Future Directions in Learning Technology
Looking ahead, I intend to further integrate the learning technology and development aspects of my practice, with a particular focus on accessibility, open standards, and learner agency. My experience supporting the selection and deployment of learning technologies at the institutional level has reaffirmed my commitment to designing tools and systems that are inclusive, evidence-informed, and sensitive to diverse learning contexts.
Over the next few years, I plan to deepen my engagement with accessibility standards such as WCAG 2.2 and EN 301 549, and to work more actively with user-centred design and co-creation practices, ensuring that learners and educators are directly involved in shaping the tools they use.
I'm increasingly drawn to the intersection of pedagogy and code, especially in projects involving LMS platforms, open educational resources, and interactive front ends built with technologies like React, GraphQL, and PostgreSQL. I hope to contribute to open-source tools or standards in this space, whether through code contributions or by developing guidance to support collaboration between educators and developers.
I also plan to continue writing about what I learn in coding and accessibility through my blog, using it as a space to share practical examples, reflective insights, and reusable solutions for the wider learning technology community. As my technical work evolves, I will keep refining my use of TypeScript — a language I increasingly value for its ability to catch errors early and promote clarity through strong typing. I also intend to expand my use of automated accessibility testing frameworks such as @axe-core/playwright, which I currently use on karlhorning.dev to identify and resolve accessibility issues during development. This experience has shown how valuable automated testing can be in catching issues early and embedding accessibility as a core part of the development process rather than an afterthought, and I plan to continue applying it in future projects alongside manual testing.
In future projects, I aim to deepen my data-informed approach to accessibility evaluation, combining automated testing with analytics on issue trends and resolution rates to establish evidence-based accessibility benchmarks. I also plan to continue developing my Style Guides repository, which consolidates documentation standards for READMEs, CSS, comments, and Git commits. Building on this foundation, I intend to expand it into a broader developer education resource — creating accessible, maintainable coding examples and guidance that support inclusive engineering practices. This will allow me to unite my background as an educator with my technical expertise, helping others apply clarity, accessibility, and sustainability principles in their own development work.
Alongside accessibility, I am increasingly interested in ethical and sustainable design in educational technology — exploring how performance optimisation, energy efficiency, and inclusive development intersect in building equitable, responsible systems for learning.
Continuing professional development will remain a priority. I plan to undertake further formal training in digital accessibility and ethics in AI, and to stay actively engaged with ALT and other professional networks that foster the sharing of inclusive, evidence-based practice. I am also considering CMALT Lead or Senior CMALT in the future, particularly if I move into a role with strategic oversight of learning technologies or staff development.
Finally, I aim to mentor others entering the learning technology and development professions, particularly those from underrepresented or non-traditional backgrounds. Having benefited from strong peer networks myself, I believe it is important to give back by encouraging reflective, learner-centred practice and by supporting others in developing their own inclusive, sustainable approaches to technology.