CMALT – My Professional Development Goal for 2019

And suddenly, somehow, the fear of Y2K is now 20 years in the past. How did that happen?

I am coming into 2019 with 25 years of experience in EdTech now under my belt. It also happens that this year is the 25th anniversary of ETUG, an EdTech community of practice that I have been involved with for many years, and am now a community steward of. While I like to think I am always reflecting on my work and my practice, this year I want to be more explicit with reflecting on my work and my career.

I guess you could say it is a resolution (shudder), but it is a resolution with a goal. My goal this year is to obtain my CMALT (Certified Member of ALT) accreditation. CMALT is a peer based professional designation for learning technologists administered by ALT in the U.K.. The process involves CMALT candidates submitting a portfolio of their education technology work to ALT, which is then assessed by a group of current CMALT holders. It is my professional development goal this year to get this accreditation, and the portfolio based assessment is a great opportunity for me to dig into and reflect on my own professional history. You may see a blog psot or two about this process this year.

One of the reasons I want to obtain this designation is to have the chance to become an assessor in the future. I think being an assessor would be a fantastic way to develop deeper network ties with my peers working in other jurisdictions and contexts, and will offer a view into the types of projects and initiatives others in my field are working on. I don’t get the opportunity to do much peer review work in my current position, and it is something I feel like I want to do more of in the future as a way to connect more deeply with this field.

Here’s a brief overview of CMALT. Not sure if there is anyone else who might be interested in taking this, but if you are thinking about it, I’d love to go through this as a small, regional group. If you are interested, please let me know & perhaps we can journey down the CMALT path together.  I am shooting for a submission of my portfolio for the September 30th adjudication period.