{"id":11577,"date":"2023-10-05T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-05T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/?p=11577"},"modified":"2025-04-06T13:57:43","modified_gmt":"2025-04-06T12:57:43","slug":"from-teacher-to-technologist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/2023\/10\/from-teacher-to-technologist\/","title":{"rendered":"From Teacher to Technologist Week 1"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>The diary of a new Head of Learning Technologies in FE<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"info\"> by Isla Flood <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Week 1&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Well not quite, let\u2019s go a little retrospective as I opted to start my new role before the holidays for a week just to get going. The first week was interesting. My manager seems really positive and I feel like I can go to him for help and share ideas with confidence. I made a point to set up individual 121s with all the team (across libraries, open access and learning tech) to try to understand their roles better and get to know them. I was nervous!! I created a list of questions that I would ask everyone and sent them ahead of our meeting to allow for thinking time and ease anxiety. The responses were fascinating and I learnt loads about the team including their goals, ambitions and how they like to work. I was cringing slightly about asking and using set questions but I wanted to know the answers and thought they\u2019d be valuable so tried to ignore that feeling and push on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I got the opportunity this week to go see another college, I arranged to meet up with Richard Buckley and Kate Whyles from Nottingham College. &nbsp; Richard heads up learning technology there and Kate is a learning technologist.&nbsp; I brought my colleague and learning technologist Emily Cossey for the road trip and we had a great time noseying round the Basford Campus.&nbsp; We got to see their facilities including their impressive immersive suite and spent lots of time listening and chatting to both about their experience developing Nottingham\u2019s digital offer.&nbsp; Kate\u2019s done a lot of work using Minecraft with students and suggested I do the Microsoft training on this so I completed that over the summer and am interested to see how I can apply it in my new role.&nbsp; I\u2019m keen to go out and see more places so please get in touch if you\u2019d have us, I\u2019m really keen to see and learn as much as possible from others.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019ve got my own office for the first time, which I\u2019m a bit uncomfortable about, it is amazing and I love it (please don\u2019t take it away from me!) but imposter syndrome is out in force and part of writing this column has to be trying to quell that fear and get on with the job. So I\u2019ve decorated and I\u2019m happy but just going to miss my busy old team office chatter and banter but will be coming back for visits and staying in touch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Anyway, enough about the material stuff. I get to start this job in a new technical age, AI is abundant and technology is never off the agenda, it\u2019s integral to the way we learn and I\u2019m excited to be part of this new era.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It might help to tell you a little bit about me and where I came from. I\u2019ve been teaching, coordinating, programme managing and coaching at Solihull College now for just over 10 years, I previously worked in London as an ESOL teacher and worked in support in FE before that. &nbsp; I\u2019ve pretty much grown up in FE (mum and dad both had a stint at FE colleges), so institutionalised I am but proud to be in a sector that picks people up and develops them no matter what their previous experiences or background. I really do believe FE is life changing and love working in this area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So going from curriculum to support (kind of). My strengths are my experience in and out of college, creativity and communication. I\u2019ve asked to keep teaching as I believe it\u2019s integral to the role, will ensure I don\u2019t forget the coal face and always have learning at the forefront of my role. My aim is to make a bigger difference. I really love teaching ESOL because it has an impact, it\u2019s rewarding and I know I\u2019m doing good work but now as my role changes I need it to have a wider impact in order to retain my integrity and keep the role focussed on improving learner experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So I\u2019m excited, and still nervous. I start again this week after a long and wonderful break and am keen to plough out some fields of enquiry and ways of spreading the good work of the department so that it has the biggest impact it can on helping learners and staff develop. You\u2019ll be hearing from me again soon, see you later!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The diary of a new Head of Learning Technologies in FE Week 1&nbsp; Well not quite, let\u2019s go a little retrospective as I opted to start my new role before the holidays for a week just to get going. The first week was interesting. My manager seems really positive and I feel like I can [&hellip;]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11579,"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":[1499],"tags":[725,1920,1862,840,2080,1085,2083],"class_list":["post-11577","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-amplifyfe","tag-altc","tag-amplifyfe-2","tag-esol","tag-further-education","tag-isla-flood","tag-learning-technologist","tag-nottingham-college"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2023\/10\/image1.gif?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":11581,"url":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/2023\/10\/from-teacher-to-technologist-part-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":11577,"position":0},"title":"From Teacher to Technologist\u00a0Week 5\/6","author":"ALT","date":"12 October 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"The diary of a new Head of Learning Technologies in FE I\u2019ve been back in college now for about a month.\u00a0 We\u2019re lucky enough to have had our canteen and student spaces spruced up and college is buzzing.\u00a0 We\u2019ve hit target and classes are full and college feels lively and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;#AmplifyFE&quot;","block_context":{"text":"#AmplifyFE","link":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/category\/amplifyfe\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2023\/10\/image1.gif?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2023\/10\/image1.gif?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2023\/10\/image1.gif?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2023\/10\/image1.gif?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2023\/10\/image1.gif?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":12605,"url":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/2024\/10\/my-journey-with-the-crdl-and-winning-the-ufi-voctech-award\/","url_meta":{"origin":11577,"position":1},"title":"My Journey with the Crdl and Winning the UFI VocTech Award","author":"ALT","date":"1 October 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"I am incredibly honoured and excited to share that Burton and South Derbyshire College has won the inaugural Association for Learning Technology (ALT) Award for Use of Technology in Vocational Education, in partnership with Ufi VocTech Trust. This achievement is the result of our work integrating the Crdl device into\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;#AmplifyFE&quot;","block_context":{"text":"#AmplifyFE","link":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/category\/amplifyfe\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2024\/10\/AmplifyFEspace-blog-cover-image-534-x-200-px.png?fit=534%2C200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2024\/10\/AmplifyFEspace-blog-cover-image-534-x-200-px.png?fit=534%2C200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2024\/10\/AmplifyFEspace-blog-cover-image-534-x-200-px.png?fit=534%2C200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":11192,"url":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/2023\/06\/amplifyfe-out-and-about\/","url_meta":{"origin":11577,"position":2},"title":"#AmplifyFE out and about","author":"ALT","date":"21 June 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"The #AmplifyFE team have been busy bees this year, travelling up and down the country to attend a variety of conferences. We started the year at the Society for Education and Training (SET) conference at the Vox Centre in Birmingham. Our stand in the conference foyer with the eye-catching Amplify\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;#AmplifyFE&quot;","block_context":{"text":"#AmplifyFE","link":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/category\/amplifyfe\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2023\/06\/image3-3.jpg?fit=549%2C413&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2023\/06\/image3-3.jpg?fit=549%2C413&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2023\/06\/image3-3.jpg?fit=549%2C413&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":12449,"url":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/2024\/08\/amplifying-your-network-at-altc24\/","url_meta":{"origin":11577,"position":3},"title":"Amplifying your network at ALTC24","author":"ALT","date":"21 August 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"I really value attending ALTC - I've actually lost count of the times that I've been over the last decade or so! I think I particularly value visiting for 2 reasons, meeting up with the practitioner research community and promoting the work of everything we do in FE and Skills.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;#AmplifyFE&quot;","block_context":{"text":"#AmplifyFE","link":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/category\/amplifyfe\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"AmplifyFE community space","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2024\/08\/AmplifyFEspace-blog-cover-image-template-734x550-2.png?fit=1200%2C899&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2024\/08\/AmplifyFEspace-blog-cover-image-template-734x550-2.png?fit=1200%2C899&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2024\/08\/AmplifyFEspace-blog-cover-image-template-734x550-2.png?fit=1200%2C899&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2024\/08\/AmplifyFEspace-blog-cover-image-template-734x550-2.png?fit=1200%2C899&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2024\/08\/AmplifyFEspace-blog-cover-image-template-734x550-2.png?fit=1200%2C899&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":13487,"url":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/2025\/12\/regenerate-a-national-forest-immersive-collaboration-transforming-creative-collaboration-in-fe-through-immersive-technology\/","url_meta":{"origin":11577,"position":4},"title":"Regenerate: A National Forest Immersive Collaboration Transforming creative collaboration in FE through immersive technology","author":"ALT","date":"18 December 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Blog author: Zoe Tierney, Learning Technologist, Burton and South Derbyshire college Regenerate is an immersive arts project born from a collaboration between Burton and South Derbyshire College (BSDC), Sterran Dance, and partners including Flexus Dance Collective, local artists, and live musicians. It offers an inspiring example of how immersive technology\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;#AmplifyFE&quot;","block_context":{"text":"#AmplifyFE","link":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/category\/amplifyfe\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"AmplifyFE community space","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2024\/08\/AmplifyFEspace-blog-cover-image-template-734x550-2.png?fit=1200%2C899&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2024\/08\/AmplifyFEspace-blog-cover-image-template-734x550-2.png?fit=1200%2C899&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2024\/08\/AmplifyFEspace-blog-cover-image-template-734x550-2.png?fit=1200%2C899&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2024\/08\/AmplifyFEspace-blog-cover-image-template-734x550-2.png?fit=1200%2C899&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2024\/08\/AmplifyFEspace-blog-cover-image-template-734x550-2.png?fit=1200%2C899&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":13482,"url":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/2025\/12\/25-days-of-amplifyfe-celebrating-community-practice-and-professional-learning\/","url_meta":{"origin":11577,"position":5},"title":"25 Days of AmplifyFE: Celebrating Community, Practice and Professional Learning","author":"ALT","date":"20 December 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"We\u2019re delighted to share\u00a025 Days of AmplifyFE, a festive countdown celebrating the knowledge, collaboration, and innovation that make our FE community so special. 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