Takeaways and (Personalised) Learnings from the 23rd Durham Blackboard Users’ Conference
The 23rd Durham Blackboard Users’ Conference was held just a few short weeks ago, with the theme focusing on the concept of Personalised Learning. The theme’s full title, Personalised Learning: Transformation or Twaddle?, was perhaps more than just a clever use of alliteration, as it seemed to hint at legitimate questions education practitioners might have about the practical realities of being able to tailor education to individual preferences.
Some of those questions were raised in the conference’s opening plenary, as Durham’s Malcolm Murray pondered the feasibility of personalised learning especially in relation to scaling; and, given the current financial climate of the HE sector, the tools, training, and infrastructure needed to support this would perhaps be out of reach, at least for the time being.
Somewhat unsurprisingly, AI was cautiously pointed to as a viable option in helping to facilitate the personalised learning journey. Continuing the cautious approach to AI was EDE’s very own Alan Hamilton discussing the rationale, processes, and findings of the SADIE project, with noted interest from some attendees in use of the framework in their respective institutions. A final mention of AI and a native tool that demonstrated AI led adaptive learning scenarios implemented in a course. While genuinely interesting to see these scenarios play out, it was also met with legitimate concerns of how one might quality assure a course with AI generative content that hasn’t yet been generated. If anything, it further strengthened the notion that when it comes to AI it is perhaps wise to remain cautious for now.
In truth, the conference served to highlight that there remain more questions than answers surrounding the successful, scalable implementation of personalised learning. However, all is not lost, and one tool stood out from the rest given its readiness for implementation at wide scale, its ease of use, and its ability to give an individualised learning experience in an instructor led environment.
Step forward our friend in need, Ally. One of the presentations showcased how Ally’s Accessible File Formats were promoted to Sheffield University’s students along with a questionnaire to them in a project aimed at better understanding student uses, preferences, and understanding of Ally. While it goes without saying that Ally is first and foremost an accessibility tool, so too is it true that it can help to enhance the learner experience for all learners. The results showed that often times the student would choose an alt format (instead of the format intended by the instructor) simply because it was preferrable to them. So, if a student has the choice of how they want to engage with content, and this ultimately helps them to make meaning of their learning, isn’t this an achievable form of personalised learning?
It reinforced my belief that Ally must be better utilised across the university, and in being better utilised the impetus is on all of us. If we shift our mindset to think of progress and not perfection when it comes to teaching content, and if we increase awareness of the tool across the university, then the positive impact on the learner experience is two-fold; it means that content is more accessible from the outset, while the student is better informed about the alternate content types available to them should they require an alt format, be it for an accessibility requirement or simply to personalise their learning.
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