This interview is part of the new “Centres for Teaching and Learning” series, a collection of interviews exploring the diverse roles and innovative practices of CTLs, presented by the Media and Learning CTL Special Interest Group. In this series, we invite one of our members each month to introduce their CTL, describe the work they do and to highlight some of the challenges they face.
At some universities, a Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) exists as a clearly defined department: a place you go to for training, advice or support. At Zuyd University of Applied Sciences, it works slightly different. Here, the CTL didn’t start as a center at all.
We spoke with them about their community-driven initiative that is now evolving into a center: how do they make sure they don’t lose what made it work in the first place?
Let’s start at the beginning. What is the CTL at Zuyd?
“That’s where it gets interesting. Because we didn’t start as a center, but as a community. We didn’t have the official support of the organisation Npuls that sets out to support CTLs in the Netherlands. So rather than creating a new department, Zuyd connected existing expertise across the organisation. Colleagues from HR, the Research Lectorate and Educational Development (Onderwijskunde) joined forces around a shared ambition: improving teaching and learning. They were already working on different pieces of the puzzle and we brought those pieces together.
From the beginning, the initiative was supported by the Information Provision and Technology department (Informatievoorziening en Technologie), creating a strong link between education and digital innovation.”
And now you are becoming a center?
“Yes. In the meantime, there have been several different phrases in our development. From September 2026, we’re formally growing into a center. We’ve grown and the responses within and outside our organisation are very positive, so we’ll become a knowledge center. Importantly, we’re not starting from scratch. We’re building on something that already works: collaboration between departments has intensified, and connections across HR, research, education and technology are becoming stronger and more structural. What remains essential is that this development is still collaborative and interdisciplinary, not limited to certain teams, departments and functions. We’re still not one unit within the organisation, but more like a hub or network structure.”
Your community evolves around innovation hubs. What are they exactly?
“Across Zuyd, these hubs function as experimental spaces where lecturers, researchers and support staff come together to explore new developments in education. Each hub focuses on a theme that is highly relevant to the future of education, such as digital skills, artificial intelligence (AI) and extended reality (XR). For example, in one hub we might explore how AI can support feedback or assessment. In another, we experiment with XR to create immersive learning experiences. The last hub focuses on digital skills in education within the framework of DigCompEdu.”
So it’s very hands-on?
“Exactly. The idea is to lower the threshold for experimentation and innovation in education. Lecturers don’t have to overhaul their entire course. Instead, they can test small interventions, see what works and learn from others. It’s a setting in which we can oversee and better control what happens, so we can experiment in a safe setting with new technologies such as AI – for instance with tools and apps that are not yet allowed within the broader organisation. It’s also about making innovation tangible. In the innovation hubs we work with real experiences in the classroom.”
How do these experiments connect back to the wider organisation?
“That’s where our community and network model comes in again. Because there are many different teams, functions and departments involved within CTL, experiences with AI, XR or digital tools are shared across programmes and teams, allowing others to build on what has already been learned. The idea is that it creates a ripple effect. One small experiment can inspire change elsewhere. We have common communication channels and a communication advisor who is involved with all initiatives, they support the exchange of information within the whole of Zuyd.”
Does this also influence how the CTL is developing into a center?
Definitely. The innovation hubs show that energy and initiative already exist within the organisation. Because people are actively experimenting and collaborating, the transition to a more formal knowledge center feels like a logical next step. We’re really not creating something new. Our ways of working will remain, and we’ll only strengthen what is already happening and work even more closely together.”
What does this mean for lecturers?
“For lecturers, it means innovation becomes even more accessible. And importantly, they don’t have to do it alone. They’re part of a network where people share, reflect and learn together. In fact – and that has really been the philosophy behind our Community for Teaching and Learning from the start – as educationalists and researchers can learn as much from them as they can learn from us. We didn’t build a center, but we grew into it.”
