Why being a CMALT Assessor is great for your development 

Written by Matt Cornock, Julie Voce, Puiyin Wong and Jade Kimberley

In this blog, Matt Cornock, Julie Voce, Puiyin Wong and Jade Kimberley share reasons why they became CMALT assessors and their advice for those starting out as new assessors reviewing their first portfolios. This post captures some points from our panel discussion on being a CMALT assessor, at the ALT Annual Conference in Manchester, 3-5 September 2024. CMALT (Certified Membership of the Association for Learning Technology) is the industry recognised accreditation for professionals within learning technology and digital education. CMALT candidates submit a portfolio showcasing their individual professional practice, which is reviewed by two peer Assessors. Assessors are CMALT holders who review against set criteria, providing feedback to support the development of candidates.

“I find it inspiring to read about the commitment and passion candidates have about the work they do.” – Jade

Why did we become assessors?

We all agree that being a CMALT assessor allows us to keep up to date with what is happening in digital education in the broadest sense and to find out about other learning technology professionals’ practice. CMALT portfolios cover a very wide range of roles across many educational and training sectors and this exposure to different contexts and experiences beyond those we work in is incredibly valuable. 

“There are so many sectors out there, higher education, further education, schools, adult learning, private sector. You can assess portfolios from any of them and so it’s very interesting to see the range of roles, take lessons learned and, where things are openly available, share good practice with colleagues.” – Julie 

Assessing portfolios enables reflection on our own practice, prompted by comparison to other institutions and examples of innovation demonstrated by CMALT candidates. Many of us have similar challenges and being able to draw upon the use of learning technology and leadership of digital education demonstrated by others helps to find solutions in our own contexts. Through reviewing CMALT portfolios, there have been many occasions where we have come across something new and have been able to follow that up in our own work or suggested to our colleagues where they may find new resources. Of course, portfolios are treated confidentially by assessors, but many candidates openly share their practice online via blogs, articles, conferences and video.

“For me it’s about giving back to the community.” – Puiyin

As CMALT is assessed by volunteer peer assessors, we appreciate the time that peers spent reviewing our own portfolios and so it’s one way that we can give back to the community and ensure that others have the same opportunity that we had.

Development for candidates and assessors

We each have the values of CMALT at the heart of our professional practice, so being able to contribute to the ALT community and the professional growth of individual members is important to us.

CMALT is for reflection and professional development as much as for accreditation, so it is not uncommon to ask candidates to rework sections. Our approach to giving feedback for development is a key reason for our ongoing engagement as assessors, particularly when we see candidates’ depth of reflection and appreciation of their impact improve when they resubmit. There’s a real sense that as an assessor you are leading on professional standards and developing individuals in their career. 

The process of assessment also allows us to practise our feedback skills. Each of us support colleagues in our own teams and through other leadership responsibilities. If you are looking to complete Fellowship of AdvanceHE or Fellowship of SEDA, being an assessor allows you to evidence engagement with assessment and feedback processes and opportunities to reflect on your practice of developing others. Both Julie and Jade drew on their experience as an assessor for PFHEA and SFSEDA respectively.

How we assess

We’re quite methodical about our assessment approach and follow the guidance for the level of CMALT portfolio submitted. For each section we look for description, evidence and reflection. All three need to be present and meet the criteria for the section to be assessed as adequate or strong. We also take a holistic view of the candidate against the core values of CMALT. For Senior CMALT there is the added criteria of leadership and impact to be evidenced and reflected on throughout. 

“The context statements are really useful. As an assessor you’ll be coming to it from your own background, but you need to understand the context of the candidate as a lens through which you view the portfolio. It’s not about whether the candidate is performing at a level you want them to be performing at, but how they’ve implemented practice and reflected on practice in their own context.” – Matt

If you are a new assessor you will normally be paired with an experienced assessor. In Matt’s experience, he has always preferred having a call with his co-assessors, particularly if there is a difference of opinion. This is really important to ensure that both assessors have agreement over how the criteria have been met, or what areas of improvement are to be prioritised for resubmission. This is a great opportunity for professional dialogue with someone else in the sector. Whether you are paired with a more, or less, experienced assessor, both views count. Often the other assessor you work with can spot something you’ve missed or interprets something in a different way. If you have opposite views, it’s definitely worth revisiting the guidelines and section criteria, then discussing your reasons to find a compromise. What’s most important is that the candidates are given clear feedback that is consistent from both assessors.

Writing feedback 

Jade’s approach to feedback is to write a sentence or two on each area highlighting good practice, as well as areas to improve or to consider. This is a good way of not getting lost in the portfolio. At the end, she then writes a general comment to thank the candidate and highlight positive aspects of the portfolio in general. 

If it’s a portfolio requiring resubmission we try to add an encouraging comment so the candidate knows there is light at the end of the tunnel. Portfolios do take an immense amount of effort for candidates to create and as assessors we are very respectful of the commitment shown. Sometimes it can be disconcerting not to pass the first time, so it’s important that the candidate feels supported to re-work and resubmit.

“I tend to write feedback section by section with clear guidance to follow. Feedback that I would want to receive… Critical, fair: This section is missing a bit of reflection, I’d like you to add X, Y and Z, in order to pass this section.” – Puiyin

We also sometimes review portfolios that may need to be resubmitted into a different level, for example a candidate for Senior CMALT who isn’t able to evidence leadership, but otherwise has a strong submission. In that case we liaise with ALT to see if the candidate wants to submit to the standard CMALT. Similarly, we’ve seen excellent portfolios at Associate level recently that we can see candidates rapidly progressing to standard CMALT. Our approach is always to support candidates and encourage recognition for their professional practice.

How to get involved 

As soon as you have successfully completed your CMALT, you’ll be invited to become an assessor. If you have been a CMALT holder for a while or missed the original invitation you can register your interest to be an assessor via the ALT website. 

We highly recommend attending a CMALT Assessors webinar as it gives an opportunity to talk through the process and how to benchmark your assessment. 

Every quarter you will get an email from ALT asking your availability to assess portfolios over the next few months. You can opt in to as many or as few portfolios you have time for. Usually you will also be allocated any resubmitted portfolios that you have reviewed previously, so that the same assessors can review amendments. 

We hope we’ve inspired you to become a CMALT assessor and look forward to welcoming you to the community of assessors soon.

About the authors

Matt Cornock, SCMALT, is Head of Online Learning at the University of Leeds and a Trustee of ALT, and has been an assessor since 2012. 

Dr Julie Voce, SCMALT PFHEA, is Head of Digital Education at City St. George’s, University of London, and has been an assessor since 2016. 

Puiyin Wong, SCMALT SFHEA, is Head of Digital Education (EPS) at the University of Birmingham and a Trustee of ALT, and has been an assessor since 2022. 

Jade Kimberley, SCMALT SFHEA SFSEDA FAHEP, is Learning and Teaching Director, University of Nottingham International College, Kaplan International Pathways, and has been an assessor since 2022.

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