.

Guidelines for CMALT candidates and assessors

Evidence might include copies of certificates (originals not needed) from relevant training courses, screenshots of your work, a note from academic or support staff who have worked with you or, if appropriate, confirmation that the work is your own from your line manager.

c) Supporting the deployment of learning technologies

Statements about your involvement in supporting the deployment of learning technology might relate to providing technical and/or pedagogic support to teachers or learners, advising on (or re-designing to take account of) technical and usability issues, developing strategies or policies, managing change, providing training or other forms of professional development, securing or deploying dedicated funding and so on, all within the context of the educational use of learning technology.

For evidence, you might include the overview section of a strategy document, meeting minutes, summaries of student feedback, testimonials or witness statements from other colleagues.

#CMALTcMOOC 2019 v2 Week1

Week 1: Introduction and Contextual Statement

Welcome to the #cmaltcmooc – if this is your first, second or even fifth iteration of the CMALT cMOOC it’s great to have you participating with us! The cMOOC is about connecting people and sharing your experiences as we explore CMALT accreditation.

This first week involves setup and introductions – we hope you’ll join us on a journey of establishing (or enhancing) your online professional profile in teaching and learning and becoming part of the global #cmaltcmooc network of practitioners and researchers in the scholarship of technology enhanced learning (SOTEL).

There are a few setup activities this week: After Signing Up for the cMOOC at https://cmaltcmooc.wordpress.com/contact

  • Join the CMALT cMOOC Community Forum
  • Share ideas and social media via the #CMALTcMOOC hashtag
  • Setup/Customise your individual eportfolios that will become your portfolio hub (we suggest using https://www.WordPress.com)
  • Take 10 minutes to do the participant survey of prior experience
  • Locate yourself on the shared collaborative participant map – you will be invited to edit the map via the email address you signed up to the cMOOC.
  • Create a concise biography and professional goals on your Blog, and start linking to shared research profiles on: Researchgate, Academia.edu, Mendeley, ORCID, and LinkedIn.
  • We host a Webinar via Zoom each Friday (9:30am New Zealand time) to review each week, that is then shared via a YouTube Playlist

Introduce yourself by Creating a Contextual Statement:

Choose a social learning theory on which to develop a short statement of your understanding and approach to using learning technologies in education. Post this to your blog using the #cmaltcmooc hashtag. Explore how your contextual statement could be presented using a variety of embedded technologies – you could use a short video to introduce yourself and your teaching philosophy via Clips (iOS) or Instagram. A contextual statement is a critical element of a CMALT portfolio – it is not assessed, but must be included. You can do this quickly as a video reflection if you like – see some of the examples in the #CMALTcMOOC YouTube Playlist from previous CMALT cMOOC iterations, for example: https://youtu.be/y8vH2Bh6Z4U.

Share your example of a Contextual Statement on the #CMALTcMOOC Community Forum at https://community.sotel.nz/course/view.php?id=3and the Project Bank

 

Create a research biography and establish a profile on researchgate.net, link this profile into your WordPress blog.

Reflect upon this process on your WordPress blog.

From the CMALT Guidelines:

Contextual statement

The portfolio should commence with a contextual statement – the kind of thing you might write in a cover letter for a job application. It should provide a concise biography, outlining your career history and current role(s), highlighting briefly the operational context in which you work or have worked, and reflecting on why you are submitting your portfolio for CMALT and how this relates to your future career aspirations. This section is not assessed, but can be very helpful for the assessors as they approach the rest of your portfolio.

For more info see the CMALT support page at https://www.alt.ac.uk/get-involved/certified-membership/cmalt-support

A good place to start planning your CMALT portfolio are the CMALT Guidelines:

https://www.alt.ac.uk/sites/alt.ac.uk/files/CMALT%20Guidelines%202019.pdf

A couple of good examples of CMALT Portfolios and contextual statements include:

And some tips from a CMALT journey: https://eastmidslt.wordpress.com/2014/01/24/cmalt-my-journey/