Association for Learning Technology
Encyclopedia
The Association for Learning Technology (ALT) is a United Kingdom
professional body
and scholarly association. ALT brings together people and organizations with an interest in the use of learning technology. ALT was founded in 1993 and is a registered charity (Charity Number 1063519).
, public sector agencies such as JISC and the Higher Education Academy
, and companies such as Blackboard
, Google
, and Toshiba
. Individual members are mainly based in UK public sector education. There are three categories of individual member: Associate Member, Ordinary Member, and, under a scheme which has operated since 2005, Certified Member (CMALT).
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
professional body
Professional body
A professional association is usually a nonprofit organization seeking to further a particular profession, the interests of individuals engaged in that profession, and the public interest.The roles of these professional associations have been variously defined: "A group of people in a...
and scholarly association. ALT brings together people and organizations with an interest in the use of learning technology. ALT was founded in 1993 and is a registered charity (Charity Number 1063519).
Aims
ALT aims to:- be an authoritative voice on the place that learning technologists and learning technology have “at the heart of modern learning”;
- support member organisations to achieve their missions more efficiently and cost effectively;
- recognise and acknowledge excellence in professional achievement, research and practice;
- bring together those with shared problems across sectors, technologies, pedagogies, job roles and countries to help to provide research-informed solutions;
- be an agile and transparent organisation, responding quickly and effectively to developments, and espousing open standards and processes;
- remain an independent membership organisation thereby achieving extra reach and leverage.
Membership
ALT has over 200 organisational and sponsoring members, and over 600 individual members. Organisational members include the majority of the UK's universities. Sponsoring members include some of the UK's funding councils, for example the Skills Funding AgencySkills Funding Agency
The Skills Funding Agency is one of two successor organisations that emerged from the closure of the Learning and Skills Council...
, public sector agencies such as JISC and the Higher Education Academy
Higher Education Academy
The Higher Education Academy is an independent organisation in the United Kingdom that supports higher education institutions with strategies for the development of research and evaluation to improve the learning experience for students.-History:...
, and companies such as Blackboard
Blackboard
A chalkboard is a reusable writing surface.Blackboard may also refer to:* Blackboards are synonymous with "boards of infamy", an element of agitation-propaganda in the Soviet Union in 1930s, coincidental with Holodomor...
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
, and Toshiba
Toshiba
is a multinational electronics and electrical equipment corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. It is a diversified manufacturer and marketer of electrical products, spanning information & communications equipment and systems, Internet-based solutions and services, electronic components and...
. Individual members are mainly based in UK public sector education. There are three categories of individual member: Associate Member, Ordinary Member, and, under a scheme which has operated since 2005, Certified Member (CMALT).
Publications
- ALT-J – Research in Learning Technology an international peer-reviewed journal devoted to research and good practice in the use of learning technologies (the journal was renamed "Research in Learning Technology - The Journal of the Association for Learning Technology" from 1 January 2011);
- regular responses to consultations relating to learning technology and e-learning – most of these are available on the ALT web site at http://www.alt.ac.uk/documents.html;
- a fortnightly members' email digest;
- a quarterly printed Newsletter, ALT-N, available also in web format at http://newsletter.alt.ac.uk/.
Activities
ALT's activities include:- ALT-C, which is the UK's main conference for learning technologists, see http://www.alt.ac.uk/past_alt-c.html;
- workshops and occasional smaller conferences;
- certification of members under the CMALT scheme, see http://www.alt.ac.uk/cmalt/;
- working in partnership with other organisations, such as JISC, see http://www.jisc.ac.uk/index.cfm?name=partner_alt.