{"id":13135,"date":"2025-05-22T12:21:59","date_gmt":"2025-05-22T11:21:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/?p=13135"},"modified":"2025-05-21T12:54:16","modified_gmt":"2025-05-21T11:54:16","slug":"from-vision-to-victory-zoe-tierneys-alt-awards-journey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/2025\/05\/from-vision-to-victory-zoe-tierneys-alt-awards-journey\/","title":{"rendered":"From Vision to Victory: Zoe Tierney\u2019s ALT Awards Journey"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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For this month’s blog profile, we’re excited to feature Zoe Tierney, winner of the ALT Award<\/a>\u00a0for Use of Technology in Vocational Education, in partnership with\u00a0Ufi VocTech Trust<\/a> in 2024. Zoe shares her inspiring journey, highlighting her achievements and insights that led to her winning an ALT Award. By sharing her experiences, Zoe sheds light on the significance of the ALT Awards in adopting progress and acknowledging the visionaries driving change.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

What do you find exciting about working with learning technology?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What excites me most about working with learning technology is how it can create meaningful, even emotional, learning experiences, particularly when the technology goes beyond screens and software. The CRDL (pronounced \u2018cradle\u2019) is a perfect example of this. It brings together innovation, human connection, and therapeutic engagement in a way I hadn\u2019t seen before. Technology like this allows us to reimagine what learning looks and feels like, especially in areas like healthcare, where empathy and communication are just as important as knowledge and technical skill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What inspired you to enter the ALT Awards 2024? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We entered the ALT Awards to share our journey with the CRDL and celebrate how something so unique was having a significant impact in the classroom\u2014and more importantly, in real-life care environments. The CRDL allowed learners in healthcare to experience and understand dementia care in a deeply human way, enhancing their empathy, confidence, and emotional intelligence. But it also sparked curiosity across other curriculum areas\u2014sparking interest in creative arts, SEND provision, and pastoral support. We felt this cross-disciplinary potential, combined with its emotional and educational impact, made the story worth sharing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What would be your best advice for someone considering entering the ALT Awards 2025, particularly from within further education like yourself? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My advice would be: don\u2019t underestimate the value of what you\u2019re doing just because it\u2019s different or specific to FE. The ALT Awards aren\u2019t just about large-scale systems; they celebrate innovation that makes a difference. If you\u2019re using technology in a way that connects with learners, improves practice, or starts new conversations\u2014write it up. Let your context be your strength and don\u2019t wait for perfection\u2014impact happens in many forms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you share any tips on how to effectively communicate and evidence the impact of your work in an ALT Award submission?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tell a clear story. Start with the \u2018why\u2019\u2014what gap were you trying to fill or what challenge were you addressing? With the CRDL, we focused on the lack of emotionally immersive learning in dementia education. We then demonstrated the difference it made, not just through anecdotal feedback, but also by showing how it influenced learner confidence, tutor delivery, and wider curriculum development. Use quotes, pictures, lesson observations, or reflections from learners\u2014they bring the story to life and demonstrate real-world outcomes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How has winning the ALT Award impacted your career or professional journey?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Winning the ALT Award has brought wider recognition to the work we\u2019re doing\u2014not just for me personally, but for the team and college as a whole. It\u2019s validated our belief that digital innovation isn\u2019t just about devices or platforms\u2014it\u2019s about thoughtful implementation. The award has opened doors for new partnerships and encouraged others across the college to think creatively about how specialist tools like the CRDL could be adapted into their own teaching practice. For me, it\u2019s reinforced the importance of continuing to lead and advocate for purposeful digital change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What’s the best prize or award you’ve ever won, whether in your personal life or professional career?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Professionally, the ALT Award definitely tops the list, it was a moment that acknowledged not just a single project but the demonstration of commitment to improving digital learning in FE. Personally, I\u2019d say any moment where a learner or colleague has thanked me for helping them see things differently – that\u2019s always been the most meaningful reward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you were on a deserted island, what is the one thing you would take?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A solar-powered journal and audio recorder. I\u2019d want a way to reflect, create, and record stories, because even on a deserted island, learning and connection still matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

We hope you enjoyed hearing from the chair of the ALT Award winners from 2024, Zoe Tierney. You can learn more about her journey to winning the prestigious award in her blog post: My Journey with the CRDL and Winning the Ufi VocTech Award.<\/a> If she has inspired you to enter this year’s Awards, make sure to submit by 14 July 2025. Learn more about the Awards and how to enter here. <\/a>Future profiles will feature colleagues involved with Special Interest and Members Groups, CMALT holders, ALT Members, Trustees, assessors, apprentices and ALT staff. If you are a current member of ALT and would be interested in featuring in an upcoming post or want to recommend someone members would be interested in hearing from, please contact us at blog@alt.ac.uk<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For this month’s blog profile, we’re excited to feature Zoe Tierney, winner of the ALT Award\u00a0for Use of Technology in Vocational Education, in partnership with\u00a0Ufi VocTech Trust in 2024. Zoe shares her inspiring journey, highlighting her achievements and insights that led to her winning an ALT Award. By sharing her experiences, Zoe sheds light on […]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13137,"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":[1646,1959],"tags":[1258,1415,1689,1948,2144,725,2145,2147,2146,1923,1949],"class_list":["post-13135","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alt-awards","category-profile-series","tag-altc-2","tag-events-2","tag-alt-awards","tag-alt-awards-2024","tag-alt-awards-2025","tag-altc","tag-award-winner","tag-ufi-voctech","tag-ufi-voctech-award-2024","tag-ufi-voctech-trust","tag-zoe-tierney"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2025\/05\/ALT-Awards-1.png?fit=734%2C550&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"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":13135,"position":0},"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. 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