{"id":13378,"date":"2025-10-20T11:00:33","date_gmt":"2025-10-20T10:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/?p=13378"},"modified":"2025-10-15T11:11:27","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T10:11:27","slug":"piloting-learning-technologies-from-dreams-to-reality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/2025\/10\/piloting-learning-technologies-from-dreams-to-reality\/","title":{"rendered":"Piloting learning technologies: from dreams to reality"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"info\">By Dr Steph Comley (University of Exeter) and Cat Bailey (Jisc)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p id=\"E142\">Piloting. Proof of concept. \u201cLet\u2019s use this new tool.\u201d The way learning technologies are introduced to colleges and universities varies. Sometimes pilots are undertaken, other times a learning tool is introduced and no one is quite sure why.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If a pilot is undertaken, often they&#8217;re perceived as symbolic and being driven by an agenda rather than a genuine evaluation. In today&#8217;s climate of stretched budgets, heavy workloads and sustainability goals, we need pilots that are focused, decisive and genuinely useful. We should be clear on why technologies are being introduced and have a transparent methodology to achieve this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What is a pilot?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>So what is a pilot and what is involved? What will take you from dreams to reality?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Piloting can involve:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Scoping the need,&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Discovering what\u2019s already happening in the sector&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Costing and writing a business case&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Liaising with legal and procurement&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Consideration of ethical, environmental and accessibility impact&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Collaborating with teams such as IT, leadership and library colleagues&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Consulting user voice<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>as well as actually running the pilot, and feeding back results at the conclusion.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pilots should be real pilots and not soft rollouts. There must be confidence and support to say, &#8216;this tool isn&#8217;t fit for purpose&#8217; if that&#8217;s what the evidence shows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Building on ALTC23 and Anne-Marie Scott&#8217;s challenge<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>At ALTC 2023, Anne-Marie Scott challenged us to think critically about how we adopt technology and the processes behind it. We need to give real thought to why we are using and procuring new tools. Do we need them? What is the benefit? What is the cost from a monetary and environmental viewpoint?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This raises further questions:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>What does a real pilot look like?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>How do we avoid pilots becoming soft rollouts?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What frameworks can help ensure pilots are robust, inclusive and purposeful?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why frameworks matter<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Positively, Digital Learning teams are being involved more in the decisions and planning around pilots and, in many cases, are leading on these. With this enhanced presence comes the need for a robust and joined up process to help successfully run the pilot and ultimately provide the tools that our learners and colleagues need.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We have both been involved in running pilots of new learning technology and feel that a framework to help guide us would have been really valuable as we began our journey. It would have helped with confidence in our decision making, as well as supporting us to articulate and manage expectations around the process and outcome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Join the conversation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Join us (Steph Comley and Cat Bailey) at ALTC on the Friday to explore some piloting scenarios and share your own ideas on what makes a successful pilot. These ideas will all feed into a framework that can be shared across the sector and help us run successful pilots for learning technology that will support learners in their learning journey.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We hope to see you then!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text is-stacked-on-mobile\" style=\"grid-template-columns:25% auto\"><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2025\/08\/ALTC25-Themes-Social-Posts.jpg?resize=400%2C400&amp;ssl=1\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\"><a href=\"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/altc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>ALT\u2019s Annual Conference<\/strong><\/a>&nbsp;is one of the UK\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size\">ALTC25&nbsp;will take place in Glasgow on 23 and 24 October 2025.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.alt.ac.uk\/civicrm\/event\/info?reset=1&amp;id=987\">Register closes 20 October 2025<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Piloting. Proof of concept. \u201cLet\u2019s use this new tool.\u201d The way learning technologies are introduced to colleges and universities varies. Sometimes pilots are undertaken, other times a learning tool is introduced and no one is quite sure why. If a pilot is undertaken, often they&#8217;re perceived as symbolic and being driven by an agenda rather [&hellip;]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13247,"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":[2215,2216,1496,1409],"tags":[1258,2217,1918,2236,725,2218,2256,774,2255],"class_list":["post-13378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-altc25","category-altc25-annual-conference","category-annual-conference","category-events","tag-altc-2","tag-altc25","tag-alt-annual-conference","tag-alt-annual-conference-2025","tag-altc","tag-altc25-2","tag-cat-bailey","tag-community","tag-steph-comley"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2025\/08\/TEMPLATE-DO-NOT-EDIT-THIS-PAGE-14.png?fit=734%2C550&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":13397,"url":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/2025\/10\/explore-the-voices-and-resources-of-altc25\/","url_meta":{"origin":13378,"position":0},"title":"Explore the voices and resources of ALTC25\u00a0","author":"ALT","date":"24 October 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"We would like to thank everyone for contributing to and taking part in ALT\u2019s Annual Conference 2025. It was a delight to have so many of you joining us in Glasgow. As we do every year, we are collecting links to blog posts and resources for and about the conference.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;ALTC25&quot;","block_context":{"text":"ALTC25","link":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/category\/altc25\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2025\/10\/Blog-cover-image-template-8.png?fit=734%2C550&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2025\/10\/Blog-cover-image-template-8.png?fit=734%2C550&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2025\/10\/Blog-cover-image-template-8.png?fit=734%2C550&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2025\/10\/Blog-cover-image-template-8.png?fit=734%2C550&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":13531,"url":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/2026\/02\/reflections-of-alt-conference-2025-from-a-digital-assessment-perspective\/","url_meta":{"origin":13378,"position":1},"title":"Reflections of the ALT Annual Conference 2025, from a Digital Assessment Perspective","author":"ALT","date":"4 February 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"In the run up to ALTC25 Revisited, we wanted to share some of our reflections on The ALT Annual Conference 2025. The conference marked significant strides on enhancing student and staff experiences through innovative platforms and practices. The series of presentations at the conference offered insights into current trends and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;ALTC25&quot;","block_context":{"text":"ALTC25","link":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/category\/events\/annual-conference\/altc25-annual-conference\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2026\/01\/TEMPLATE-DO-NOT-EDIT-THIS-PAGE-23.png?fit=734%2C550&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2026\/01\/TEMPLATE-DO-NOT-EDIT-THIS-PAGE-23.png?fit=734%2C550&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2026\/01\/TEMPLATE-DO-NOT-EDIT-THIS-PAGE-23.png?fit=734%2C550&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2026\/01\/TEMPLATE-DO-NOT-EDIT-THIS-PAGE-23.png?fit=734%2C550&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":13246,"url":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/2025\/08\/altc25-guest-post-altc-comes-to-glasgow-finally\/","url_meta":{"origin":13378,"position":2},"title":"ALTC25 Guest Post: ALTC Comes to Glasgow \u2014 Finally!\u00a0","author":"ALT","date":"12 August 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"After years of campaigning to bring ALTC, or a related ALT event, to Glasgow, it\u2019s finally happening in 2025. I nearly managed to host #OER21 at City of Glasgow College, but COVID had other plans. I\u2019ve also long advocated for a more college-friendly time of year for the conference. This\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;ALTC25&quot;","block_context":{"text":"ALTC25","link":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/category\/altc25\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2025\/08\/TEMPLATE-DO-NOT-EDIT-THIS-PAGE-14.png?fit=734%2C550&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2025\/08\/TEMPLATE-DO-NOT-EDIT-THIS-PAGE-14.png?fit=734%2C550&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2025\/08\/TEMPLATE-DO-NOT-EDIT-THIS-PAGE-14.png?fit=734%2C550&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2025\/08\/TEMPLATE-DO-NOT-EDIT-THIS-PAGE-14.png?fit=734%2C550&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":13339,"url":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/2025\/10\/looking-ahead-to-altc25-vital-dialogue-for-changed-times\/","url_meta":{"origin":13378,"position":3},"title":"Looking ahead to #ALTC25. Vital dialogue for changed times\u2026","author":"ALT","date":"7 October 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"When the ALT Annual Conference was last held in Scotland, at the University of Edinburgh in September 2019, we were unknowingly a few short months away from the world suddenly becoming a more precarious place. For education, the challenges brought forth by the global pandemic included the emergency move to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;ALTC25&quot;","block_context":{"text":"ALTC25","link":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/category\/altc25\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2025\/08\/TEMPLATE-DO-NOT-EDIT-THIS-PAGE-14.png?fit=734%2C550&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2025\/08\/TEMPLATE-DO-NOT-EDIT-THIS-PAGE-14.png?fit=734%2C550&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2025\/08\/TEMPLATE-DO-NOT-EDIT-THIS-PAGE-14.png?fit=734%2C550&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2025\/08\/TEMPLATE-DO-NOT-EDIT-THIS-PAGE-14.png?fit=734%2C550&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":13369,"url":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/2025\/10\/accessibility-first-inclusive-design-from-the-starting-point\/","url_meta":{"origin":13378,"position":4},"title":"Accessibility first: Inclusive design from the starting point","author":"ALT","date":"15 October 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Ahead of ALTC 2025, I\u2019ve been thinking about what it truly means to design learning technology with empathy and inclusion at its heart. The conference will soon bring these conversations into focus, but the work starts now by putting accessibility first. In today\u2019s digital-first world, learning technology opens doors to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;ALTC25&quot;","block_context":{"text":"ALTC25","link":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/category\/altc25\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2025\/08\/TEMPLATE-DO-NOT-EDIT-THIS-PAGE-14.png?fit=734%2C550&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2025\/08\/TEMPLATE-DO-NOT-EDIT-THIS-PAGE-14.png?fit=734%2C550&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2025\/08\/TEMPLATE-DO-NOT-EDIT-THIS-PAGE-14.png?fit=734%2C550&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2025\/08\/TEMPLATE-DO-NOT-EDIT-THIS-PAGE-14.png?fit=734%2C550&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":13367,"url":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/2025\/10\/from-fragmented-support-to-strategic-partner-reimagining-digital-education-enhancement-at-leeds\/","url_meta":{"origin":13378,"position":5},"title":"From Fragmented Support to Strategic Partner: Reimagining Digital Education Enhancement at Leeds","author":"ALT","date":"17 October 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"As universities strive to deliver more inclusive, resilient, and pedagogically ambitious curricula, the role of digital education support is under more scrutiny than ever. At the University of Leeds, we have spent the past few years driving a transformation of our learning technologist teams, from siloed, faculty-bound support staff to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;ALTC25&quot;","block_context":{"text":"ALTC25","link":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/category\/altc25\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2025\/08\/TEMPLATE-DO-NOT-EDIT-THIS-PAGE-14.png?fit=734%2C550&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2025\/08\/TEMPLATE-DO-NOT-EDIT-THIS-PAGE-14.png?fit=734%2C550&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2025\/08\/TEMPLATE-DO-NOT-EDIT-THIS-PAGE-14.png?fit=734%2C550&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1112\/2025\/08\/TEMPLATE-DO-NOT-EDIT-THIS-PAGE-14.png?fit=734%2C550&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6CxU9-3tM","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13378","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13378"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13378\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13384,"href":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13378\/revisions\/13384"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13247"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}