{"id":8180,"date":"2019-09-02T08:00:41","date_gmt":"2019-09-02T07:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/?p=8180"},"modified":"2023-02-03T13:58:32","modified_gmt":"2023-02-03T13:58:32","slug":"what-makes-a-learning-technologist-part-1-of-4-job-titles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/2019\/09\/what-makes-a-learning-technologist-part-1-of-4-job-titles\/","title":{"rendered":"“What makes a Learning Technologist?” – Part 1 of 4: Job titles"},"content":{"rendered":"

A post by Daniel Scott, Digital Practice Adviser at Nottingham Trent University, b.danielsc@googlemail.com, @_Daniel_Scott<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Background to the series<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Inspired by topical discussions on the diversity, complexity and uniqueness of Learning Technologist roles, myself and Simon Thomson<\/a> (University of Liverpool) recently invited the ALTC community to share their stories of becoming a ‘Learning Technologist’ in all its guises and across a range of educational contexts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In-conjunction with ALT, a short questionnaire was created to capture the community\u2019s stories. Working with Chris Melia<\/a> (University of Central Lancashire), we have now pulled together these stories and are presenting them as a series of ALT blog posts entitled: “What makes a Learning Technologist?”. Submissions were made anonymously and credited where necessary \u2013 we are only publishing those who have given us permission to do so. Even if participants did not what to have their story published via the blog, we encouraged them to consider completing the form so we could capture the breadth of journeys to becoming a Learning Technologist. We hope this will prove a valuable source of information for the ALT community, that aims to articulate the often-debated, ambiguous and multi-faceted role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Association for Learning Technology (ALT) defines Learning Technology as the broad range of communication, information and related technologies that can be used to support learning, teaching and assessment. Our community is made up of people who are actively involved in understanding, managing, researching, supporting or enabling learning with the use of Learning Technology. We believe that you don’t necessarily need to be called ‘Learning Technologist’ to be one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Setting the scene<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Many thanks to those who shared their stories with us \u2013 38 responded to our questionnaire. As the blog posts on this topic will reveal in the next few months, the submissions tell very unique stories of how individuals came to be Learning Technologists or are indeed in the process of developing into one. The responses include insights on how they perceive their role, what it entails, the best parts of it, and some of challenges they are up against.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To kick off the first blog post of this series, 1 of 4, we will explore the findings from the questions \u2018What is your current job title?\u2019 and \u2018What would your ideal job title be?\u2019 – Two interesting questions that draw a comparison of the purpose and current duties of a Learning Technologist role, to what interpretations and aspirations they have of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Presenting the data & telling the stories<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The chart below represents individuals reponses in relation to the questions asked around thier job title.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Bar<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

34% (13) of respondents\nstated that they had Learning Technologist in their title, whilst 66% (25) had\na different title, e.g. education, blended, designer or other that includes\nduties of a Learning Technologist. 16% (6) said that they are happy with their\nLearning Technologist title. 11% (4) wanted their title to be Learning\nTechnologist. 74% (28) wanted their title to be more specific or have\nsuffixes\/prefixes to indicate seniority or specialisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learning Technologist is fine as it does describe what I do, but it doesn’t mean anything to anyone outside of a university or FE college.<\/p>Anonymous<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The trends emerging is that there is an increase in the words \u2018digital\u2019 and \u2018design\u2019 in Learning Technologist titles. Perhaps this is due to many organisations focusing on learning design to increase their online and blended provisions. However, there are different interpretations of the identity of this role. Learning design is mostly perceived as facilitating and coordinating the creativity, collaboration and communication of the vision and development of online courses and resources. But some learning design roles are more technical based, i.e. producing learning and teaching materials. Respondents with \u2018manager\u2019 in their title wanted this removing, whilst many showed a desire for more senior based roles and how they view to operate in their contexts. Interestingly, many Learning Technologists have different focuses, even though this is their title. For example, some Learning Technologists focus on more technical support than pedagogical support. Again, this can add confusion and murkiness to the role as it\u2019s a mix of both, but often led by pedagogy.  Furthermore, respondents noted that they would prefer to have \u2018developer\u2019 in their title and closer relationships to academia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not bothered \u2013 title isn’t relevant, actual role is.<\/p>Richard Oelmann<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Language has a huge role to play in titling and how it conveys the meaning of the Learning Technologist role. It\u2019s important to question and challenge the identity, visibility and understanding of this institutionally – as it does affect how people engage and work with them as professionals. It\u2019s regularly asked \u2018what do they do\u2019 \u2013 articulation of our purpose is key, along with defining contextual and specific projects we are involved in and how they align to strategic objectives. Equally, it\u2019s crucial knowing where and how we are represented by our \u2018cheerleaders\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Something including digital learning in it. Often the term ‘Learning Technology’ is misunderstood, so it would have to include something specific that really emphases the focus on pedagogy too.<\/p>Matt East<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

A healthy debate can be had on the word \u2018technology\u2019 in the job title. Most titles have it before the word learning, with technology appearing more prominent than learning and pedagogy – going against our highly favoured principle of pedagogy before technology. However, for marketing and visibility purposes technology often remains in the title, as it does with many educational technology courses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Happy with Technology Enhanced Learning Advisor :-) I sometimes wonder if the word ‘technology’ needs removing though \u2013 learning is learning!<\/p>Leanne Fitton<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

She who must be obeyed.<\/p>Anonymous<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Yes! Whilst many in the organisation may hold the title of \u2018power\u2019, we as Learning Technologists enable and empower many of our staff to being digitally capable, creative and innovative. Therefore, bow before us! 😉<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo by Mark Basarab<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Listed below in alphabetical order are the current and ideal job titles that were submitted to the questionnaire. The main message here is that there isn\u2019t a single defined job title for a Learning Technologist, proving the many facets and nuances of this diverse role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n