{"id":11496,"date":"2023-09-13T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-09-13T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/?p=11496"},"modified":"2023-10-05T10:36:26","modified_gmt":"2023-10-05T09:36:26","slug":"getting-to-know-rachel-branham-arlt-sig-external-engagement-officer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/2023\/09\/getting-to-know-rachel-branham-arlt-sig-external-engagement-officer\/","title":{"rendered":"Getting to know: Rachel Branham, ARLT SIG External Engagement Officer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><\/h6>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201c<strong>Getting to know the Antiracism &amp; Learning Tech SIG Officers<\/strong>\u201d is a blog series by ARLT SIG Chair, Dr Teeroumanee Nadan, to provide visibility to ARLT SIG officers who undertake this role in a voluntary capacity and to highlight the importance of antiracism work in the sector. It is a celebration of how ARLT SIG officers have grown in this role!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In this blog, she introduces Rachel Branham, the new External Engagement Officer of ARLT SIG, who started her first committee journey in UK HE in June 2023.<br>Rachel Branham is a Learning Technologist at the University of West London. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/rachel-branham-00054569\">Connect with her on LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Tell me a bit about your educational and work background?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Rachel: <\/em><strong>\u201c<\/strong>My primary background is in visual arts education, where I have been utilising technology in many different forms. Engagement in distance learning as a student and as an instructor has brought me to the field of learning technology. <strong>My pedagogy is rooted in expression, equity, and joy, and I believe these tenants are essential to the work we do as educators.<\/strong> I\u2019m from the United States, where \u201clearning technologists\u201d are not really a thing &#8211; coming to the United Kingdom has demonstrated the importance of this unique intersection of education and tech that I hope more institutions will acknowledge!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What is your interest in ARLT SIG?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Rachel: <\/em>\u201cI joined the ARLT SIG because I want to be aware and informed about complex issues of oppression in education and technology. I joined to learn, sure, but also to lead &#8211; as a White woman, <strong>it is my responsibility to use my privilege to dismantle racist systems wherever it lives<\/strong>. For me, this work is about equal access to high quality education and without understanding limitations to that access, we just are not doing our jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What motivates you to undertake your role as External Engagement Officer in ARLT SIG<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Rachel: <\/em>\u201cI have never been involved in a role like this within a professional organisation, so this is an<strong> opportunity to understand how a group develops its central tenants and sticks to them in the day-to-day.<\/strong> It also allows me to meet more colleagues who share similar values, and to grow my network in the UK.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What have you learnt so far in your journey in the ARLT SIG committee?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Rachel: <\/em>\u201cSince I do not come from a traditional computer engineering background, I am learning so much about the development of AI systems and all the \u201cbad data\u201d that can influence their function. I am also increasingly aware of the built in pedagogy of learning technologies, good or bad, and using my role to share this information and better practices with academics and student-facing staff in my workplace. <strong>Adjusting my own communication on this topic has been a big part of my development <\/strong>as a Learning Technologist and as an External Engagement Officer within ARLT SIG.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What are you doing to improve things within ARLT SIG, ALT and the wider community in terms of antiracism &amp; learning technologies?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Rachel:<\/em><strong><em> <\/em><\/strong>\u201c<strong>I am making myself available! <\/strong>I am taking part in the offerings! And I am communicating what I learn with my team and my university. I am also serving on my university\u2019s EDI and Education for Sustainable Development steering groups, so there is a lot of overlap in these spaces that can be used to further positive influence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Since you joined in June 2023, what has your journey in ARLT SIG been like so far?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Rachel:<\/em> \u201cI have mostly been knee-deep in Google Drive folders! <strong>I am also practicing my ability to set benchmarks and actionable steps to meet team goals<\/strong>, to generate media (images and blurbs), and to focus on messaging to others.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Check out the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.alt.ac.uk\/groups\/special-interest-groups\/anti-racism-and-learning-technology-sig\">ARLT SIG webpage<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/category\/groups\/anti-racism-sig\/\">ARLT SIG blogs<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/document\/d\/19JJGjQRwdad03HclQMuJdGcZN3rbCQCD\/edit\">ARLT SIG resources<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To join ARLT SIG, subscribe to our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jiscmail.ac.uk\/cgi-bin\/webadmin?A0=ALT-ARLTSIG\">JISC mailing list<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cGetting to know the Antiracism &amp; Learning Tech SIG Officers\u201d is a blog series by ARLT SIG Chair, Dr Teeroumanee Nadan, to provide visibility to ARLT SIG officers who undertake this role in a voluntary capacity and to highlight the importance of antiracism work in the sector. It is a celebration of how ARLT SIG [&hellip;]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11497,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1476],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11496","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-anti-racism-sig"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2023\/09\/RB-quote-update.png?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":11502,"url":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/2023\/10\/getting-to-know-dr-teeroumanee-nadan-arlt-sig-chair\/","url_meta":{"origin":11496,"position":0},"title":"Getting to know: Dr Teeroumanee Nadan, ARLT SIG Chair","author":"ALT","date":"11 October 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cGetting to know the Antiracism & Learning Tech SIG Officers\u201d is a blog series by Dr Teeroumanee Nadan to provide visibility to ARLT SIG officers who undertake this role in a voluntary capacity and to highlight the importance of antiracism work in the sector. 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