During my early working life (1993-1998) I held various administrative posts within both the private and public sector including working in manufacturing, local authority, and further/higher education. Throughout all of these posts I had a keen interest in computing and was always looking for ways to utilise technology to facilitate me in my work.
In 1997 I made the decision to develop my IT skills and knowledge by enrolling on a part-time foundation year in business information systems at my local college with the aim of starting a career in computing. Towards the end of my first year of study I not only achieved the Tim Curtis ‘Student of the Year’ Award (to my astonishment), but also secured an IT Helpdesk Support position at a local paint manufacturers. Over the next six years I was funded by my employer to continue studying part-time and progressed upwards through the company to Technical Support, IT Trainer, and then finally to Web Developer which gave me vast knowledge and experience of IT service delivery, training, and web development.
After completing my BSc Computing in 2004 I secured a post with the University of Manchester working jointly for their central Information Services Division and their Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences Web Team as a Web Developer/Trainer. Although my role was predominantly to develop web applications and websites and to train administrative/academic staff to develop their own research sites, I also supported staff in using the institutions Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) - WebCT/Blackboard.
Over the next few years I became more involved in the support of the VLE and various other learning technologies and my role evolved into the area of eLearning. I was chosen to represent the Faculty on a number of eLearning strategic committees and in 2006 I was supported by the University to complete a Masters in Online and Distance Education (MAODE) part-time at the Open University (OU).
After completing my MAODE in 2008 I was asked to join the newly established Faculty eLearning Team as a Learning Technologist where my role involved the planning, design and development of eLearning resources in collaboration with academic staff, and providing advice and guidance to academic staff on the opportunities for using technology in their teaching.
In October 2009 I joined the University of Salford as Learning Technology Adviser in the newly established Academic Development Unit (ADU), formerly LDU. Here, my role is to support the School of Computing, Science & Engineering and the School of Environment & Life Sciences by advising on the adoption, application and evaluation of appropriate learning technologies for learning, teaching and assessment. In addition to supporting the Schools I also work closely with the other ADU team members to deliver staff development opportunities relating to Technology-enhanced Learning (TeL) for colleagues across the University.
