CMALT is the Certified Membership scheme of the Association for Learning Technology. It has over 300 successful portfolios and the two main aims for anyone involved with learning technology are to:
- Have their experience and capabilities certified by peers
- Demonstrate that they are taking a committed and serious approach to their professional development.
This short video gives an introduction to the process and the prospectus has further details.
The ALT website has a wealth of support and resources to help you get started on the process including webinar recordings, guidelines and submission dates. A recent addition is a list of successful portfolios for you to get inspiration from (you will need to have an ALT username and password to access these).
The portfolio
You will need to complete a portfolio which centres on the core areas of:
- Operational issues
- Teaching, learning and/or assessment processes
- The wider context
- Communication
An additional area is a specialist option chosen by you and an extensive list provides some examples for inspiration. For each of the areas you are required to describe your work (emphasising ‘I’ as opposed to ‘we’), provide evidence to support this description and a reflection on how the activity has impacted on your practice.
We are planning a workshop for the ALT NI group for late summer to provide further information on the portfolio and some practical work towards getting started with creating your own portfolio.
I would personally recommend the scheme and have kept an open diary of my journey, musing on my frustrations and the benefits I have reaped throughout the reflection process, part 1, part 2, part 3 and part 4.
Register your interest with c.thomson@qub.ac.uk or via the ‘get involved’ form and keep an eye on the #altni hashtag on Twitter for more details.
Clare