4a: Communication and Working With Others

CMALT Guidance

Candidates should demonstrate their knowledge and skills in communication through working with others. Statements could describe the way in which your work involves collaboration, for example through participation in a team or acting as an interface to other groups. Also discuss how you disseminate your practice, for example through presentation or publications.

This section can help you directly address some of the CMALT core principles: you might discuss how you communicate to keep up to date, how you learn from peers and colleagues, or how you disseminate your practice, for example through presentation, publications, or other forms of communication. You may also choose to discuss how you select appropriate forms of communication and utilise different technologies.

Relevant evidence might include reflection on collaborations with others and testimonials from colleagues, or evidence showing your activity within a team process, how you have brokered support for a particular initiative (for example from a technical or legal support service), or how you have worked with others to solve problems. Where your evidence involved collaboration, please acknowledge the contribution of others; and remember that it is your responsibility to ensure that evidence is appropriately anonymised and/or that appropriate permissions have been obtained.

Description

Communication and collaboration are central to my work as a learning technologist. I regularly serve as a liaison between technical, academic, and administrative teams by translating needs and feedback across different roles. This includes translating technical detail into practical implications for pedagogy and accessibility, and vice versa.

During the evaluation of Blackboard Ultra, Brightspace, and Canvas, I shared my Web Accessibility Resources and Tools: Guidelines, Checklists, and Testing Solutions PDF with colleagues across faculties. Although developed over several years, I recognised its value in helping staff test accessibility features more confidently and consistently during the trial phase. This helped position accessibility as a shared responsibility and gave staff practical tools to support inclusive evaluation.

I also worked closely with colleagues in the Business School to clean and verify staff evaluation data during proof-of-concept testing. This process required sustained communication to align on data formats and ensure accuracy. The collaboration not only resolved immediate issues but also strengthened cross-team relationships and clarified expectations for future processes.

Throughout these projects, I actively contributed to regular meetings, particularly regarding the accessibility implications of platform design and the inclusive use of learning technologies. I frequently highlighted potential risks and shared examples of good practice, including screen reader support, keyboard navigation, and inclusive assessment design.

Reflection

Sharing the accessibility PDF during the LMS evaluation highlighted the value of asynchronous resources — even those developed incrementally — in supporting others. Feedback from colleagues showed they appreciated having clear, actionable guidance when engaging with unfamiliar platforms.

This experience reinforced something I've learned throughout my career: effective communication is not just about explaining, but about enabling. Whether walking someone through a tool or writing documentation, I aim to ensure resources are accessible to colleagues with varying levels of confidence and technical expertise.

Working with staff from different faculties has deepened my understanding of how to tailor communication. Different disciplines bring different assumptions, constraints, and terminologies — and I've learned to adapt how I frame solutions depending on the audience. In STEM contexts, I may focus on testing tools and code snippets; in languages or humanities, I emphasise structure, design, and student experience.

These collaborations have shown me that the most lasting impact often comes not from a single training session or document, but from fostering relationships, maintaining open communication, and making inclusive practice easier to adopt.

Summary

This section demonstrates how I:

• Collaborated across faculties to support LMS evaluation and platform transition
• Shared accessibility testing resources to promote inclusive, cross-institutional practice
• Worked with colleagues to resolve data issues and improve system accuracy
• Advocated for accessibility and inclusion during multi-stakeholder discussions
• Used multiple forms of communication — including meetings, shared documents, and asynchronous walkthroughs — to support collaboration and knowledge sharing

Evidence

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Further Reading

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