#Take5 #114 10 reasons why it is good for you to #Take5

This #Take5 is brought to you by Dr Katharine Jewitt, Associate Lecturer, Researcher and Consultant at The Open University. As the new academic year gets underway, Katharine shares 10 reasons why it is good for you to #Take5 and invites you to read, comment and write for ALDinHE’s Take5 blog. 

Katharine is Co-Editor of #Take5 alongside University Teaching Fellow and Associate Teaching Professor, Sandra Sinfield at London Metropolitan University and always in spirit, Tom Burns Co-Founder and Editor of Take 5, who sadly passed away shortly after this blog was published on 23 October 2024.

The #Take5 blog is the professional development blog of the Association for Learning Development in Higher Education (ALDinHE) – discussing issues of interest to Learning Developers and all those who want to facilitate student learning. Reading and writing for the Take5 blog can be valuable in helping you identify potential mentors, sources of information, advice and support, upcoming development opportunities and new allies. It is also a great way to showcase your own practice and perhaps take your first steps into academic publishing.

An illustration of a blogging network. 

If you’ve pondered over writing for the Take5 blog, here are 10 excellent reasons why you should start typing without delay. 

1. Share the Journey: Tell people what you are doing!

Illustration of a journey along a route map with a starting point and end point. 

This can be one of the hardest things to do and note I say ‘journey’ rather than ‘finished object’. I always want to improve and adapt what I create or work on with students, but it is important to reach a point where what you have worked on is good enough to share with your community. Once I do, I find that others will shape and build on what I’ve done to transform it again.

2. Don’t wait till it’s finished: Share your Work in Progress

Share your work-in-progress on the Take5 blog because things improve through others contributing. Others share their experiences on what has worked or not worked. I think there is nothing better than sharing something and then seeing someone else taking something you have created and using it and perhaps improving on it with their own students.

Work in progress sign. 

3. Demonstrate your expertise: Sharpen your thinking through writing 

A rosette with the word “Expert”. 

Demonstrate your expertise by writing, it provides an opportunity to develop your skills and sharpen your thinking both through the process of writing and through the discussion that results from publishing. It’s a way to deepen your understanding of a subject through the process of researching and writing and an opportunity to develop new skills – communication, self-promotion, writing skills and building evidence of your work for job applications and professional recognition. A well-written #Take5 blog can be an extension of your curriculum vitae. It has the power to impress prospective employers and recruiters, and it can open up job opportunities.

4. Gain Feedback

One of the many benefits of writing a blog post is feedback. If someone takes the time to provide feedback, you may agree, you may disagree, it may not be relevant to your particular situation, but it is always important and often is useful to consider and apply in a future project.

An illustration of a feedback loop

5. Keep the Momentum: And my next project is …

An illustration of Newton's cradle, representing momentum.

Writing a #Take5 blog post is great for keeping the momentum going for you. Once you’ve shared a project, keep the momentum going and progress straight onto the next project. Storyboard your ideas and keep going project to project.

6. Voice an Idea

Use the ALDinHE website as an outlet to voice ideas that others in your institution may have overlooked; many find that a Take5 blog catches the eye of key decision-makers, who want to hear more about what you have to say.

A lit light bulb with a tick in the centre, representing a bright idea.

7. Continue the conversation 

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If you have published research in a journal, writing a Take5 blog can be an excellent way to continue the conversation. You can provide further explanation, perhaps providing detail that you weren’t able to include in the article. It’s a way to open up discussion and add to the impact of your research through greater readership. 

8. Be inspired

Blogging about what you have done or created is a great way to share and receive feedback. It also often provides you with more inspiration and ideas on how to improve or develop your work for the next project. 

An illustration of a human head with inspiration being planted inside. There’s a rainbow, sparks and a star entering the person’s brain.

9. Network and develop relationships

An illustration of people connected and networking. 

The ALDinHE website has around 10,000 visitors every month, so it’s an ideal platform for your writing to reach new audiences. Blogging for Take5 can lead to valuable networking opportunities, for example, you might be invited to speak at an event or you might develop relationships with other experts.

10. Be supported

If you’d like to take up the invitation to write a Take5 blog, please email admin@aldinhe.ac.uk. You will be supported by the blog editors, Sandra Sinfield, Tom Burns and Katharine Jewitt, who will give feedback on your first draft (so that you can make changes if you wish) and review the final draft. A #Take5 blog can be anything from 300-3000 words. We look for a topic of interest to Learning Developersor staff who actively want to facilitate student learning. It can be a simple case study: what / why / how of a new practice or approach. We also welcome a more theoretical post rooted in an interesting theoretical perspective or it can focus on your research – or a particular theorist or influencer. There is no payment or fee.

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An illustration of Katharine editing a blog post and giving feedback to the author via a video call on a laptop. 

Take 5 every day 

Making time for our own personal development is vital, but when we’re busy it’s easy to see it as a low priority.  But keeping up to date with the latest trends and ideas and new ways of working is an important part of everyone’s role.  How do you find the time to prioritise this, and develop ways to work more effectively, improve your performance, and develop your career?   

Give yourself the gift of knowledge by adding as little as 5 minutes at the start of your day to read a Take5 blog post.  It can be difficult to prioritise your learning, but by adding this to your calendar now, you can be prepared for a whole year of growing your knowledge.

A clock face showing 5-minutes of time.

About the author: Dr Katharine Jewitt

Dr Katharine Jewitt

Dr Katharine Jewitt is an award-winning Associate Lecturer, Researcher and Consultant at The Open University. She also works as a Validator with the Digital Schools Company to guide and implement its ongoing strategy to promote digital skills in Nursery / Primary / Special Education / Secondary schools & organisations. Her role focuses on maximising the opportunities offered by digital technology in education. Working with educational leaders and practitioners, Katharine builds their confidence and assists them to embed digital skills in their everyday learning and advising on areas where progress can be made. She has a Ph.D in Virtual Reality and is a Fellow of Advance HE. Katharine is Co-Chair of the UNESCO Inclusive Policy Lab for Education and Digital Skills. She is former Chair of the Evaluation of Learners’ Experiences of e-learning Special Interest Group (ELESIG) and the UK Digital Learning Community of Practice. Katharine is the Administrator and Web Developer for the Association for Learning Development in Higher Education and Technical Editor for the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education. Katharine is Editor of the Take5 blog, alongside University Teaching Fellow and Associate Teaching Professor, Sandra Sinfield at London Metropolitan University. Katharine posts at BlueSky, LinkedIn and X.

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