I had luxury at ALTC this year to get into lots of sessions without worrying about what was happening back at my institution - now I am a free agent. All sessions I went along to were busy and highly relevant but with a range of parallel sessions I always have a bit of fear of missing out.
Great line up of exhibitors - as College body encouraged them to work with UFI Vocational Trust to find ways into the College and vocational landscape. Knowing the realitiies of College budgets, a lot of College focus will be on driving the most out of systems they have access to rather than buying in more technology.
Sure too as the PHP issue unfolded on Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning some folks would be going back to a firestorm of plugins to update. I am glad I missed that too.
This year’s overarching theme—"Learning without Edges" was particularly timely and tied in well too with pre-conference I attended. Life Long Learning is really back on the UK agenda.
We are all navigating a rapid shift across job markets, digital infrastructure, and student expectations, the focus wasn't just on shiny tech, but on how digital pedagogy can dissolve barriers and create adaptable, resilient learning ecosystems for all.
Here are my takeaways from two days in Wales.
1. Moving Beyond the AI Hype: Embedded Pedagogy & Integrity
Rather than isolating Artificial Intelligence into its own separate strand, #ALTC26 embedded AI throughout the entire program, focusing on practical application, academic integrity, and AI literacy. It is great that we have moved passed the AI right or wrong discussion.The Sessions: Highlights included discussions around Agentic AI and the Student Experience 2026, which looked at how autonomous AI tutors are replacing basic chatbots, alongside sessions showing how conversational bots can support Universal Design for Learning (UDL) without overwhelming teaching staff.
Key Takeaway: AI is no longer a separate conversation; it should be part of every aspect of curriculum design and assessment strategy. ( this will take a while)
Reflections
I attended workshop with BlueTrain team from France it was an excellent workshop based game around changing assessment strategies to reflect the new world driven by AI and a presentation from ODEA who are rolling out a tool developed initially at Eindhoven University. Based initially on Gemini, now using Mistral, ( European Sovereign AI ) it is a local agent fed on an index of actual course materials designed to give learners individualised support. I also enjoyed session from Kortext again at a price mapping content to provide individualised support in a controlled way.
Lots of useful courses are appearing for staff development - and good use of Open Practice emerging in Ireland .
I am up to speed with Jisc work around Beyond Blended - really worth tuning into. I went along instead to workshops around the edges on Vibe Coding learning materials and around building AI agents. Jisc have been so key in supporting community in moving things forward. A really key ally of ALT.
I do wonder how well institutional IT teams are adjusting to this brave new world of AI agents - when will curriculum teams and students get access to these tools - or will it all be shadow IT. Think there is big bit of work needed here around managing cost of AI credits etc and building up IT teams confidence around using AI to support whole institution. There is some excellent work happening here from Jisc - both on ensuring harmony between IT and Learning Technology Teams and on not getting carried away by AI hype and making sensible procurement decisions around governance and cost cotrol of AI systems .
Within Canvas for instance on the knowledge base contained with a course a lot of this AI enablement is already possible.
2. Experiencing the Friction: Student Agency & Participatory Learning
One of the strongest recurring beats of the conference was making sure student voices sit at the center of digital transformation, not as passive end-users, but as co-designers.The Sessions: Interactive workshops like "Be the Student for an Hour" put delegates directly into simulated digital learning environments to reveal hidden points of cognitive overload, accessibility gaps, and design friction.
Key Takeaway: Institutions scaling successful digital strategies actively involve students in tool procurement, interface testing, and learning space design. Think we all have a way to go here on Co-Design.
Reflections
These were great workshops but we have a long way to go here. Platforms tend to be selected on how they fit with existing institutional models, Students rarely have a voice. The opening session led by students highlighted how important truly flexible delivery is along with digital skills and simple pathways that allow learners to login and access all the right tools in the one place.
The right tool is single sign on, supports accessibility , learning design , microcredentials, eportfolio , offers AI support when needed - and can serve both learners within institution but can also open up content and learning experiences to those beyond the institution.
There was a session around how to bring learning design into making 2hr lectures more interactive - thought that highlighted how far we still have to travel. Brickfield Labs led a very simple session around challenges of accessibility of basic content. It is worth running this exercise ( and note to self check accessibility of this piece)
UCL demoed a simple co-pilot , .MD file driven tool that can provide better accessible descriptions of charts than for instance those automatically generated by Power Point.
I enjoyed session on slow learning that encouraged us to use tools and design learning not for efficiency but for flourishing
"where is technology enhancing, hindering, and transforming our experiences, and how can we take agency over the use of existing and emerging tools not for efficiency or automation alone, but for our own individual flourishing "
3. Accessibility as Core Culture, Not a Checklist
Digital accessibility remained a core pillar of the conversation, shifting from basic compliance toward embedded daily workflow habits.The Sessions: Real-world case studies showcased institutional frameworks (such as Manchester's accessibility model) that empower educators to create accessible resources natively within their VLEs rather than retrofitting content later. Good use of Canvas as underlying platform.
Key Takeaway: Accessibility works best when it is automated, supported by institution-wide culture, and framed as essential universal design.
Reflections
There is a growing number of tools to make accessibility simply part of the workflow and to audit and upgrade existing content. I think challenge is still around staff skills and intent. It was good to here BrickField Labs updates in this area and see Manchester University's approach using Canvas.
4. Community, Connectivity & 20 Years of ALT Awards
Beyond the formal presentations, ALTC26 was a celebration of community connection. It marked the 20th anniversary of the ALT Awards, recognising individuals, teams, and projects that have driven meaningful digital innovation over the past two decades. It is great to catch up with the community.
What’s Next? Other useful bits
- Leaving Cardiff, my key take aways are :Explore and add some of my publications to https://zenodo.org/ and see how Mistral AI stacks up against Claude, CoPilot and Gemini.
- Really liked an example of using AI Co-Pilot to create a 360 degree image that was then used in Thinglink to create a learning exercise.
- Refocus on Co-Pilot and Gemini - where Colleges are at - I have some workshops to deliver in that space.
- Follow up and support some of great folks and organisations I engaged with.
- Do a blog post reflecting on another great ALT conference - job done.
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