This is an archive of the 2013 version of ocTEL.

ocTEL principles and values

Posted on by Maren Deepwell Posted in About this course, course design, Course Reader

ocTEL is the Open Course for Technology Enhanced Learning developed and run by the Association for Learning Technology (ALT) and its members.

This is the first online course that the Association has run and while all first attempts at such undertakings can be a steep learning curve and necessarily involve some quantity of unknowns, there are a number of overarching principles and values which have shaped it.

For participants we have set out the Terms of Participation at http://octel.alt.ac.uk/terms-of-participation .

OcTEL is:

  1. free to attend and open to all;

  2. largely designed and run by ALT members on a voluntary basis;

  3. designed, where possible, to minimise requirements regarding multiple tools and logins;

  4. built using Open Educational Resources wherever possible;

  5. includes references to resources contributed by partner organisations;

  6. designed and built to ensure accessibility for all participants;

  7. published under a Creative Commons licence;

  8. supported by a group of volunteer tutors;

  9. actively seeking feedback from participants and the wider community to inform its future development.

OcTEL will play a part in achieving ALT’s mission  to ensure that use of learning technology is effective and efficient, informed by research and practice, and grounded in an understanding of the underlying technologies, their capabilities and the situations into which they are placed.

OcTEL reflects ALT’s definition of what learning technology is and whom it is relevant to:
Learning technology is the broad range of communication, information and related technologies that can be used to support learning, teaching, and assessment. A very wide range of people in industry and in private and public sector education have learning technology as a core part of their role.

OcTEL builds on the overarching principles of CMALT, ALT’s peer-based accreditation scheme both in its design/content and in the activities participants will engage in, helping participants to demonstrate and encourage:

  • A commitment to exploring and understanding the interplay between technology and learning;

  • A commitment to keep up to date with new technologies;

  • An empathy with and willingness to learn from colleagues from different backgrounds and specialisms;

  • A commitment to communicate and disseminate effective practice.

The initial development of ocTEL is funded by the Innovation and Transformation Fund of Leadership Foundation For Higher Education. ALT is committed to its further development in 2013 and beyond, in order to to broaden the course to make it more directly related to teaching and learning beyond Higher Education.