Digital Education Specialist

About the Directorate

The Centre for Learning Enhancement and Educational Development (LEED) provides a central hub to energise and support the delivery of effective education policy and practice across Manchester Metropolitan University and shares our good practice with the wider higher education sector.

LEED is made up of two complementary teams: the University Teaching Academy (UTA) primarily responsible for support, leadership, advice and guidance relating to all aspects of learning, teaching and assessment, and the Digital Education team, primarily responsible for the delivery of the university's Digitally Enhanced Learning, Teaching and Assessment (DELTA) strategy.

About the Department

The Digital Education team's leadership in implementing the DELTA Strategy, develops high-quality guidance, resources and training for staff to support excellent digitally enhanced education. The team collaborates with four faculties and education-facing professional services teams across the University and co-organises the Annual LEED Learning and Teaching Conference for educators. Key focusses, in the implementation of the DELTA strategy include, but not limited to, Moodle Baseline development and analysis, Digital skills, AI, Man Met's Apps for teaching and learning package, Hyflex, inclusivity and accessibility, video, and Adobe Creative Campus.

About the Team

You will report to the Associate Head of Digital Education, joining a team of 9 Digital Education Specialists, led by the Digital Education Senior team including Assistant director for LEED: Digital Education, Associate Head of Digital Education, and 2 Senior Digital Education Specialists. The team operate on a hybrid working model, attending key days on campus each week with the flexibility of working other days remotely.

About the Role

As a member of the Digital Education Team in LEED, you will have a key role in supporting academic and professional services colleagues to effectively utilise the institution digital education infrastructure and tools in support of learning, teaching and assessment aligned with the DELTA Strategy and wider Education Strategy.

Under the leadership of the Digital Education Senior Team, you will contribute specialist expertise in Digital Education to the team's work in designing, developing and delivering professional development opportunities for academic and professional services colleagues throughout the university. This will include a strong focus in providing bespoke support with an academic faculty that you will be linked to.

Digital Education Specialists work collaboratively with the wider LEED team in support of the Centre's wider strategic aims and operational activities. You will build successful partnerships with institution wide academic leaders, external agencies and professional bodies to engage in collaborative work and enhance the reputation of the University.

Key Responsibilities

• Drive digital innovation in teaching, learning and assessment across the university, representing the Digital Education team on key projects including leading key deliverables into faculties.
• Implement, operationalise and evaluate the DELTA strategy through collaborative working with faculty stakeholders, provisioning excellent pedagogic and technical advice, training and guidance on the use of digital tools to enhance learning, teaching and assessment practice and educational outcomes.
• Develop and maintain up to date guidance and resources in our digital spaces relating to digital education tools and pedagogy, including Moodle, AI/Generative AI, MS Teams, Apps for Teaching and Learning Toolkit and Adobe Creative Campus.
• Collaborate on the design, development and delivery of LEED's and the Digital Education team's continuing professional development (CPD) programme, of face-to-face and online workshops.
• Provide contributions to wider LEED initiatives including: PGCert/MA programmes and other CPD offers; AdvanceHE Fellowships and Professional Standards Framework programme; Curriculum development CPD offerings e.g. Curriculum Assessment Framework (CAF).
• Build partnerships with external collaborators and organisations, disseminating and promoting evidence of effective practices that enhance LEED's reputation within and beyond the university.

Key Skills & Experiences

You will have the experience and knowledge to develop guidance, support and mentorship regarding:

• Effective integration of digital in education and the pedagogical benefits of digital to supporting curriculum design.
• Virtual Learning Environments and the best practice approaches to creating accessible, engaging and intuitive learning spaces, to support learning activities through face to face, online, synchronous and asynchronous methods.
• How AI impacts people in teaching, learning and assessment, including approaches to enable staff and students to develop their own understanding of AI and its application to assessment design.
• Development of inclusive practice, how accessibility impacts staff and student experience, and the appropriate tools and techniques to support everyone through their teaching, learning and assessment experience.
• Embedding applications for teaching, learning and assessment such as Apps for teaching and learning (Mentimeter, Vevox, Kahoot, NearPod, Padlet, Miro etc.), including working with vendors on building tools that support flexible active learning.
• Investment in building digital skills including effective delivery of Adobe Creative Campus and other similar technologies to build confidence around digital in our learning community.

To learn more about this exciting opportunity and benefits we offer, please read the JD and Candidate Pack provided below.

Assessment Process

• To apply, please submit a CV and covering letter detailing your suitability, on the application portal.
• For informal enquiries, about this vacancy, please contact Steven Williams on S.Williams@mmu.ac.uk
• If shortlisted, you will be asked to complete and share a video presentation prior to interview. At interview the panel will ask questions to build upon this task before moving over to the interview itself.
• Interviews will be held in the w/c 19 October

If you would like to join our people and share our ambition, we would love to hear from you!

Further Information

Manchester Metropolitan University fosters an inclusive culture of belonging that promotes equity and celebrates diversity. We value a diverse workforce for the innovation and diversity of thought it brings and welcome applications from local and international communities, including those from Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic backgrounds, disabled people, and LGBTQ+ individuals.

We support a range of flexible working arrangements, including hybrid and tailored schedules, which can be discussed with your line manager. If you require reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process or in your role, please let us know so we can provide appropriate support.

Our commitment to inclusivity includes mentoring programmes, accessibility resources, and professional development opportunities to empower and support underrepresented groups.

Manchester Met is a Disability Confident Leader and, under this scheme, aims to offer an interview to disabled people who apply for the role and meet the essential criteria as listed in the attached Job Description for that vacancy.