ALTC25 Guest Post: A Manifesto for Slow Digital Learning

Written by Helen Greetham

In a world that seems to be speeding up by the second, with notifications pinging, deadlines looming and AI tools promising instant answers, I’ve been thinking lately about ways of taking things more slowly when it comes to digital learning and infrastructures. 

Turns out I’m not the only one. A few years ago, a group of 15 authors, artists and teachers came up with a “Manifesto for Slow Learning,” A path to a meaningful and mindful future of learning.

The manifesto outlines ten learner rights, including things like being able to learn at your own pace, being able to take breaks, being allowed to make mistakes and leave things unfinished, and being free to ask questions and be curious. When I read the report, I was nodding along with all of these… except for one, which as a learning technologist made me want to yell, “Hold on, wait a minute!”.

The right to unplug “Learn unplugged, far away from digital distractions. Create space in the offline zone for deep, reflective immersion. Shut your computer down, activate your brain, eliminate any digital amplifications. It’s time to concentrate and focus.”

Is digital technology inherently the opposite of concentration and focus? Is it something which must be switched off for the brain to properly be switched on?

I think there is an element here of common learning design issues being obfuscated by the spectre of technology. A student who isn’t sure how to deeply reflect on their learning and transfer it into knowledge which they can use in the future will run into the same problems, whether they are staring at a book or a computer screen.

There are situations where a digital solution may promote deeper concentration and focus than its analogue equivalent: infinite whiteboard applications where you can ideate without worrying about reaching the edge of the page, or lecture recordings which let you pause, listen again and reflect on what you’ve heard rather than scramble to make notes in the moment. 

As learning technologists, however, I think it is important to admit that our digital environments can become very noisy. We’re beset by popups, notifications, crowded interfaces, and digital ecosystems which require both students and staff to have to figure out how to use multiple platforms before they can get to the business of deep learning.

I was pleased to see that this year’s ALT 25 themes present lots of opportunities to think about and address these issues. The ‘Back to Basics: Reclaiming the Core’ strand invites us to reimagine digital infrastructure not as flashy or disruptive, but as quietly reliable and robust, like the old notebook that fades into the background allowing the learner’s thoughts to take centre stage. 

Meanwhile, ‘Critical Imagination: Questioning and Creating in Digital Spaces’ offers a compelling counterbalance. It asks us to think disruptively, not for the sake of novelty, but to reimagine what learning could be if we allowed ourselves to slow down and think differently. What if innovation was about sustainability, care, and creativity?

‘Digital by Design: People, Empathy, and Experience’ resonates strongly with the ethos of slow learning. It challenges us to design with intention, placing human experience and learner wellbeing at the heart of our digital environments. This is where slow learning thrives: in spaces that are inclusive, empathetic, and responsive to the diverse rhythms of learning.

It’s easy at conferences to get overwhelmed with things that are new, exciting, loud and fast-paced, so this is my invitation for you to take the slow road instead this year. Let’s use this conference not just to accelerate, but to decelerate, and find ways to give our learners the space they deserve. 

ALT’s Annual Conference is one of the UK’s largest conferences for learning technology and digital education professionals. The conference provides a valuable and practical forum for practitioners, researchers, managers and policy-makers from education and industry to solve problems, explore, reflect, influence and learn.

ALTC25 will take place in Glasgow on 23 and 24 October 2025.  Register closes 20 October 2025.