#FEsuperHeroes: In celebration of community contributions
Written by Chloë for the AmplifyFE team
As we head into a new academic year, I wanted to take a moment to pause and appreciate all the #FEsuperHeroes who have supported the AmplifyFE community space the past year. These FE practitioners have written blogs, shared spotlights on their practice, hosted webinars and chatted with me on the podcast. These contributions are integral to the AmplifyFE Community Space and have helped it grow from strength to strength. So thank you to everyone named below for sparing your time and sharing your wisdom with your peers in the sector. Likewise of course, many thanks to those watching, reading and attending. Let me know if you’d like to contribute in some way over the next year by dropping me a line: chloe.hynes@alt.ac.uk .
You can access all the content shared by the contributors on the AmplifyFE website but I thought I’d share a selection from the past year of the most popular contributions based on our access statistics. Whilst we value every blog, webinar and podcast – we can’t list them all in one blog, so I hope you can find some time to explore the AmplifyFE website and learn more from FE practitioners.
Top 3 Blog Posts:
- Developing digital skills in teaching ESOL: it matters more than ever! by Rachel Öner @OnerConsultancy, ESOL teacher trainer and current co-chair of NATECLA after attending Jisc’s Digifest for the first time.
- Invisible assessment of engagement in online teaching and learning spaces by ConanLabs, a project (like AmplifyFE) supported by Ufi VocTech Trust. Ufi. The VocTech Trust champions the power of technology to improve skills for work and deliver better outcomes for all.
- Permission to Chat by Vicky Butterby @VickyMeaby reflecting on some action research she recently completed about utilising chat in online spaces.
Top 3 Webinars:
- AI, Data, Ethics and Beyond: Exploring key issues in education by Bella Abrams who has worked in both FE and HE, reflects on challenges that we are facing in the education sector at present and how the team is approaching them at the University of Sheffield.
- Save time and create great resources with AI tools by Peter Kilcoyne (TeacherMatic) demonstrates how using an easy to use AI tool kit can help teachers save time in a range of everyday tasks.
- Demystifying Accessibility by SJ White @WhatTheTrigMath who shared lots of manageable ways to make our practice more inclusive. With changes that might be necessary for some, but useful for all. This webinar is full of ideas for you to implement straight away.
Top 3 (technically 4) Podcasts:
- For the Love of FE with Andrew McFadyen (Jisc’s FE and Skills Senior Consultant). Listen in for buckets of shout-outs to practitioners and organisations doing great things in FE.
- JOINT second!
- Riffing on ‘innovation’ with friends an adhoc bonus episode recorded at DigiFest 2023 with the Jisc Community Champions (Samantha Ahern, Angela Dynes, Joy McLean and Rachel Öner) reflecting on the conference theme: innovation.
- FE at the #ALTc22 was the first AmplifyFE podcast with Chloë and Lynne sharing their experiences (with FE spectacles) of ALT conference 2022.
- Permission to Play with Sandra Smith as she shares stories of digital exploration with us; highlighting the importance of being given permission to play, make mistakes, interrogate and unpick digital tools and pedagogies. As an added bonus: Chloë and Sandra are joined by Lynne Taylerson with her ‘action research mentor’ hat on, speaking highly of the research Sandra did last year as part of the OTLA programme.