ALT-Scotland SIG Update for ALT Newsletter

I think more folks who are interested in Educational Technology in Scotland should become members of the Association for Learning Technology - with thanks to Linda Creanor who composed recent newsletter below

Here is what we are  up to at the moment ...

The ALT-Scotland SIG was officially launched at ALT-C in September 2012 where there was a good attendance and much enthusiasm at the inaugural meeting.  ALT-Scotland is a national SIG for practitioners and researchers in learning technology who are based in Scotland and it provides a forum to –

·         further the aims of ALT in Scotland

·         promote the technology agenda in all sectors of Scottish education

·         encourage sharing of expertise, resources and best practice in learning technology within the context of Scottish education

·         influence relevant policy and strategy

·         develop constructive relationships with related organisations and committees

The original ALT-Scotland group had been established in 2009 to support ALT institutional representatives and Scotland-based committee members, however at a meeting on the 14^th June 2012, it was agreed that we should seek to formalise the group by proposing it as a national SIG. This would allow the group to expand its membership to ALT members throughout Scotland and become a more inclusive and influential forum with greater potential to influence the strategic direction of learning technology in Scottish education.  The SIG application was approved by the Membership Services Committee in early September 2012.

The first meeting of the ALT-Scotland steering committee took place at GCU on the 11th October and we agreed a series of actions to move things forward.  As well as a JISC mail list for members, we will host a face-to- face meeting in June each year to which we will invite representatives of the Scottish Funding Council, Scottish Qualifications Authority and key Scottish Government contacts to discuss priority issues for learning technology.  In addition, we intend to present occasional webinars for members over the year and are already contacting potential speakers.

We will also gather information on OER use and strategy across the Scottish education sectors and submit a short report to the Scottish Government to inform policy and practice. Through this, we hope to encourage a Scottish response to the UNESCO OER declaration published earlier this year.

If you are a Scottish-based ALT Individual,  Associate or Organisational member and would like to get involved, you can join the ALT-Scotland JISC mail list by following the link on the ALT-Scotland SIG web page at http://www.alt.ac.uk/node/625.   To find out more or to make suggestions on areas of interest we might address, please contact any of the SIG officers listed below.

Prof Linda Creanor, GCU, l.creanor@gcu.ac.uk (Co-Chair)

Joe Wilson, SQA,  Joe.Wilson@sqa.org.uk (Co-Chair)

Celeste McLaughlin, JISC RSC Scotland, celeste.mclaughlin@rsc-scotland.ac.uk

Lorna Campbell, JISC CETIS, Strathclyde University, lorna.m.campbell@icloud.com

Dr Lesley Diack, Robert Gordon University, h.l.diack@rgu.ac.uk

Martin Hawksey, JISC CETIS, Strathclyde University, m.hawksey@gmail.com