Core Area 4
Communication and Working with Others
Candidates should demonstrate their knowledge and skills in communication through 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.
CMALT Guidance 2019
Day to Day Communication
The impact of the COVID19 Pandemic has had a profound effect on the way people have communicated. While working remotely and ‘pivoting’ online became a completely new way of working for many, I was already part of a fully distributed team when the pandemic hit and have continued in a remote role at Jisc. At ALT we used Google tools to communicate but at Jisc we mostly use Microsoft-based products. I must confess to having a preference for Google so I found this challenging when I moved to Jisc but I have persevered !🔎CP1💻CP2
I communicate using a variety of different technologies with colleagues depending on the purpose and context of what I am trying to do. For example, at ALT I used to use Google Meet on a daily basis for video calls and meetings. This was either on a one-to-one basis or any combination of colleagues, including the full team who met at least twice a week. Now at Jisc, we use Teams mostly for the same sort of thing.
I always share my calendar so that colleagues know what meetings I have and can easily see my availability. I find this is so important when working remotely and I have found that I need to be quite deliberate in my actions and intentions. For example, when I need to contact a colleague quickly, I usually check their calendar to see if they might be available and always start my chat thread with a gentle ‘ Hello, can I ask you a quick question ?’ or words to that effect. That way my colleague can simply reply that they are in the middle of something etc. I try not to make assumptions about their availability. When I communicate with external colleagues, this is often by email or these days via synchronous video calls, at ALT we used to use a telephony system called Ring Central but there isn’t anything like that at Jisc. Our members use a variety of platforms though and therefore I am happy to meet them using whichever online platform they prefer. I have used many different ones in previous roles including Zoom, Adobe Connect, Microsoft Teams, Skype, GoToMeeting, Cisco Webex, Facebook Live, WhatsApp and Apple Facetime. 🔎CP1💻CP2
I communicate regularly using collaborative documents, at ALT I used to use google docs on a regular basis and shared a google drive to manage our operational activities. As we were are a small team it was relatively easy to keep track of who is responsible for what and simple to sort things out if miscommunication did occur. This is very different at Jisc, it is a big organisation and I am now very mindful of the importance of being as clear as possible in relation to document storage and communication generally. I find that using Microsoft Office to collaborate is less user-friendly than Google products so this is a headache I have just learned to live with. 🔎CP1💻CP2
I have included below the technologies table that I referred to earlier in the portfolio as this also includes details on how I use various technologies to communicate, together with some additional examples.
I have previously had comments from people on how warm and friendly I come across virtually, which really makes my day. There are of course some days when I might have something else going on in my life that I have to be mindful of to make sure that I am communicating effectively. It doesn’t work 100% of the time but I do try to enforce a ‘pause’ for example before responding to an email if I think it would be beneficial to put some space before replying. Having been a receptionist in a previous life I am also very used to immediately smiling when I answer the phone which helps in terms of tone and being approachable, this comes quite naturally to me when translated to video calls ! 💗CP3📢CP4
Bitmoji
It would be remiss of me not to mention my love of using Bitmoji’s to communicate with others. I pretty much use these on a daily basis and find that it breaks the ice and sometimes Bitmoji Deb is able to send virtual hugs and brighten up other’s days. It also means that when I come across others who use Bitmoji, I feel an instant connection. [🔎CP1💻CP2 💗CP3📢CP4]
Gifs
I’m also a fan of using GIFs to communicate with others. It appeals to my sense of humour. I guess I tend to use these mostly with people I know well and I am sure that they will ‘get what I am trying to say unless it is a cat related which seems to be pretty universally appreciated ( unless you just don’t like cats of course ! )
Collaboration
I find that the majority of people that I come into contact with a very passionate about education and there is a willingness to collaborate and share. I am part of many community initiatives that have this at the heart of them and they are places where I feel very comfortable. This includes things like the weekly #LTHEchat on Twitter that I have been fortunate to have been part of as a participant and also as an organiser and guest contributor. This a great example of the dissemination of information and sharing of good practice. I would encourage any educator who has not been involved before to give it a go, Twitter has been instrumental in building my personal learning network and many opportunities have come out of my interactions within this space. [🔎CP1💻CP2 💗CP3📢CP4]
I currently lead the Digital Leaders Community group at Jisc as part of my current role, which has around 300 members. However, I am collaborating with a colleague and are however about to form a new community that will combine this group together with another one that focuses on Digital Culture. The new community will be called the Digital Leadership and Culture Forum. I am running a session on this at the Jisc Digifest Conference in March where we will bring together members of both communities and other interested parties to officially launch the new community. I hope to create a vibrant space where colleagues can collaborate with each other and share good practice.
Roundtable: Digital leadership and culture forum – who, what, where and why?
Speakers:
- Deborah Baff, subject specialist (leadership and culture), Jisc
- Mark Ayton, subject specialist, Jisc
- Allen Crawford-Thomas, strategic alignment lead, Jisc
Achieving meaningful change can’t be done by a handful of digital enthusiasts. Instead, leaders will need to encourage the collective ability of stakeholders to create new ways of working that improve the experience and outcomes for all. One way we can participate in change on this scale is through collaborating via communities of practice.
Join us at the official launch of the new digital leadership and culture forum. This new community brings together the combined expertise of the former digital leaders community and digital culture community to provide a focus on supporting the advancement of digital leadership, culture and sustainability of impact.
The new community will provide a valuable vehicle for:
Digifest Programme 2023 Extract
- Sharing ideas and practice
- Sharing and solving problems together
- Sharing knowledge and experience gained through practical action to improve the way we do things
- Be a source of mutual support
- A place to network and form stakeholder alliances
Dissemination of Practice
Conference Presentation and Talks
I present regularly at conferences and have been a guest speaker on a number of different podcasts as shown on my Talks and Presentations padlet. 💗CP3📢CP4
Content Creation
I also communicate in other ways such as creating content for marketing or information purposes and use a variety of different technologies for this as can be seen on my Debs Digital Creations Padlet . I love experimenting with new technologies and collaborate with colleagues across my institution and beyond [🔎CP1💻CP2 💗CP3📢CP4]
Blogging
I maintain a blog at https://debbaff.com/ which at the moment is mostly related to my PhD Research. I also run a blog at Jisc related to my role within Leadership and Culture. 💗CP3📢CP4 https://digitalleadership.jiscinvolve.org/wp/. I also contribute as a guest blogger to other blogs such as the ALTC Community Blog and the OER Conference Blog, Lang OER 💗CP3📢CP4
OER20 People, Community and Connections January 2020
Sketchnotes
I particularly like creating #sketchnotes and using these to disseminate information. These can be found on my Sketchnote Padlet 💗CP3📢CP4
#LTHEchat Participation
I have been involved the Learning and Teaching in Higher Education weekly twitter chat )#LTHEchat since 2014. I have been an organiser, contributor and have led a tweet chat in relation to my PhD Research Area on Social Support in Social Network Sites. Participating in this enables me to keep up to date and build on my existing knowledge and skills. It has been instrumental in building my Personal Learning Network and I love sharing my practice and learning from others. [🔎CP1💻CP2 💗CP3📢CP4 ✅Ethics ]
CMALT Testimonials
Please see my Testimonial Padlet below for evidence in relation to my practice and how I communicate and collaborate with others such as this one from Teresa Mackinnon where she talks about how we first met and have worked together on a number of occasions since 💗CP3 📢CP4
Debs Happy Padlet
I have also started pulling together some lovely feedback, mostly through twitter where people have been really kind and thanked me for something or shown their appreciation in some way. I’ve called this my Happy Padlet as it really does make me happy ! I hope this helps demonstrate some of my interactions with other people. 💗CP3
Communication Pics
| Core Principles & Ethics | Key |
| A commitment to exploring and understanding the interplay between technology and learning | 🔎CP1 |
| A commitment to keep up to date with new technologies | 💻CP2 |
| An empathy with and willingness to learn from colleagues from different backgrounds and specialisms | 💗CP3 |
| A commitment to communicate and disseminate effective practice | 📢CP4 |
| Ethical Considerations | ✅Ethics |
CP1] A commitment to exploring and understanding the interplay between technology and learning.
CP2] commitment to keep up to date with new technologies.
CP4 ] A commitment to communicate and disseminate effective practice
Ethics] Ethical Considerations
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