From College to College

Lauran Kerr-Heraly
  • 5.0 (2)
  • Education
  • Biweekly

From College to College — Host Dr. Lauran Kerr-Heraly explores innovative teaching, creative learning, and measuring quality in Further Education (UK) and community college (US). Each episode, she shares her own experiences as a history professor, innovation fellow, and quality lead. She also talks with amazing college professionals from the United Kingdom and the United States to highlight incredible practice in the college sector. All views her own.

  1. Oct 27

    Facilitating Learning, Not Delivering It: Reconceptualizing Teaching and Learning in Further Education and Community Colleges

    This episode of From College to College asks why further education and community college teachers talk about delivering lessons, and why facilitating learning serves students better. Dr. Lauran Kerr-Heraly explains how the language of delivery casts students as passive recipients, and what a lecturer, tutor, faculty member or instructor can do differently in the learning space. She draws on her own history classroom, where she sets context, shares primary sources and models guided questions before discussion begins, and shows how the same approach works in hospitality, carpentry and health and social care. It is a practical conversation about innovative teaching that starts with the words we choose. If you teach in a UK college or an American community college, you will take away a clear way to plan sessions around what students will be able to do rather than what you will cover. You will hear how to scaffold inquiry when a class goes quiet, how to model your own curiosity through professional development, and how to replace a long presentation with short context setting and guided practice. These ideas for teaching and learning can be tried straight away on your campus or in your college, and they apply whether you organise a programme in a workshop, a lecture theater or a seminar room. What We Cover in This Episode 00:49 Why describing lessons as something to deliver casts students as passive recipients in further education, and what the pizza comparison reveals about “done to” learning 03:15 How learners at a community college with little subject knowledge need guidance, not a free for all, with a hospitality example and a history session that moves from context to primary sources, modelled questions and discussion 06:15 Supporting inquiry with scaffolding when questions meet silence, and why instructors and lecturers who show their own curiosity through professional development strengthen teaching and learning 08:30 Innovative teaching examples, including small group debates in history, physical models in carpentry theory sessions, and scenarios and case studies in health and social care, in place of a half hour PowerPoint 10:45 A language swap to try this week: replacing “deliver” with “facilitate” and writing learning objectives around what students will be able to do, so college education becomes more learner centred Links, Resources and Offers Episode referenced of From College to College: Active Learning: Five Simple Swaps that Work Further reading: 'You can deliver a pizza. You don't deliver learning' in FE Week Free resource + Newsletter: https://www.alteringcourse.com/shop Speaking engagements, coaching and executive function support at https://www.alteringcourse.com/shop About Your Host Dr. Lauran Kerr-Heraly is an award-winning educator and author who has dedicated her career to transforming lives through education. As a speaker and coach, she helps educators, leaders, and students build skills for creativity and success drawing on experience in American community colleges, British and international schools in England, and her current role as Quality and Innovation Lead in an English college. She shares a nerdy and adventurous life full of books, board games, and travels with her spouse, daughter, and dog. All views her own. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/altering.course/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurankerrheraly/ Website: https://www.alteringcourse.com/shop

  2. Oct 13

    Creating Culture on Purpose in Further Education and Community College with Dr. Stephanie Duguid

    In this episode of From College to College, Dr. Stephanie Duguid of Do Good Leadership joins Lauran Kerr-Heraly to explore workplace culture in further education and community college settings. They discuss why culture shapes college education for students and staff alike, and how leaders and lecturers can create culture on purpose, especially when change arrives daily. Stephanie shares her route from athletic training to dean, how Mississippi’s fifteen community colleges aligned their curriculum, and the story behind Do Good Leadership. Whether you are a lecturer or tutor in a UK college or a faculty member or instructor in North America, you will take away practical ways to bring clarity, communication, connection, and consistency to your learning space. You will hear how to support colleagues who arrive from industry, how to check that your message has actually landed, and how to organize cross campus conversations that support teaching and learning and show what innovative teaching can look like across a whole institution. These ideas work on your campus or in your college straight away, in a classroom, a department meeting, or a leadership team. What We Cover in This Episode 02:37 Why a community college is rooted in its local area, from Mississippi’s railroad towns and agricultural high schools to tutoring, childcare, and transport support for students 05:58 How one curriculum alignment day brought fifteen colleges together on titles and learning outcomes, and why standardisation can help lecturers and instructors who join further education from industry 11:16 Why workplace culture affects student choice, first generation students, and the everyday moments that shape teaching and learning across a college 16:26 Creating culture on purpose during change with clarity, communication, connection, and consistency, and how to keep trust steady throughout college education when change is constant 25:23 A practical example of innovative teaching and leadership working together, as departments shared resources, centralised policies, and aligned timetables for students Links, Resources and Offers People and organisations mentioned: Dr. Stephanie Duguid, Do Good Leadership Do Good Leadership Skool community Creating Culture on Purpose, Stephanie’s podcast and upcoming book The Mississippi community college system Welcome Wagon Free resource + Newsletter: https://www.alteringcourse.com/shop Speaking engagements, coaching and executive function support at https://www.alteringcourse.com/shop About Your Host Dr. Lauran Kerr-Heraly is an award-winning educator and author who has dedicated her career to transforming lives through education. As a speaker and coach, she helps educators, leaders, and students build skills for creativity and success drawing on experience in American community colleges, British and international schools in England, and her current role as Quality and Innovation Lead in an English college. She shares a nerdy and adventurous life full of books, board games, and travels with her spouse, daughter, and dog. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/altering.course/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurankerrheraly/ Website: https://www.alteringcourse.com/shop About the Guest Dr. Stephanie Duguid is a Leadership Culture Strategist and the founder of Do Good Leadership. She is also a speaker and author with more than 30 years of experience in K to 12 and higher education, including serving as a dean and senior leader. Today she partners with organizations to strengthen communication, leadership alignment, and workplace culture so teams feel supported, connected, and motivated to thrive. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drstephanieduguid/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drstephanieduguid/ Website: https://www.drstephanieduguid.com/ Email: stephanie@drstephanieduguid.com Other: https://www.drstephanieduguid.com/skoolcommunity

  3. Sep 29

    Metacognition Is Not Common Sense: Teaching Students How to Learn in Further Education and Community College

    Metacognition in further education and community college settings is the focus of this episode of From College to College, which asks why two students with the same lessons, assignments and resources can reach completely different outcomes. Dr. Lauran Kerr-Heraly looks at whether metacognition is simply common sense with academic jargon attached, or a skill that lecturers and faculty members rarely teach explicitly. She draws on the MIT Teaching and Learning Lab, Bloom's taxonomy and her own experience in college education to separate everyday judgment from the habit of monitoring and adjusting how you learn. She also covers vocational learners, feedback, wellbeing and the common errors students make when they judge their own understanding. The second half is practical. You will hear how to build planning, reflection prompts, exam wrappers, learning logs and self assessment into your teaching and learning routine without adding a heavy marking load. You can try these on your campus or in your college straight away, whether you are a tutor organising a vocational programme in England or an instructor in a US learning space. The episode ends with three questions you can ask any class to start small. What We Cover in This Episode 0:50 Why students in the same classroom get different results, and how metacognition differs from common sense in everyday teaching and learning 4:45 What expert learners and expert teachers do differently, and how Bloom's taxonomy shows the gap between recognising information and using it in college education 8:10 Why competence matters more than familiarity in vocational courses across further education, plus how metacognition connects to decision making, feedback and student wellbeing 11:00 Practical strategies for innovative teaching: KWL charts, reflection prompts, exam wrappers, learning logs and self assessment 16:00 Familiarity bias, the "I know this" illusion and retrieval practice, and why self awareness matters for community college learners as AI supplies more answers Links, Resources and Offers People and institutions mentioned: Dr. Lauran Kerr-Heraly, host MIT Teaching and Learning Lab Ideas and tools mentioned: Metacognition and executive function Bloom's taxonomy KWL charts (what do you know, what do you want to learn, what did you learn) Exam wrappers Journals, learning logs and video logs Retrieval practice, self testing and delayed recall ‘Metacognition’ by the Teaching + Learning Lab at MIT ‘Metacognition and Self-Regulated Learning’ by EEF Free resource + Newsletter: https://www.alteringcourse.com/shop Speaking engagements, coaching and executive function support at https://www.alteringcourse.com/shop About Your Host Dr. Lauran Kerr-Heraly is an award-winning educator and author who has dedicated her career to transforming lives through education. As a speaker and coach, she helps educators, leaders, and students build skills for creativity and success drawing on experience in American community colleges, British and international schools in England, and her current role as Quality and Innovation Lead in an English college. She shares a nerdy and adventurous life full of books, board games, and travels with her spouse, daughter, and dog. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/altering.course/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurankerrheraly/ Website: https://www.alteringcourse.com/shop

  4. Jul 28

    Evidence Based CPD and Teaching Quality in College with Dr Martin Rigby

    What does it actually take to design professional development that further education staff find useful, credible, and worth their time? In this episode, Lauran Kerr-Heraly is joined by Dr Martin Rigby, who draws on over fifteen years at Runshaw College and a background in academic research to explain how his team built a flexible, evidence informed CPD model that staff actually choose to engage with, and why that matters for teaching and learning across a community college or further education setting. You will come away from this conversation with practical ideas you can take back to your own college, whether you are a tutor, lecturer, or leader. Martin and Lauran talk through how to move beyond whole staff sheep dip training days, how advanced practitioners can act as critical friends rather than evaluators, and how to keep the focus on two simple questions: is learning happening, and how do you know? There is also a genuinely entertaining example of innovative teaching involving a digitally immersive Dragon's Den experience that your students will not forget. This is an honest, grounded conversation about what good college education quality looks like from the inside. What We Cover in This Episode 0:49 How Dr Martin Rigby ended up in further education: from academic researcher and lecturer across three countries to writing to Runshaw College and proposing they start a geology course, and what has kept him there for fifteen years. 5:05 Why further education occupies a uniquely important position: the argument that FE is where tutors and lecturers still have the most influence over a young person's direction, and how that differs from both secondary school and university. 8:00 Building an evidence based CPD menu at Runshaw College: how Martin's team reviewed around two hundred research publications, grouped them into themes, consulted staff, and created a flexible programme of Monday and Wednesday sessions that faculty members can dip in and out of across thirty five weeks of the year. 13:10 Redesigning whole college staff development days: why Runshaw moved away from large hall training toward a hybrid model with guest speakers followed by small classroom based sessions led by advanced practitioners, and how reflection time and informal follow up observations make the learning stick. 20:36 Keeping CPD focused and simple: the reductionist approach to identifying what is not working in teaching and learning, how advanced practitioners contextualise sessions for different curriculum areas, and the immersive Lizard's Lair project as an example of innovative teaching that gave students an entirely new way to pitch their work. Links, Resources and Offers Runshaw College Free resources and newsletter Speaking engagements, coaching and executive function support here About Your Host Dr. Lauran Kerr-Heraly is an award-winning educator and author who has dedicated her career to transforming lives through education. As a speaker and coach, she helps educators, leaders, and students build skills for creativity and success drawing on experience in American community colleges, British and international schools in England, and her current role as Quality and Innovation Lead in an English college. She shares a nerdy and adventurous life full of books, board games, and travels with her spouse, daughter, and dog. Instagram LinkedIn Website About the Guest Dr Martin Rigby is Deputy Principal at Runshaw College, responsible for quality, curriculum, and continuing professional development, and he brings to that role a background as an academic researcher and lecturer at institutions including the University of Manchester, the University of Bayreuth in Germany, and the University of Pretoria in South Africa. He has been at Runshaw for over fifteen years, moving through roles as teacher, Advanced Practitioner, and Curriculum Manager for Science before stepping into college leadership. You can find him at the link below. LinkedIn

  5. Jul 14

    Course Sharing, Agentic AI and Innovative Teaching in Community College and Further Education

    Episode Description Further education and community college leaders share more in common than you might think. In this episode, Dr. Lauran Kerr-Heraly speaks with Marina Aminy, Associate Vice Chancellor at Foothill-De Anza Community College District and Executive Director of the California Virtual Campus, about how course sharing removes barriers to college education for students on both sides of the Atlantic. This conversation offers something for every lecturer, tutor, faculty member and instructor working in teaching and learning today. Marina explains why agentic AI is creating a new kind of academic integrity challenge, one that moves well beyond the concerns of a few years ago, and shares practical strategies for identity verification, incremental assignment release and workload management. Lauran and Marina also discuss the barriers that block students from college education, from registration holds to transcript fees, and consider what online learning can offer toward a more open and inclusive learning space. Whether you work on a campus in the UK or in a college in the US, this episode gives you fresh thinking for your own institution. What We Cover in This Episode 00:01:01 Marina describes her path into community college leadership, from teaching English as a second language through school and university settings to her current role in the California Community College system. 00:05:47 Marina explains how the California Virtual Campus removes the cognitive burden that many further education and university transfer students face when a class they need is not offered at their own college. 00:11:44 Marina and Lauran discuss agentic AI fraud rings and ghost students, and share innovative teaching strategies like live identity checks and incremental assignment release to protect academic integrity online. 00:21:03 A look at metacognition, AI disclosure statements and how honest conversations about tools support stronger teaching and learning relationships between faculty and students. 00:29:00 Marina outlines simple policy changes, from ending collections referrals for library fines to removing registration holds, and explains how expanding access to college education is part of decolonizing the classroom. Links, Resources and Offers Marina Aminy on LinkedIn Free resource and newsletter: https://www.alteringcourse.com/podcast Speaking engagements, coaching and executive function support at https://www.alteringcourse.com About Your Host Dr. Lauran Kerr-Heraly is an award-winning educator and author who has dedicated her career to transforming lives through education. As a speaker and coach, she helps educators, leaders, and students build skills for creativity and success drawing on experience in American community colleges, British and international schools in England, and her current role as Quality and Innovation Lead in an English college. She shares a nerdy and adventurous life full of books, board games, and travels with her spouse, daughter, and dog. Social links: Instagram LinkedIn Website About the Guest Marina Aminy is the Associate Vice Chancellor at Foothill-De Anza Community College District and the Executive Director of the California Virtual Campus, which provides technology, courses and professional development for the California Community Colleges. She holds a Ph.D. from UC Berkeley and has over 25 years of experience in higher education. Marina lives in Orange County, California with her husband, two adult sons and their cat, Shadow. Social Link: LinkedIn

  6. Jun 30

    Active Learning in Further Education and Community College: Five Simple Swaps That Work

    Active learning is one of the most talked about ideas in further education and community college teaching, and one of the most overcomplicated. In this solo episode, Dr. Lauran Kerr-Heraly cuts through the noise and makes a straightforward case: you do not need to redesign your entire course or spend half your week planning elaborate activities. You need to make one small change at a time. Lauran defines active learning, addresses the myths that put instructors off trying it, and explains why passive teaching simply does not serve the diverse learners in our colleges. This episode gives you five concrete, low-effort swaps you can try straight away in your classroom or learning space, whether you teach in a UK further education college or on a community college campus in the US. From chunking your lecture into five-minute segments to replacing a study guide with a game-based review, each idea is grounded in real teaching and learning practice and comes with clear examples across different subject areas. Lauran also covers the common pitfalls, including over-planning and losing the learning focus, so you can avoid the mistakes and get straight to what works. If innovative teaching feels out of reach right now, this episode is a good place to start. What We Cover in This Episode 0:44 What active learning actually is and why it matters for college education: a clear definition, the contrast with passive learning, and why diverse learners in further education and community college settings benefit most from approaches that build critical thinking and collaboration. 4:10 The myths that stop tutors and faculty members from trying active learning: why it does not require a total redesign, why giving up some lecture time is worth it, and the concept of simple swaps instead of full course overhauls. 7:00 The first three swaps in practice: chunking a long lecture into five to ten minute segments with structured discussion, turning worksheets into problem-solving stations that get learners out of their seats, and using structured peer feedback on drafts to build feedback literacy and reduce instructor workload. 10:40 Swap four and five: student-created presentations as a way to build higher order thinking from early in the year, and game-based review as an alternative to passive revision, including how to manage mixed attainment groups and keep the energy up in long teaching days. 16:30 Common pitfalls and how to avoid them: keeping your learning objectives central, not gamifying everything, and the importance of building routines around new activities so students know what to expect and the activity does not lose its value. Links, Resources and Offers Free resource and newsletter: www.alteringcourse.com/shop Speaking engagements, coaching and executive function support: www.alteringcourse.com About Your Host Dr. Lauran Kerr-Heraly is an award-winning educator and author who has dedicated her career to transforming lives through education. As a speaker and coach, she helps educators, leaders, and students build skills for creativity and success drawing on experience in American community colleges, British and international schools in England, and her current role as Quality and Innovation Lead in an English college. She shares a nerdy and adventurous life full of books, board games, and travels with her spouse, daughter, and dog. Instagram LinkedIn Website

  7. Jun 16

    Using AI to Reduce Teacher Workload Without Losing the Human Side: Esam Baboukhan on Innovative Teaching in Further Education and College

    Episode Description What does it look like when AI genuinely supports teaching and learning rather than replacing it? In this episode of From College to College, Dr. Lauran Kerr-Heraly speaks with Esam Baboukhan, an educator and co-founder of TeacherMatic, about how further education and community college professionals can use AI tools to cut through the paperwork and get back to what matters most. Esam brings over twenty years of experience in further education, where he worked as a lecturer, Advanced Practitioner, and e-learning manager before co-founding TeacherMatic, an AI platform built by educators for educators. He also holds a Silver Award from the Pearson National Teaching Awards for Digital Innovator of the Year. This is a conversation about what great college education looks like when technology is done right. Esam and Lauran discuss the 80/20 rule for working with AI, why the human qualities of teaching are becoming more important rather than less, and how innovative teaching can help lecturers, tutors, and faculty members stay energised and effective over a long career. Whether you work in a UK further education college or a North American community college, you will find practical thinking here about preparing learners not just for jobs, but for an unpredictable world. What We Cover in This Episode 00:01 Esam introduces his background in further education, from teaching BTec qualifications to working as an Advanced Practitioner coaching staff on teaching and learning improvement through non-graded lesson observations 05:00 Why further education and community college are uniquely innovative environments, and how the freedom to experiment with new technology kept Esam engaged in teaching more or less the same subjects for over twenty years 07:30 How TeacherMatic came to be, the 80/20 rule for working with AI in education, and why the teacher's twenty percent, the human review and refinement of AI outputs, is the most important part of the process 10:50 What great teaching looks like in an AI-driven world, including the role of passion, storytelling, empathy, and helping students navigate an unpredictable future through college education that builds adaptable, resilient learners 19:10 Esam's most profound moment in twenty years of innovative teaching: introducing Microsoft Teams for a student with a hearing impairment, and what happened when that student found his voice Links, Resources and Offers TeacherMatic (AI platform for educators): https://teachermatic.com/ Microsoft story about Kabir (referenced in episode): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pm3fwUd7P14 Free resources and newsletter: https://www.alteringcourse.com/shop Speaking engagements, coaching and executive function support: https://www.alteringcourse.com About Your Host Dr. Lauran Kerr-Heraly is an award-winning educator and author who has dedicated her career to transforming lives through education. As a speaker and coach, she helps educators, leaders, and students build skills for creativity and success drawing on experience in American community colleges, British and international schools in England, and her current role as Quality and Innovation Lead in an English college. She shares a nerdy and adventurous life full of books, board games, and travels with her spouse, daughter, and dog. Website Instagram: ⁠⁠@altering.course⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Lauran Kerr-Heraly, Ph.D. | LinkedIn⁠ About the Guest Esam Baboukhan is a co-founder of TeacherMatic and a Silver Award winner in the Pearson National Teaching Awards for Digital Innovator of the Year, with over twenty years of experience in further education as a teacher, Advanced Practitioner, and e-learning manager. He has contributed to international blended learning projects and been recognised in the UK EdTech 50 list, and now works with TeacherMatic to help educators use AI to reduce workload while improving teaching and learning. LinkedIn Website Email: esam@teachermatic.com

  8. Jun 2

    Course Redesign, Belonging, and Teaching History at College with Dr. Amy Powers

    Episode Description What does it take to make a history course relevant to a nursing student, an accounting student, or someone training in auto technology? In this episode, Lauran Kerr-Heraly is joined by Amy Powers, Professor of History and Faculty Development Coordinator at Waubonsee Community College in Illinois, to talk about community college teaching and learning, course redesign, and what it genuinely means to serve students whose lives outside the classroom are complicated. Amy draws on over 25 years of experience and her involvement in the American Historical Association's History Gateways project to explain how she redesigned her introductory history courses to build relevance, belonging, and intellectual curiosity from the very first session. You will come away from this conversation with concrete ideas you can apply straight away, whether you teach in a further education college in the UK or on a community college campus in the US. Amy and Lauran discuss how to balance rigor with flexibility for students juggling work, family, and study, why asking a good question is a teachable skill worth spending time on, and how metacognition has changed the way Amy approaches faculty development. The conversation is grounded, honest, and full of practical examples that transfer across disciplines and college education contexts. What We Cover in This Episode 0:00 Amy Powers introduces her role at Waubonsee Community College and her recent move into faculty development, coordinating professional development for around four hundred full time and part time faculty across all disciplines. 5:20 Why community college is built around more than the individual student: how success for one learner ripples out to families, neighborhoods, and local industries, and why further education institutions in the UK share the same community mandate. 10:30 The History Gateways course redesign project: how Amy worked with the American Historical Association to rethink introductory history courses, and the assignment called Everything Has a History that asked students to connect the subject to their own chosen fields. 16:00 Balancing ambitious teaching and learning with the real pressures students face: why empathy first is not a lowering of standards, and how offering flexibility in assignment choice and deadlines keeps students engaged without reducing the rigor of the course. 23:57 Metacognition as innovative teaching practice: how Amy has introduced reflective assignments into her courses and why helping students understand how they learn has a lasting impact well beyond college education. Links, Resources and Offers American Historical Association Waubonsee Community College Free resources and newsletter: www.alteringcourse.com/podcast Speaking engagements, coaching and executive function support: www.alteringcourse.com About Your Host Dr. Lauran Kerr-Heraly is an award-winning educator and author who has dedicated her career to transforming lives through education. As a speaker and coach, she helps educators, leaders, and students build skills for creativity and success drawing on experience in American community colleges, British and international schools in England, and her current role as Quality and Innovation Lead in an English college. She shares a nerdy and adventurous life full of books, board games, and travels with her spouse, daughter, and dog. Connect with Dr. Lauran Kerr-Heraly  Website: ⁠⁠www.alteringcourse.com⁠⁠  Instagram: ⁠⁠@altering.course⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Lauran Kerr-Heraly, Ph.D. | LinkedIn⁠ About the Guest Amy Powers is a Professor of History and Faculty Development Coordinator at Waubonsee Community College, just outside Chicago, where she has been teaching U.S. History, Western Civilization, and World History for over 25 years. She is passionate about the community college model and what it means for local students, families, and the wider community. You can find her at the links below. LinkedIn Website Email: apowers@waubonsee.edu

See All (13)

Trailer

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
2 Ratings

About

From College to College — Host Dr. Lauran Kerr-Heraly explores innovative teaching, creative learning, and measuring quality in Further Education (UK) and community college (US). Each episode, she shares her own experiences as a history professor, innovation fellow, and quality lead. She also talks with amazing college professionals from the United Kingdom and the United States to highlight incredible practice in the college sector. All views her own.

Information

  • Creator
    Lauran Kerr-Heraly
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    13
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Lauran Kerr-Heraly
  • Show Website
    From College to College