Alastair Clark

Wirksworth, Derbyshire, UK            




Background
I have a career history of working in formal and informal education and a strong personal interest in the outdoors.

My career in Youth and Community work started in Birmingham and then moved to Suffolk and Hertfordshire. After that, I worked as a Community Education manager in Derbyshire for 13 years. This involved promoting informal and formal learning opportunities and included area management responsibilities and curriculum coordination for languages and humanities.

From 2000 – 2003 I was an Education Officer for the British Education Communications and Technology Agency (Becta) in the community programmes team working on UK online centres and Community Grids for Learning.

Since 2003 I have worked for the National Institure of Adult Continung Education NIACE laeding the Institute's work on Digital Learning. This work has including promotion of E-Learning in Adult and Community Learning in UK and the UNESCO funded Avicenna Higher Education online learning project. 

I spent a full year working in France for the voluntary organisation Compagnons Batisseurs and have fluent spoken French. My MEd Research involved case study work of learner experiences in France and the UK and involved conducting research interviews in French.

Qualifications
  • BA Hons Geography and Politics - Lanchester Polytechnic Coventry 1975
  • Certificate in Education (Further Education) - Wolverhampton Polytechnic 1978
  • Post Graduate Diploma in Counselling - University of Derby 1994
  • M Ed (Lifelong Learning) - University of Derby 1998
  • British Canoe Union - Senoir Instructor (Open canoe and inland kayak)  1984
  • British Orienteeing Federation - Instructor 1991
  • Certified Member of Association for Learning Technology 2009.

    Current Employment
    Senior Programme Director Digital Learning Team National Institute of Adult Continuing Education  NIACE

    Publications
    I have have authored and edited a number of paper publications and also written for journals and for the Web.
    Details of publications
     
    Conferences addressed
    Spaces, Places and Future Learning Futurelab October 2006
    Key Comptencies 2007 European Institute for E learning July 2007
    Informal Adult laeraning - making the connections - NIACE February 2009

     
    ICT and Learning projects undertaken in voluntary capacity
    Honorary Director of Wirksworth Connect (not for profit company supporting digital inclusion in Wirksworth, Derbyshire)   www.wirksworth.net

    Steering Group member : Digital Wirksworth- successful campaign to bring wireless broadband to rural Derbyshire.

    Steering group member: Homefront Memories  digital recording of local resident's memories of Homefront during Second World War

    Recent Teaching

    Online tutor for Open University Course TU170
    Part team teacher of map reading: Derby City Council   (Assesses at Grade 1 in Observation of Teaching and Learning 2006)
     
    Online Identity
    Blogging about the outdoors - http://dontgetlost.wordpress.com
    Tweeting about indoors an outdoors: alastairjclark


     
     

    Alastair Clark
     
    Life outside work!
    When not working in ICT and learning I enjoy the outdoors and I canoe, cycle and walk. I like to escape to the wood burning stove in a  small house in the hamlet of Plantades near to the wooded gorges of the Dordogne headwaters. in the Auvergne .