Blog

The first ALDinHE symposium took place at London Metropolitan University in 2003 – and an Association was born. That Association has been growing, developing, flourishing. This #Take5 blogpost has been written by Steve Briggs, Co-Chair of ALDinHE, to bring Learning Developers up to date with all the latest developments. Have a read. Leave a Comment. Get involved. Growing and Flourishing The last five years have been an exciting time for ALDinHE (Association for Learning Development in Higher Education). There have been some brilliant developments and expansions to our membership offer. For example, we have introduced a recognition scheme, regional events, […]

This month’s #Take5 blog is brought to you from Ian Johnson, Learning Development Tutor, University of Portsmouth. Ian discusses an interesting, dynamic reflective process that makes reflection move beyond performance to something useful and meaningful. Reflective Practice – ‘Surfing the Wave’ Teaching students how to reflect in writing can be a thorny issue for disciplinary staff and learning developers alike, and one that often raises more questions than answers. Why is reflection so often uncomfortable for students? In theory, freedom from the dreaded academic mantra ‘never write in first person’ could be so liberating, but more often, it feels like […]

This #Take5 post is brought to you from Kate Coulson who is Head of Learning Development at the University of Northampton and has spent most of her career cajoling and persuading colleagues to work with her and more recently to work with the teams she leads… Our Kate Selling it: Why engage colleagues? I always knew I didn’t want to work in a commercial field especially in retail, but on reflection I have evolved into an experienced salesperson: selling connection and collegiality. (If only I worked on commission!) As a Librarian and latterly a Learning Developer I have probably spent […]

Creating powerful learning spaces and real learning across a suite of first year Computing modules This #Take5 blogpost is brought to you by Tom Burns and Sandra Sinfield – reflecting on a project that embedded creative learning development practice in an ‘Higher Education Orientation’ module offered to students across a suite of first year Computing, Design and Animation courses. ‘MySpace’ – not In university, students, especially those from non-advantaged backgrounds, can become rendered silent and passive or alienated and disaffected by the very spaces in which we teach and expect them to learn. Students can experience ‘our’ spaces, the lecture […]

Stortelling in Learning Development This #Take5 blog post is brought to you by Anne-Kathrin Reck co-organiser of the recent ALDinHE one-day regional symposium at the University of Portsmouth: ‘Storytelling in Learning Development’ (September 12th 2019). This turned out to be a day filled with fun, informative and participatory sessions, covering presentations, workshops, show & tells and a world café session. The speakers were recruited from the university with subject areas ranging from law to gaming, maths and performing studies. The presenters were learning developers, lecturers, librarians, and a faculty dean! What’s the story morning glory? Storytelling is undoubtedly powerful and […]

Happy new academic year! #Take5 is back and ready to go. This year our hope is to bring you at least one post a month – and to kick us off we have a great post from Jennie Dettmer, one of the organisers of an inspirational event that took place between ALDinHE and SIGMA – the maths people!  ALDinHE and SIGMA in An Event of Four Firsts This #Take5 post is brought to you from Jennie Dettmer, one of the organisers of the joint ALDinHE and sigma Network regional event on ‘Current Issues in Differentiating Learning Development’ at the University […]

This #Take5 post is a follow up to all the fruitful discussions recently held on the LDHEN list about the 12-steps of the narrative – and the different ways that they can help us to conceptualise writing – and how we might use that in our work with students. This very practical and instantly useful blog has been written by Heather Dyer a consultant with the Royal Literary Fund who uses The Hero’s Journey in her writing workshops with dissertation students. You’re a Hero on a Journey We’re hardwired to see stories in everything: a relationship, a thesis, a life. […]

Recognition scheme Writing Retreat  This #Take5 post is brought to you from Steve Briggs and Katherine Koulle who co-manage the administration and development of the ALDinHE recognition scheme – and who ran the Writing Retreat on 8th May 2019. A need for recognition Recently, Steve Briggs, ALDinHE and Professional Development working Group co-chair,  explained the background to the ALDinHE recognition scheme in a previous #Take5 blog – https://lmutake5.wordpress.com/2019/03/20/take-5-31-the-best-way-of-getting-recognised/ Making time to get recognised The response to the ALDinHE recognition scheme has been overwhelmingly positive: in the first two years over 50 recognitons were awarded. Nonetheless, a common reason that Learning […]

ALDinHE Conference 2019: Critical perspectives of learning development practice – and hills This #Take5 blogpost is brought to you from Lee Fallin – the phantom tweeter of #aldcon 2019 – you know, the one who produced all those beautiful, illustrated visual notes… The 2019 Association for Learning Development in Higher Education (ALDinHE) Annual Conference was hosted by the University of Exeter. This was my sixth ALDinHE conference, and my first time in the lovely city of Exeter. This blog post will provide my reflections on the conference and a summary of the keynotes by Dr Liz Morrish (Tuesday) and Professor […]

The ALDinHE Recognition scheme This #Take5 post is brought to you from Dr Steve Briggs a Co-Chair of ALDinHE  and a driving force behind the design and development of this key Learning Development recognition scheme.  The need for recognition The Association for Learning Development in Higher Education (ALDinHE) represents individuals working as Learning Development Practitioners in the UK. ALDinHE offers opportunities to share best practices and ideas, and to provide CPD and professional development opportunities for members. The field of Learning Development has grown significantly in the last fifteen years and most universities in the UK now have a Learning Development […]