ETF Awards First EdTech Super Contributor Badge

Christopher Lindridge, Engineering Lecturer at Sunderland College (@sunderlandcol), is the first practitioner to be awarded the Education and Training Foundation’s (ETF) EdTech Super Contributor badge.

The new award was introduced in November 2020 to help foster a community of practice in use of educational technology (EdTech) on the ETF’s Enhance Digital Teaching Platform. To gain the award, practitioners post comments on reflections and resources posted by other practitioners on the platform, as well as contributing their own reflections.

The Super Contributor award is part of the digital badge recognition scheme on the platform, which has hosted over 200,000 training sessions since launch in 2019.

Practitioners seeking two-star badges have to submit a reflection on how they have applied the learning they have gained from the EdTech training on the platform. Those seeking three-star badges submit a resource they have created to support their updated teaching and learning practice, together with a reflection on the impact that the resource has had on the learning experience of their students. Over 150 two- and three-star badges have been awarded since the start of 2021.

Super Contributor award winner Christopher Lindridge has been working in Further Education for over 20 years and teaches Engineering to students aged 16–18, as well as adult learners and apprentices. He started using the EdTech training on the Enhance Digital Teaching Platform when looking for support for remote delivery during the Covid-19 pandemic. Initially his interest was in digital support for assessment:

“I was interested in using digital technology as a means for giving different types of feedback to learners. Once I started doing the EdTech modules on the Enhance Digital Teaching Platform, I found I enjoyed them and kept going, then I did the Essential Digital Skills training. You can dip in and out and do as much or as little as you like. The modules are very user-friendly and self-explanatory, and the content is good quality.”

Christopher feels the training has had an impact on his practice: “With one group of Foundation learners I used to have issues about their mobile phones in lessons. Some training on the Enhance platform gave me ideas for how to use these mobile devices for learning. I showed the learners how to download video demos on their phones via QR codes. It changed their mindset, got them on board and had a massive impact.”

Christopher has been sharing his experiences with colleagues in his department and also via his reflections on the Enhance Digital Teaching Platform, gaining two-star and three-star digital badges in the process. Now with 170 training modules under his belt and 78 digital badges earned, he is helping other practitioners to gain their digital badges and contributing to a growing dialogue between practitioners on the #EdTechSWAP wall on the EnhanceDTP. Commenting on this latest award, Christopher said:

“I am delighted to be the first teacher to gain an EdTech Super Contributor award on the Enhance Digital Teaching Platform. I have enjoyed learning about new approaches to using technology in my teaching and feel it’s had a real impact – now I want to share my experiences and help my colleagues. It’s by sharing our practices and ideas that we make the most of what we’ve all had to learn over this past year to support our students through the Covid-19 pandemic.”

Vikki Liogier, the ETF’s National Head of EdTech and Digital Skills, said:

“This first award of a Super Contributor badge marks an important milestone in the development of the Enhance Digital Teaching Platform. Our aim is to develop a practitioner-led, supportive community of practice on the platform and to stimulate pedagogic dialogue about use of EdTech. The Super Contributor role is pivotal to that aim. My congratulations and thanks to Christopher who has been a fantastic champion for use of the Enhance Digital Teaching Platform.”