Beyond the Technology: The education 4.0 podcast: Recent Episodes

Jisc

In this podcast we'll hear from members about how they are implementing Education 4.0 technologies including their challenges, successes, and where they had to re-assess.

Watch the video podcast on YouTube.

Jisc's Kellie Mote and Helen Nicholson-Benn explore how AI is improving accessibility across higher education. Joined by Nelly Iacobescu from the University of Edinburgh and Professor Ann Kristin Glenster from the University of Cambridge, they discuss AI-powered captioning, student-led innovation, digital inclusion, and the future of accessible learning.

Show notes

Join our accessibility and assistive technology communities

Watch Nelly's accessibility community drop-in session

Read Helen's blog on exploring how AI can support deaf and hard of hearing students

Read Kellie's blog on inclusive innovation: designing the future together

Learn more about ELM: An AI Innovation Platform for Education

Discover more about University of Edinburgh's human corrected captioning service

Find out about LectureMate at the University of Edinburgh

Learn more about LOGOS: securing a human epistemic future

Discover more about the Glenlead Centre

Read more about the accessible digital futures project

Subscribe to Headlines - our newsletter which has all the latest edtech news, guidance and events tailored to you

Kathryn Woodhead is joined by Josh Gregg and Paul Hibbard to explore the future of augmented and mixed reality in higher education. From research insights on cognitive load to real-world teaching applications, they discuss how these technologies can enhance learning, improve accessibility, and create more interactive experiences. They also examine key challenges, including privacy, scalability, and ensuring meaningful educational impact, offering a balanced look at the opportunities and limitations of these technologies in education.

Show notes

Join our extended reality (XR) community of practice

Read the ethical extended reality practice at York St John blog

Learn more about Smart Glasses in education

Discover more about opportunities and challenges for Smart Glasses in teaching, learning and assessment

Read our Smart Glasses: game changing assistive technology or just more wearable tech for gadget lovers? blog

Subscribe to Headlines - our newsletter which has all the latest edtech news, guidance and events tailored to you

Chris Thomson speaks with Chris Wood, Learning Designer at the University of Portsmouth, about using reflective portfolios to rethink assessment in higher education.

Chris shares how portfolios can replace traditional essays with more authentic, flexible approaches that support reflection, formative feedback, and student ownership. Drawing on successful pilots, he discusses improved engagement, higher-quality work, and strong student preference for portfolio-based assessment.

Show notes

Listen to the digital storytelling and assessment podcast with Teti Deagas and Richard Beggs

Hear the creative approaches to assessment – optionality podcast with Miriam Firth

Listen to the creative approaches to assessment in media and communications podcast wih Dr Rebecca Feasey

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Watch the video podcast on YouTube. We're joined by Rob McDermott and Suzanne Galloway from Forth Valley College to explore how digital technology is transforming further education in Scotland. From the concept of a fourth campus to new approaches in quality enhancement and student experience, they share insights into collaboration, evolving teaching practices, and the challenges and opportunities of digital change. Tune in for an inside look at how colleges are adapting to meet the needs of modern learners.

Show notes

Learn about the building digital capability service

Find out more about the digital elevation tool

Subscribe to Headlines - our newsletter which has all the latest edtech news, guidance and events tailored to you.

In this episode of Beyond the Technology, recorded live at Digifest 2026, Catherine Evans speaks with Chris Melia and Phil Whitehead about community‑led approaches to developing digital skills. Chris and Phil share practical insights on peer support, recognition and collaboration, and how putting people at the centre can drive meaningful digital change across education.

Show notes

Listen to more Jisc communities podcasts on Soundcloud
Access the activating community-led digital skills guide
Register for the powered by people: community-led transformation in education event
Subscribe to Headlines - our newsletter which has all the latest edtech news, guidance and events tailored to you

In this episode, Jim Keane, and Newcastle University mental health advisor Liam Snaith explore how Jisc learning analytics is transforming student support. Liam explains how engagement and attendance data such as VLE activity and in‑person participation helps wellbeing staff quickly identify students who may be struggling, guide sensitive conversations and make informed decisions about interventions.

They discuss how having a single, accessible view of student engagement reduces delays, supports decision making and enables more consistent, proactive support across the university.

Watch the episode on YouTube

Show notes

Discover more about Jisc learning analytics
Access the Newcastle University Health and Wellbeing Service website
View the Newcastle University 24/7 support site
Subscribe to Headlines - our newsletter which has all the latest edtech news, guidance and events tailored to you

In this episode, host Sarah Knight and guests Dr Jonathan Eaton, Dr Emma Heron, Dr Julie Blackwell Young and Sheila MacNeill explore how universities across the UK, and internationally, are transforming curriculum and learning design through Jisc's beyond blended resources.

Together, they share rich insights from the first phase of Jisc's institutional research pilots and reveal how the beyond blended lenses, pillars, and activity cards are reshaping staff development, curriculum design, student engagement, and assessment practices.

Watch the episode on YouTube.

Show notes

Hear more about beyond blended at Digifest in the Taking learning beyond blended: integrating place, platform and pace in curriculum design session, in Hall 8A at 11:35 on day one
Learn more about the beyond blended: researching institutional approaches to blended learning in higher education pilot
Access the beyond blended: rethinking curriculum and learning design guide
Read the beyond blended in action: transforming curriculum and learning design in a shifting landscape report
Read Jonathan's university profile
Connect with Jonathan on LinkedIn
View the Abertay Learning Enhancement (AbLE) Academy website

In this episode, Michael Webb, director of AI at Jisc, chats with Katy Gooblar, co-founder of Rebel Hive and future of work consultant, to explore how data and AI are reshaping higher and further education. Together, they dive into the critical questions organisations need to ask before adopting AI, the importance of purpose-driven strategies, and the human skills that will define leadership in an AI-integrated world.

From tackling misconceptions about AI as a 'magic fix' to addressing the risks of creativity erosion and generational divides, this conversation offers practical insights for leaders, educators, and anyone navigating the evolving workplace.

Tune in for a thought-provoking discussion that challenges assumptions and inspires a reimagining of how we work, learn, and lead in the age of AI.

Show notes:

Book now for Data Matters 2026
Watch the live podcast recording: https://youtu.be/J4HVKV6Cxpo
Our new Leading AI in colleges: a strategic framework provides college leaders with guidance for embedding AI safely, effectively, and sustainably, simplifying the challenges into manageable dimensions
Unlock practical tools to lead data-informed change - reserve your place on Foundations of leading with data starting 3 Feb
Subscribe to Headlines - our newsletter which has all the latest edtech news, guidance and events tailored to you

In this episode, Jane discusses her role as academic lead to implement support for staff and student capability as part of a university wide strategic change programme.

Watch the video version

Jane talks about the essential stages behind the programme launch and its ongoing success enhancing teaching learning and student experience. Jane covers stakeholder management and essential touchpoints in her approach, making this a must-listen for anybody approaching a transformation programme at their organisation.

Find out more about the discovery tool and how it can help staff and students at your organisation to reflect on their digital capabilities and to identify current strengths and areas for development.

Show Notes

· Watch the University of Manchester embraces flexible learning video

· Subscribe to Headlines - our newsletter which has all the latest edtech news, guidance and events tailored to you

In this episode of Beyond the Technology, host Andrew McFadyen chats with Zoe Tierney from Burton and South Derbyshire College to explore how the Jisc discovery tool and the newly launched essential digital skills question set are transforming digital confidence across further education.

Zoe shares her journey from writing a college-wide digital strategy to leading a cultural shift in digital teaching and learning. Discover how targeted CPD, platform champions and inclusive onboarding strategies have helped staff embrace tools like Padlet, Canva, and Canvas, and how these changes are enhancing learner engagement and personalised learning.

Tune in to hear how Zoe and her team are leading the way in digital transformation and what's next for the sector.

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQ76qP6uD8I

Show notes:

Learn more about the building digital capability service
Read Zoe's Burton and South Derbyshire College digital capability tool case study
Subscribe to Headlines - our newsletter which has all the latest edtech news, guidance and events tailored to you

This episode explores how digital storytelling enhances learning in UK higher education. Chris Thomson is joined by Teti Dragas from University of Durham, and Richard Beggs from Ulster University, to discuss digital storytelling as a multimedia tool that fosters reflection, engagement, and personal growth across disciplines.

They share examples of integrating storytelling, from student assessments to professional development, emphasising the value of the creative process over polished outcomes.

Challenges like time, technical skills, and emotional sensitivity are discussed, along with the role of AI. The episode ends with advice on seeking support, embracing the community, and using storytelling to transform education.

Show Notes

Subscribe to Headlines - our newsletter with all the latest edtech news, guidance and events tailored to you

Join the digital storytelling community

Visit the Durham University Digital Storytelling site

Book reference - Gravett, K (2023) Relational Pedagogies; Connections and Mattering in Higher Education, Bloomsbury, London

In this episode, Tom Moule speaks with Dr. Rebecca Feasey (Bath Spa University) and Eu Jin See (Manchester School of Architecture and Adobe Brand Ambassador) about how generative AI - particularly Adobe Firefly - is supporting creativity in higher education.

They discuss how tools like Firefly can build creative confidence, encourage collaboration, and support iteration and idea development. From Welcome Week posters to architectural prototypes, the guests share practical examples of how AI is being used to communicate ideas effectively and ethically.

The conversation also touches on creative ownership, authentic assessments, and how AI skills are becoming key to future-ready creative work.

Show notes:

Read the report from Jisc’s pilot of AI for image generation
Visit Jisc’s AI page, where you can find further AI-focused guides and resources
Subscribe to Headlines - our newsletter which has all the latest edtech news, guidance and events tailored to you

In this episode, Sarah Knight chats to Professor Susannah Quinsee, Professor Baba Sheba and Dr Julie Voce from City St George’s, University of London about the latest updates on the university’s digital transformation.

The group reflect on the university’s digital transformation journey, which has been driven by strategic leadership and supported by foundational IT projects, AI integration, and a commitment to enhancing the student experience through digital tools and analytics.

The discussion covers their participation in Jisc’s digital transformation pilot, in which they focused on organisational digital culture and the importance of senior management support to embed ‘people focus’ into ongoing digital change programmes.

The team also discuss the importance of student engagement, digital upskilling for staff and students, and how to take forward inclusive curriculum design.

Show notes:

Visit the City St George’s, University of London website
Access the City St George’s, University of London digital transformation microsite
Learn more about our digital transformation toolkit
Discover the ‘How to approach digital transformation in higher education’ report and case studies
Read City St George’s, University of London case study (pdf)
View the video case study
Join our senior leaders working group for digital transformation
Subscribe to Headlines - our newsletter which has all the latest edtech news, guidance and events tailored to you

In this episode, Simon Birkett chats to Jackie Potter, Helen O’Sullivan and Laura Milne from the University of Chester about their digital transformation journey, from beginning to work through Jisc’s digital maturity model, to redesigning their VLE.

The guests begin by reflecting on their recent demonstrating digital transformation event held at the university, showcasing their plans for learning development and the use of technology for learners.

The conversation then turns to the importance of culture, people and process for successful digital transformation, with Jackie, Helen and Laura discussing the broad impact digital transformation can have all across the university.

Next, the guests focus on their curriculum redesign project and the redevelopment of their VLE, bringing colleagues together for co-design sessions, daring to dream wild dreams about what was possible, gathering feedback and incorporating it into further rounds.

Finally, the episode concludes with Jackie, Helen and Laura sharing their predictions for what the sector will look like in five years’ time.

Show notes:

Read University of Chester’s case study on their involvement in the research pilot of Jisc’s digital transformation toolkit
Learn more about Jisc’s digital transformation toolkit
Discover the ‘How to approach digital transformation in higher education’ report and case studies
Subscribe to Headlines - our newsletter which has all the latest edtech news, guidance and events tailored to you

In this podcast recorded live at Digifest 2025, hear from University of Leeds and University of Northampton on how they are using Jisc's research on international students’ digital experience, alongside building digital capability and insights from student survey data. Learn how they've shaped their support systems to better assist international students and foster a more inclusive digital experience for all.

Watch a video version of the podcast.

Show notes

Sign up for Digifest 2026 updates
Read phase one and phase two of Jisc’s international students’ digital experience report
Learn more about Jisc’s building digital capability tool
Subscribe to Headlines - our newsletter which has all the latest edtech news, guidance and events tailored to you.

This podcast, recorded live at Digifest 2025, will support your understanding and implementation of Esports curriculum through British Esports' endorsed programmes and why you should join this digital revolution in education. Guests Tom Dore and Andy Miah explain the growing global phenomenon of the Esports industry, how this coincides with Esports in education and how you can join the hundreds of schools and colleges that are already part of this revolution through qualifications with Leadership Skills Foundation, Pearson and through their participation in the British Esports Student Champs.

How can Esports transform your digital strategy and innovate your pedagogical approach and curriculum design to support the future workforce, to address skills gaps and engage a tech-agile, digital generation of young people that are in our classrooms?

If you haven't developed an Esports curriculum offer yet, why not?

Watch a video version of the podcast.

Show notes

Sign up for Digifest 2026 updates
Learn more about the British Esports Federation
Visit the Media City Immersive Technologies Innovation Hub website
Subscribe to Headlines - our newsletter which has all the latest edtech news, guidance and events tailored to you.

Recorded live at Digifest 2025, this episode features a discussion of previous participants from the digital leaders programme who have demonstrated and implemented their learning within their organisations as they reflect on the Digifest 2025 themes of data-informed education, student success, learning for the future, technology for good, and collaboration for impact.

Watch a video version of the podcast.

Show notes

Sign up for Digifest 2026 updates
Learn more about the digital leaders programme
Book on to the digital leaders programme
Subscribe to Headlines - our newsletter which has all the latest edtech news, guidance and events tailored to you.

If you missed the generative AI in education panel at Digifest 2025, here’s your chance to hear our interview with panellist Philippa Armstrong, learning technology coach at Nottingham College, recorded live at the event. Philippa discusses the current uses, potential benefits and concerns associated with generative AI in education.

What happens when generative AI moves from buzzword to reality? Philippa explores real-world lessons learned, opportunities and concerns as we cut through the hype to discover what it takes to move from promise to practice.

Watch a video version of the podcast

Show notes

Sign up for Digifest 2026 updates
Explore our work to support the adoption of generative AI
Read our primer on generative AI
Subscribe to Headlines - our newsletter which has all the latest edtech news, guidance and events tailored to you.

Andrew McFadyen and Dom Walker meet to discuss how the DEI survey reveals the evolving digital environment in education for students, learners and staff across FE and HE.

The surveys take between 5 and 10 minutes to complete and are concise but comprehensive enough to offer insights so organisations can tailor their decision making and planning around digital investment and resource development.

Dom talks about this year’s launch on 9 April of a centralised national survey for FE. This is open to individual teaching staff and professional services staff across the UK directly, to do the survey even if their colleges aren't making the survey available locally.

This is your chance if you’re involved in FE to share your voice and digital experiences.

Listen to the full episode to hear about previous DEI survey themes and emerging trends in AI. You’ll also find out how with your help we can build our picture of FE digital experience to feedback and advise the FE sector and wider community.

Show notes

Learn more about the digital experience insights (DEI) surveys
View the digital experience insights reports
Subscribe to Headlines - our newsletter which has all the latest edtech news, guidance and events tailored to you.

Digifest 2025 may be over but here’s your chance to hear one of the podcasts recorded live at the event. Host Iwan Lehnert welcomes Mark Andrews, principal strategic development manager at Adobe and Jonathan Hofgartner, head of learning and teaching - licensing at Jisc to discuss how integrating Adobe Express into curriculum design and delivery aligns with key themes in Jisc’s digital transformation framework for higher education. Discover how insights on digital culture and curriculum development are shaping the partnership between Jisc and Adobe to support institutions who have invested in Adobe Express via Jisc's software licensing.

Watch a video version of the podcast.

Show notes

Sign up for Digifest 2026 updates
Learn more about the Transforming Together: Leading and Learning programme
Read about Jisc’s framework for digital transformation in higher education
Visit the Chest website to learn about the Jisc Adobe ETLA agreement with new Adobe Express option
Subscribe to Headlines - our newsletter which has all the latest edtech news, guidance and events tailored to you.

Simon Birkett is joined by Professor Phil Hanna, Stefanie Savage-Campbell, and Dr. Aidan Deery from Queen's University Belfast to discuss embracing AI, digital transformation, and the evolving role of education.

The team share how Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) is taking a proactive approach to AI, focusing on innovation and student success while balancing risks and opportunities. They go on to highlight the university’s focus on values, behaviours, and adaptability in digital education discussing how fostering a supportive culture enables students and staff to experiment with new technologies and approaches to learning.

Looking ahead, the team discusses the future of digital transformation in education. From curriculum design to the integration of AI in teaching and assessment, they explore the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for institutions adapting to an ever-changing digital landscape.

Listen to the full episode to hear insights on leadership in digital transformation, strategies for supporting staff and students, and predictions for the future of education in a rapidly evolving technological world.

Show Notes

Views shared by beyond the technology guests do not necessarily represent the views of Jisc
Subscribe to our Headlines newsletter, for all the latest news, guidance and events tailored to you
If you want to come on the show, or have any questions, get in touch with us by emailing podcast@jisc.ac.uk
Read the findings from our digital transformation research pilot.
Find out more about embracing AI with confidence at Jisc.

With Digifest 2025 on the horizon, in this episode of Beyond the Technology host Iwan Lehnert meets with Rob Wraith, head of learning technology and digital learning at NCG to discuss his breakout session at the event.

Rob begins the conversation by giving a preview of his upcoming Digifest 2025 presentation on empowering employability with digital solutions to drive skills development, touching on the adoption of virtual reality and virtual environments, as well as making use of technology that is already embedded in the classroom.

Next, Rob shares NCG’s approach to using digital learning to enhance the student experience, and the importance of ensuring that any software is as inclusive and accessible as possible.

Listen to the full episode to also hear what Rob is looking forward to at Digifest, advice on integrating digital tools and more.

Show notes

Connect with Rob on LinkedIn
Visit the NCG website
Register for Digifest 2025
Subscribe to Headlines - our newsletter which has all the latest edtech news, guidance and events tailored to you.

We caught up with our head of analytics, James Hodgkin, at the launch of learning analytics.

James talks about the new features available, the importance of people at the heart of data and future plans for the updated platform including student wellbeing.

Show notes * Watch the live recording * Learn more about the learning analytics platform * Read our blog on the future of learning analytics: make data your organisation’s priority * Listen to our tech takes podcast, delivering learning analytics fit for the future * Read the Office for Students (OfS) mental health analytics project - an evaluation * Subscribe to Headlines - our newsletter which has all the latest edtech news, guidance and events tailored to you

In this episode of our further education and skills (FE) podcasts, host Andrew McFadyen talks to Phil Whitehead from DN Colleges Group. Throughout this series, hosts Andrew and Louisa are joined by experts from further education colleges to shine a light on how they support digital development through the use of Jisc tools, such as the digital elevation tool, building digital capability service and digital experience insights surveys.

Phil starts by sharing his journey from secondary school teacher to Director of Academic Services and Digital Learning, and finding success with his YouTube channel, Teachblend.

Next, Phil discusses his current project, immersive rooms, and how they can foster collaboration with other colleges as well as reducing travel for learners.

Phil explains how he’s used the Jisc building digital capability tool to underpin their DN Digital Skills program, building staff digital capability and resilience.

Listen to the full episode to also hear how Phil connects with peers in the sector, advice for using digital technology in the classroom, and how he feels the role of the FE teacher might change over time.

Show notes

Visit the DN Colleges Group website
Connect with Phil on LinkedIn
View Phil’s YouTube channel, Teachblend
Follow Phil on Bluesky
Read more about the immersive rooms
Subscribe to Headlines - our newsletter which has all the latest edtech news, guidance and events tailored to you.

Exploring how we can bridge digital inequity for international and transnational students, with insights from experts across Nigeria, Pakistan, and the UK.

We delve into the complexities of digital inequity faced by international and transnational education students, focusing on insights from experts and lived experiences in Nigeria, Pakistan, and the UK. We discuss the impact of infrastructure disparities, cultural shifts in digital learning, and the importance of preparing students for technological transitions before arriving in the UK.

Elizabeth Newall, senior sector specialist at Jisc, invites Doctor Rafael Escalon Reynoso, CEO at the Portulans Institute, Doctor Sonia Saleem, founder and CEO of Socio Engineering Technologies, and Ikechukwu Okoye, secretary general for the Nigeria Esports Federation and the director of Afri Start Innovation Hub, to share their insights on bridging digital inequity.

The conversation highlights the growing investments in digital maturity, the challenges of integrating technology into education, and the pivotal role of public-private partnerships and collaboration in fostering equitable access to digital tools and resources for students worldwide.

Show notes

Views shared by beyond the technology guests do not necessarily represent the views of Jisc
Subscribe to our Headlines newsletter, for all the latest news, guidance and events tailored to you
If you want to come on the show, or have any questions, get in touch with us by emailing podcast@jisc.ac.uk
Find out more about the researching international students' digital experience project. Dive deeper into the Portulans institute reports
Learn more about the Nigeria E-sports Federation
Download Briefing paper - Portulans (BP 4) Digital country profiles: international students’ digital experiences in relation to their home country’s civil digital infrastructure (pdf)

In this episode of our further education and skills (FE) podcasts, hosts Louisa Stamatelopoulos and Andrew McFadyen chat to Beth Snowden from Craven College. Throughout this series Andrew and Louisa are joined by experts from further education colleges to shine a light on how they support digital development through the use of our tools, such as the digital elevation tool, building digital capability service and digital experience insights surveys.

Beth begins the discussion by sharing details of her dual operational and strategic role at the college, from investigating licenses to co-writing the digital learning strategy, as well as the scale and scope of Craven College.

The conversation then turns to the college’s focus on embedding digital further into the staff development system, and how their recently launched digital learning strategy has been instrumental in the developments and decisions that are being made.

Beth highlights the success of the college’s first ever staff development day on digital CPD, with 300 members of staff participating in workshops and even learning to fly drones.

Listen to the full episode to also hear about Beth’s experiences of Jisc’s digital experience insights survey, learning from the digital accessibility community, and tips on getting started with AI.

Show notes

Visit Craven College’s website
View Beth’s LinkedIn page
Learn more about the college’s commercial training division, Tyro Training
Read about Evolve, Craven College’s small college in the centre of Ripon and take a ThingLink tour
Access the Aviation Academy, based at Leeds Bradford Airport
Watch a 360 tour of Craven Arena, home to Craven Equine
Subscribe to Headlines - our newsletter which has all the latest edtech news, guidance and events tailored to you.

In this episode of the Beyond the Technology podcast, Jisc’s Chris Thomson is joined by Dr Miriam Firth from the University of Manchester. They discuss the work Miriam has been doing with the QAA, and colleagues across a number of other HE institutions, to examine practices of optionality in assessment.

During the episode, Miri dives into the rationale for the research project, what they discovered and what lessons can be learned for assessment designers.

Show notes

Find out more about the optionality in assessment project
Review the Jisc guidance on the Principles of Good Assessment and Feedback
Listen to the creative approaches to assessment in media and communications podcast

In this episode, Jisc’s Kellie Mote welcomes Dr Ann Kristin Glenster from the Glenlead Centre and Bouquette Kabatepe from Imperial College London for a discussion on digital accessibility and the accessible digital futures project.

The group reflect on how they met and how a shared passion for accessibility sowed the seeds of the accessible digital futures project, a series of events bringing together digital leads from UK HE to explore the potential of accessible digital and AI technologies for all.

Bouquette speaks about hosting a workshop and the importance of having representation from all levels at the university, raising awareness that digital accessibility is a must, not just a nice to have. Ann Kristin delves into some of the findings from the project, highlighting feedback from the edtech sector further emphasising the need to build accessibility into products at the earliest stages.

Listen now to hear about accessible procurement, AI in accessibility tools and assistive technologies, the impact of the European Accessibility Act and much more.

Show notes

Get involved in the accessible digital futures project
Join us for the next accessible digital futures workshop
Learn more about Imperial, Intel and Lenovo’s ICICLE project
Find out more about Bouquette, and Imperial’s commitment to digital accessibility in this blog
Watch a video demonstration of Microsoft’s Seeing with AI
Learn more about the 100-year life book mentioned in the podcast

Host Elizabeth Newall welcomes Professor Dan George, Professor Jane Mooney and Professor Caroline Bowsher from the University of Manchester to discuss the work they have been doing to support digital transformation as part of Manchester’s Flexible Learning Programme.

In this episode of our mini-series on demonstrating digital transformation, Elizabeth Newall, senior sector specialist in the higher education and research directorate at Jisc, is joined by representatives of the Flexible Learning Programme (FLP) at the University of Manchester: Professor Dan George, associate vice president for blended and flexible learning, Professor Caroline Bowsher, university academic theme lead for the digital learning environment and Professor Jane Mooney, university academic theme lead for digital skills and literacy. Jisc recently hosted a demonstrating digital transformation event at the University of Manchester, and in this podcast we’ll hear more about the work that Dan, Caroline and Jane have been doing to support digital transformation as part of Manchester’s Flexible Learning Programme.

The conversation begins with Dan sharing the University of Manchester’s definition of flexible learning and the origins of the Flexible Learning Programme. Dan explains how the university’s current strategy set them on a path towards increased student choice to enable their offering to be flexible by design and flexible by delivery.

Jane follows this up by describing how Jisc’s resources, such as the digital transformation framework and maturity model which they have recently piloted, have supported them in the Flexible Learning Programme. Caroline discusses how their targeted approach to digital maturity allows them to focus the conversations in around specific areas of the model, so that they get really specific outcomes and next steps to follow up on.

Dan talks about how the maturity model workshops were well received by key stakeholders and the executive level at the university, and touches on the special relationship with external civic organisations.

Lastly, the team talk about why they wanted to host a demonstrating digital transformation event and what the success of the day meant to them.

Show notes:

Read our accompanying member story
Read our digital transformation in higher education guide
Read more about the Flexible Learning Strategy and Workstreams and feel free to get in touch with the team via flexiblelearning@manchester.ac.uk
See our digital transformation in higher education toolkit and explore a comprehensive perspective on how the digital environment can support positive work, research and learning experiences, and promote a sense of belonging and wellbeing
Join our Digital transformation in higher education working group
Subscribe to Headlines - our newsletter which has all the latest edtech news, guidance and events tailored to you

We’re joined by James Kieft, teaching and learning development manager at Activate Learning, to discuss bringing people together through digital technologies, developing skills and having the courage to try something different.

In the fifth of our further education and skills (FE) focused podcasts, hosts Andrew McFadyen and Louisa Stamatelopoulos chat to James Kieft, teaching and learning development manager at Activate Learning. Throughout this series Andrew and Louisa are joined by experts from further education colleges to shine a light on how they support digital development through the use of Jisc tools, such as the digital elevation tool, building digital capability service and digital experience insights surveys.

The conversation begins with AI and how James has brought colleagues together through breakfast meetings to raise the profile of all technologies, not just AI, and explore support opportunities for students and staff.

Next, James shares his experience of running an EdTech blog and YouTube channel, which has created connections worldwide. James highlights the collaborative and sharing nature of the FE sector and how in his role he’s been able to observe a wide range of teaching, picking ideas up as he goes, like a magpie.

James rounds out the discussion by sharing advice for teachers looking to use digital technology and how he can see the role of the FE teacher changing over time.

Show notes

Check out James’s EdTech blog
Visit James’s YouTube channel
Subscribe to Headlines - our newsletter which has all the latest edtech news, guidance and events tailored to you

Simon Birkett talks to Lucy Everest, global chief operating officer, and Fraser Muir, global director of information services, from Heriot-Watt University about their global approach to digital transformation to enable continuous evolution and improvement.

In this episode of Beyond the Technology, host Simon Birkett is joined by Lucy Everest, global chief operating officer, and Fraser Muir, global director of information services, from Heriot-Watt University to discuss digital transformation and the importance of embedding a digital mindset.

Lucy begins the conversation by detailing what digital transformation looks like at Heriot-Watt, as an enabler of growth, effective ways of working and efficiency.

Fraser and Lucy continue by looking at the essential building blocks of digital transformation, understanding the imperative to change and using micro transformations to drive small efficiencies that can scale.

Fraser goes on to talk about the digital student experience and use of data and insights, and Lucy reflects on their approach to engaging a broad set of stakeholders on a global level.

Lastly, Lucy and Fraser discuss the challenges of implementing transformational projects and predict where the sector may be in five years’ time in terms of digital transformation.

Listen to the full episode for all of this and more.

Show notes:

Check out our framework for digital transformation in higher education and explore a comprehensive perspective on how the digital environment can support positive work, research and learning experiences, and promote a sense of belonging and wellbeing
Read our digital transformation in higher education guide
Join our Digital transformation in higher education working group - Digital transformation in higher education working group - Jisc
Subscribe to Headlines - our newsletter which has all the latest edtech news, guidance and events tailored to you

Host Sarah Knight is joined by Professor Paul Bartholomew, vice chancellor at Ulster University, to discuss Ulster’s strategy: people, place and partnership, and Paul’s close relationship with Jisc over the last 20 years.

In this episode of our miniseries on demonstrating digital transformation Sarah Knight, head of learning and teaching transformation in the higher education and research directorate at Jisc, is joined by Professor Paul Bartholomew, vice chancellor at Ulster University, to share how Ulster’s strategy: people, place and partnership is driving their digital transformation.

Paul starts by explaining how the strategy is built upon working in partnership, both internally and externally, and a focus on learning as a social activity.

Next, Paul shares his insight on what sector leaders can do to enable a culture that supports digital transformation, touching on resource, flexible funding and the importance of a collaborative approach.

We hear Paul’s thoughts on where the sector might be in the next five years in terms of digital transformation and how he believes that AI will not break the USP for higher education of bringing people together.

Lastly, Paul reflects on how Jisc has supported his career over the last 20 years.

Show notes:

Listen to our previous episode on enabling culture to support digital transformation at Ulster University
Read Ulster University’s strategy
Ulster’s digital strategy
Find out more about Ulster’s centre for digital learning enhancement
Read our digital transformation in higher education guide
Learn more about the student experience experts group and how to get involved
Check out our framework for digital transformation in higher education and explore a comprehensive perspective on how the digital environment can support positive work, research and learning experiences, and promote a sense of belonging and wellbeing
Subscribe to Headlines - our newsletter which has all the latest edtech news, guidance and events tailored to you

Join Professor Tim Drysdale from the University of Edinburgh, Jisc Association of Learning Technology awards ALT award winner for digital transformation in 2023, as he explores the groundbreaking Remote Laboratories project in our latest episode.

In this episode of the Beyond the Technology podcast, we explore the University of Edinburgh's Remote Laboratories project, led by Professor Tim Drysdale. This award-winning initiative addresses the growing demand for practical engineering education by transforming unused campus spaces into innovative teaching labs.

Remote Laboratories allow students to conduct over 100 different experiments across various engineering disciplines from anywhere, using just a web browser. This flexibility supports blended learning, making practical work more accessible to students with diverse commitments.

Professor Drysdale highlights the project's collaborative nature and its potential to revolutionise global STEM education by integrating AI and digital tools. This approach not only enhances learning but also prepares students for a tech-driven professional world.

Join us to hear about the practical benefits and future potential of remote labs in enhancing both student learning and educational outcomes. Discover how Remote Laboratories are reshaping engineering education and the transformative impact of digital education on students and educators.

Subscribe to our newsletter for more stories, download our report on post-pandemic learning, and connect with Professor Drysdale to explore similar innovations for your institution.

Tune in to the Beyond the Technology podcast to hear the full story.

Show notes · Hear more about the University of Edinburgh’s story in our Beyond the Technology podcast series on award winners.

· Join the conversation and get in touch with Tim and the team.

· Download our report: Beyond blended: Post-pandemic curriculum and learning design: lessons from the higher education (HE) sector

· Subscribe to our Headlines newsletter, which has all the latest edtech news, guidance and events tailored to you

Sarah Knight speaks to Elaine Hartin and Andy Jaffrey, from Ulster University, about their agile and flexible approach to their strategic plan and the integration of digital technologies at the Belfast campus.

In this podcast, Sarah Knight, head of learning and teaching transformation in the higher education and research directorate at Jisc, is joined by Elaine Hartin, chief strategy and finance officer, and Andy Jaffrey, head of the centre for digital learning enhancement, at Ulster University to discuss what Elaine, Andy and their teams are doing to support digital transformation.

Andy begins by describing the hidden work that provides the infrastructure for digital innovation and how digital transformation has been happening at all levels of the organisation by breaking down silos and encouraging a culture to support innovative practice.

We hear from Elaine on using digital transformation to enable strategy by getting the communication, culture and execution right. Elaine also speaks about having a plan and clear milestones in place to assist with the journey of digital transformation.

Elaine and Andy take us through some of the initiatives that support digital transformation at the university, including a significant cyber security program, the use of Power BI to support academic planning and the integration of technology into the learning spaces at the Belfast campus, which have been embraced by both staff and students.

Listen to the full episode for all of this and more, including the challenges of keeping up the momentum of digital transformation and how Ulster are supporting staff and students with the AI innovations in the sector.

Show notes:

Read Ulster University’s strategy
Ulster’s digital strategy
Find out more about Ulster’s centre for digital learning enhancement
Check out our framework for digital transformation in higher education and explore a comprehensive perspective on how the digital environment can support positive work, research and learning experiences, and promote a sense of belonging and wellbeing
Subscribe to Headlines - our newsletter which has all the latest edtech news, guidance and events tailored to you

In the next episode of our award winners podcast miniseries, Sophia Speakman interviews Miko Pescott and Savi Bains from Activate Learning, alongside Jonathan Hofgartner from Jisc, discussing Activate Learning's award-winning approach to digital technology in further education.

This episode, hosted by Sophia Speakman, celebrates award winners for their innovative use of digital technology and sharing standout practices from tertiary education exploring Activate Learning's approach to supporting adult learners through remote education.

In this episode, Savi and Miko discuss Activate Learning’s unique learning philosophy which moves away from focusing solely on the traditional methods of teaching. Miko shares with us the emotion and motivation in the online and remote learning process that is needed to change the nature of the teacher role in an online setting to one that is coaching focused to sustain learner motivation.

The team addresses student challenges such as device access, personal commitments, the pandemic and financial constraints with practical solutions to ensure inclusivity.

Jonathan Hofgartner, the lead assessor for the Jisc Beacon Awards, emphasises how Activate's strategy aligns with criteria like innovation, impact, and sustainability.

Finally, Savi and Miko share the critical role that feedback has in driving learner success. By providing timely feedback within 48 hours, even on evenings and weekends, Activate Learning keeps adult learners engaged and motivated to complete assignments. This commitment to rapid feedback, combined with a coaching-focused teaching model, distinguishes Activate Learning's approach and contributes to its success.

Show notes · Find out more about Activate Learning and their award-winning learning philosophy.

· Download our framework for digital transformation.

· Find out more about the Association of Colleges Beacon Awards.

· Read our member story sharing Activate Learning’s journey.

· Subscribe to our Headlines newsletter, which has all the latest edtech news, guidance and events tailored to you.

· Get in touch with us at podcast@jisc.ac.uk if you’d like to come on the show or know someone who might suit the series.

Please note, this episode of the podcast was originally recorded in September 2023, so please bear that in mind when dates and times are mentioned.

This is the fourth in a series of podcasts focused on further education and skills (FE), hosted by Andrew McFadyen and Louisa Stamatelopoulos. Throughout this series Andrew and Louisa are joined by experts from further education colleges to shine a light on how they support digital development through the use of Jisc tools, such as the digital elevation tool, building digital capability service and digital experience insights surveys.

In this episode Andrew and Louisa are joined by Kerry Heathcote, vice principal of curriculum and quality at College of West Anglia.

The discussion begins with a look ay College of West Anglia’s digital elevation strategy and the six elements that comprise the curriculum design and development and learner experience.

Kerry talks about how Jisc’s digital experience insights survey, through student and learner feedback, allows the college to benchmark themselves and really focus on the student voice, leadership, governance and culture.

Next, Kerry shares advice for teachers on using digital technologies in their teaching by keeping the learner at the heart of the experience.

Lastly, Kerry looks to the future and how the role of the FE teacher may change over time.

Show notes

Subscribe to Headlines - our newsletter which has all the latest edtech news, guidance and events tailored to you
Get in touch with us at podcast@jisc.ac.uk if you’d like to come on the show or know someone who might suit the series

In this special episode of Beyond the Technology, recorded live at Digifest 2024, Tom Moule, senior AI specialist in Jisc’s AI team is joined by David Pike, head of digital learning at the Academy for Learning and Teaching Excellence at the University of Bedfordshire, Alina Bajgrowicz, digital learning officer from the University of Bedfordshire, and Scott Hayden, head of teaching and learning and digital at Basingstoke College of Technology to discuss AI and empathy.

The panel begins by looking at the ethical questions that have been raised around using AI at their institutions, and how frequent empathy mapping with students and staff ensures their needs are met. Next, they highlight the benefits and pitfalls of AI for both students and staff, and the need for the sector to define best practice for using AI in education.

David and Alina share examples of ethical dilemmas around generative AI from their session at Digifest and Scott discusses his approach to deepfakes at Basingstoke.

Finally, the group predict where assessment might be heading in the age of AI.

Show notes

Learn more about Jisc’s work on AI.

Be the first to hear our developing plans for Digifest 2025 by signing up to our mailing list

Subscribe to Headlines - our newsletter which has all the latest edtech news, guidance and events tailored to you

Get in touch with us at podcast@jisc.ac.uk if you’d like to come on the show or know someone who might suit the series.

In this episode of the Beyond the Technology podcast, Elizabeth Newall, senior sector specialist at Jisc invites Dr Tabetha Newman, senior research consultant at Timmus limited, Sharon Perera, head of academic digital skills at the University of Greenwich and Tom Wright, director of digital experience, University of Lincoln, to explore the findings of Jisc’s research investigating the digital experiences of international students studying in UK HE.

Elizabeth invites guests to explore the complexities and challenges faced by international students in navigating the digital landscape of their educational experiences. From discussions on prior access to technology and digital infrastructure across different countries to the integration of digital tools in teaching and learning practices in the UK, the podcast provides valuable insights into how universities can better support their international student community.

Show notes

Find out more about the researching international students' digital experience project.

Briefing paper 1 | Facilitating holistic conversations about the student experience with international students

Briefing paper 2 | Supporting international students’ digital experience: a checklist for providing an equitable and inclusive experience

Briefing paper 3 | Comparing international and UK-domiciled student responses in Jisc’s digital experience insights (DEI) survey

Read up on the International students’ digital experience phase one: a review of policy, academic literature and views from UK higher education and the International students’ digital experience phase two: experiences and expectations

Register your interest to stay informed of our research into international students’ digital experience

Subscribe to Headlines - our newsletter which has all the latest edtech news, guidance and events tailored to you

Get in touch with us at podcast@jisc.ac.uk if you’d like to come on the show or know someone who might suit the series.

In this episode of the Beyond the Technology podcast, Fiona Steel, graduate teaching assistant at Leeds Beckett University, joins Heidi Fraser-Krauss, Jisc’s CEO, to discuss using virtual reality (VR) to tackle the gender disparity in STEM education. Fiona is delivering a lightning talk session on this topic at Digifest. So, if you enjoy this conversation, be sure to attend her talk at 11:30 on Wednesday 13 March at the Digifest event, taking place in Birmingham and online.

Fiona begins by looking at the complex issue of gender disparity in STEM education and careers and why they still remain male-dominated. She tells us about her hopes for encouraging more women, girls and non-binary learners to engage in STEM subjects, without alienating anyone else, to move society forwards.

Fiona explains how VR can be used in the classroom to tackle gender disparity by making learning content more inclusive, accessible and engaging, showcasing diverse role models and perspectives and challenging stereotypes.

Listen to the full episode now, and if you enjoy this episode, look out for Fiona’s lightning talk at Digifest on 13 March.

Show notes

Find out more about Digifest 2024 and imagine the future of education and research
Subscribe to Headlines - our newsletter which has all the latest edtech news, guidance and events tailored to you
Get in touch with us at podcast@jisc.ac.uk if you’d like to come on the show or know someone who might suit the series

Host Simon Birkett is joined by Helen Cocks from the University of Exeter to discuss how their agile culture is paying off for digital transformation.

In this episode of the Beyond the Technology podcast, Helen Cocks, Head of Digital Strategy and Engagement, joins us to discuss the approach powering digital transformation at the University of Exeter. The university is already reaping the rewards of the digital strategy they implemented less than two years ago, with a vision of becoming the most accessible and connected university destination for any user.

Helen touches on subjects ranging from recruitment and data infrastructure to digital initiatives and a motto of ‘practice what you teach’. She tells us about the lessons learned along the way, explaining why data in particular has been so crucial to their progress.

We also hear about the user-led approach taken to try and make processes easier and more responsive for a user base of digital natives wanting to replicate the polished experience they get with the likes of Netflix and Amazon.

Listen to the episode in full for all this and more, including Helen’s best advice for other higher education leaders looking to make progress on their digital transformation journeys.

Show notes:

Read University of Exeter’s Strategy 2030
Exeter’s Digital Strategy
Access Exeter’s Digital Team site, covering products and services, roles and responsibilities, blogs and much more
Check out our framework for digital transformation in higher education and explore a comprehensive perspective on how the digital environment can support positive work, research and learning experiences, and promote a sense of belonging and wellbeing
Subscribe to Headlines - our newsletter which has all the latest edtech news, guidance and events tailored to you
Get in touch with us at podcast@jisc.ac.uk if you’d like to come on the show or know someone who might suit the series

In the third of our further education and skills focused podcasts, we’re joined by Stevie Emmanuel and Yusuf Ibrahim from Cardiff and Vale College.

This is the third in a series of podcasts focused on further education and skills (FE), hosted by Andrew McFadyen and Louisa Stamatelopoulos. Throughout this series Andrew and Louisa are joined by experts from further education colleges to shine a light on how they support digital development through the use of Jisc tools, such as the digital elevation tool, building digital capability service and digital experience insights surveys.

In this edition our hosts welcome Stevie Emmanuel, head of technology enhanced learning, and Yusuf Ibrahim, Assistant Principal, from Cardiff and Vale College to the show to discuss how new technologies are driving their digital strategy.

Stevie begins by talking about the move from a TEL strategy to a full college digital transformation and how the Jisc digital elevation tool has helped to craft that strategy.

Next, Stevie looks at the impact on staff and learners of embracing change in a digital world and how a student-led project, TEL Talks, has increased engagement.

Yusuf and Stevie give an example of how their student digital leaders have collaborated to gain future-ready skills.

The guests also share their advice for teachers looking to use new digital technology in the classroom and look to the future at how the role of the FE teacher may change over time.

Finally, Yusuf discusses how Cardiff and Vale College are removing the barriers from equity, quality and diversity through the use of technology.

Show notes · See how our digital capability service can help you

· Find out more about how the digital elevation tool can elevate FE and skills providers’ digital ambitions

· Discover how the digital experience insights service works

· Explore our further education and skills hub

· Subscribe to our Headlines newsletter, which has all the latest edtech news, guidance and events tailored to you

· Get in touch with us at podcast@jisc.ac.uk if you’d like to come on the show or know someone who might suit the series

On this episode of Beyond the Technology, Sophia Speakman hosts Professor Niamh Nic Daeid, Vincenzo Rinaldi and Heather Doran from the University of Dundee, winners of the innovative use of technology award at the Herald Higher Education Awards, to discuss the exciting project surrounding virtual reality (VR) being carried out at the Leverhulme Research Centre.

Niamh and Vincenzo outline how the team aims to revolutionise crime scene investigations and court proceedings using VR. Having already worked with the Danish police, the project is focused on creating a systematic approach to turn crime scene images into a VR environment, providing a more immersive decision-making tool. The team envisions a future where VR brings crime scenes to investigators, reducing the need for physical travel.

Heather discusses how the pandemic limited engagement of the tool with public audiences due to the tactile nature of the VR technology and also how the university’s widening access team hope to work with them to share VR with students.

Vincenzo addresses the high costs associated with advanced forensic technologies and how the project aims to focus on cost-effective solutions by repurposing existing tools such as traditional cameras and commercial-grade VR devices.

To close, Vincenzo and Niamh offer advice to other universities seeking to explore innovation in technology.

Show notes

Read more about the University of Dundee’s ground-breaking project in our member story
Find out more about the Leverhulme Research Centre for Forensic Science at the University of Dundee
Subscribe to our Headlines newsletter, which has all the latest edtech news, guidance and events tailored to you
Get in touch with us if you’d like to come on the show or know someone who might suit the series

In our second further education and skills focused podcast, Sheena Murphy-Collett, Petroc College’s Vice Principal of people, organisational development and engagement joins us to discuss digital growth, from seed to flower.

This is the second in a series of podcasts focused on further education and skills (FE), hosted by Andrew McFadyen and Louisa Stamatelopoulos. Throughout this series Andrew and Louisa are joined by experts from further education colleges to shine a light on how they support digital development through the use of Jisc tools, such as the digital elevation tool, building digital capability service and digital experience insights surveys.

Sheena Murphy-Collett, Vice Principal of people, organisational development and engagement at Petroc College, begins by revealing her unconventional route into FE and how her suite of transferable skills benefit her current role.

Next, Sheena discusses the digital focus at Petroc College, orienting herself into three new teams and using Jisc’s digital elevation tool to give structure and priorities to those teams.

Sheena also talks about the excellent contacts she has made through Jisc community events and the opportunities they have opened up.

To close, Sheena shares her advice for teachers looking to utilise digital technology, her views on how the role of the FE teacher may change over time and a look at Petroc College’s digital three year plan.

Show notes

See how our digital capability service can help you
Find out more about how the digital elevation tool can elevate FE and skills providers’ digital ambitions
Discover how the digital experience insights service works
Explore our further education and skills hub
Subscribe to our Headlines newsletter, which has all the latest edtech news, guidance and events tailored to you
Get in touch with us at podcast@jisc.ac.uk if you’d like to come on the show or know someone who might suit the series

In this podcast episode, Elizabeth Newall welcomes Helen Beetham and Sheila MacNeill, who discuss rethinking learning and curriculum design in higher education.

Helen Beetham, a researcher in digital education and Sheila MacNeill, an independent consultant with experience in curriculum design talk about the importance of rethinking learning and curriculum design in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and the need to adapt to new challenges.

The conversation explores the evolution of curriculum design pre and post pandemic, emphasising a shift towards a more holistic approach. They introduce the concept of "beyond blended," which focuses on blending of different modes of learning, particularly synchronous and asynchronous, and the impact of technology on time and place within the curriculum.

The discussion also touches on the student experience during the pandemic, highlighting issues related to new technologies such as generative AI, accessibility, and the need for flexibility. Helen and Sheila share that different students have different preferences for learning modes, and the pandemic has highlighted the importance of catering to diverse learning needs.

Helen and Sheila share their work on the six pillars of blended learning. They emphasise the importance of understanding the pedagogic differences between in-place and online learning, the role of pace in learning, and the need to balance flexibility with the specific needs of students. They also introduce the idea of using "lenses" to examine the curriculum from different angles, both at the curriculum and strategic levels.

The conversation concludes by highlighting the need for a robust curriculum design process and the potential for new technologies like generative AI to be accommodated within flexible curriculum design process.

Show notes

· Beyond blended: Post-pandemic curriculum and learning design: lessons from the higher education (HE) sector. Available to download from: https://beta.jisc.ac.uk/reports/beyond-blended

· Sign up to receive advance notice of the Beyond blended web guide: https://emails.jisc.ac.uk/k/Jisc/beyond_blended

· Read the report on Approaches to curriculum and learning design across UK higher education

· Read our member story on blending digital and physical at the University of Northampton

· Check out our framework guide for digital transformation in higher education, and explore a comprehensive perspective on how the digital environment can support positive work, research and learning experiences, and promote a sense of belonging and wellbeing

· Subscribe to Headlines - our newsletter which has all the latest edtech news, guidance and events tailored to you

· Get in touch with us at podcast@jisc.ac.uk if you’d like to come on the show or know someone who might suit the series

In this episode of the Beyond the Technology podcast, Elizabeth Newall, senior consultant in the Digital transformation of learning, teaching, and assessment at Jisc, welcomes a panel of experts from the University of Northampton. They discuss their innovative approach to rethinking learning and curriculum design in higher education.

The conversation begins by discussing the University of Northampton's unique setting. Shân Wareing, deputy vice chancellor, and Rob Howe, head of learning technology, share how their Waterside campus allowed them to consolidate facilities into a more sustainable space. This campus was designed for blended learning, offering laptops to eligible students, and featuring various learning spaces.

Shân discusses the university's evolving digital strategy with the creation of an artificial intelligence group to address academic integrity concerns and to explore AI's educational potential.

The podcast delves into the challenges of supporting staff in learning and curriculum design. Jim Harris, a learning designer, highlights the fear of change as a significant hurdle. Jim emphasises the importance of considering staff members' various levels of understanding and comfort with digital processes and learning design, ranging from basic introductions to advanced publishing.

Kate Coulson, head of learning and teaching enhancement, discusses the pivotal role of students in curriculum design and learning. Kate advocates for a "give and take" model, where students become co-creators of the curriculum rather than passive recipients, emphasising the importance of investing time and resources.

Lastly, Shân shares her vision for digital transformation at the University of Northampton, highlighting that the focus should remain on how students learn. Shân underscores the importance of culture, creativity, and patience in the process, as well as the need to prioritise people over technology.

Show notes

· Check out our framework guide for digital transformation in higher education, and explore a comprehensive perspective on how the digital environment can support positive work, research and learning experiences, and promote a sense of belonging and wellbeing

· Subscribe to Headlines - our newsletter which has all the latest edtech news, guidance and events tailored to you

· Get in touch with us at podcast@jisc.ac.uk if you’d like to come on the show or know someone who might suit the series

Join Sarah Knight, head of learning and teaching transformation at Jisc, who is joined by Marieke Guy, Head of Digital Assessment at University College London (UCL) and Mary McHarg, Activities & Engagement Officer at UCL Student Union to discuss the reimagining of assessment and feedback at the institution.

Marieke provides insights into the university's broad scope, with 11 faculties and over 60 departments. UCL supports around 43,000 students and over 14,000 employees, offering a diverse range of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. They discuss how the institution faces the challenge of maintaining consistency and utilising technology effectively due to its scale and diversity.

Mary highlights the challenges students face in relation to assessment and feedback. With a vast institution like UCL, students experience different assessment methods, frequencies, and feedback quality across departments. The podcast explores the importance of consistency, quality feedback, and supporting student well-being.

The episode emphasises the involvement of students in the assessment process. UCL actively engages students through panels, partnerships, and programmes such as ‘student changemakers’.

Marieke discusses the wide range of assessment tools used at UCL, such as Moodle, Wiseflow, Mahara, WordPress, Crowdmark, and Turnitin. The conversation moves on to how UCL is addressing the need for assessment practice and curriculum redesign. Marieke mentions ongoing work with the academic practice centre and academic communication centre to support staff in rethinking assessments.

The discussion delves into AI's role in assessment and the need to educate staff and students about its capabilities, limitations, and ethical considerations. UCL is incorporating AI into assessments and actively involving students in discussions about its use.

The episode concludes with the importance of senior leaders supporting the institutional approach to rethinking assessment and feedback. It emphasises the need for clear communication, involving students as partners, providing resources and support for staff, and investing in experts.

Show notes

Read more about how UCL is redesigning assessment for the AI age
Check out our framework guide for digital transformation in higher education, and explore a comprehensive perspective on how the digital environment can support positive work, research and learning experiences, and promote a sense of belonging and wellbeing
Read the UCL Digital Assessment Team blog for valuable insights and updates on innovative digital assessment practices at UCL
Subscribe to Headlines - our newsletter which has all the latest edtech news, guidance and events tailored to you
Get in touch with us at podcast@jisc.ac.uk if you’d like to come on the show or know someone who might suit the series

In this episode, Simon Birkett, senior consultant for digital transformation at Jisc is joined by Jodie Wetherall, Associate Director - Office of the CIO at the University of Greenwich to discuss the university's digital strategy and its impact.

Jodie shares insights into the University of Greenwich's vision for 2030, aiming to be the best modern university in the UK. They discuss the strategic priorities that focus on transformational shifts in learning and teaching, research and knowledge exchange, as well as the four cross-cutting priorities of student success, inclusivity and culture, impactful research and knowledge exchange, and connected and sustainable campuses.

The conversation delves into the development and evolution of the university's digital strategy. They talk about the importance of aligning the strategy with the overall corporate strategy, gaining executive sponsorship, and involving the entire university community.

Several initiatives and projects are highlighted, including the Student Lifecycle Management programme, which aims to provide a digital student centre for self-service access, improving the student experience. The Classroom Enhancement Programme is discussed, which focuses on upgrading and enhancing classroom environments to support flexible delivery models. Jodie also mentions the new programme focusing on research and knowledge exchange, exploring ways to streamline processes and empower researchers with technology.

In terms of the wider sector conversation, Jodie discusses the significance of time, opportunities coming out of COVID and long-term planning in digital transformation. They emphasise the importance of having a high-performing team, strong executive leadership, and a positive reputation for delivering change. Looking to the future, Jodie acknowledges the challenges posed by the current financial climate and discusses the university's digital strategy for the future.

Show notes

Read more about Greenwich’s five steps to digital strategy success
Join us for our developing and implementing a digital strategy event, University of Greenwich, 18 July 2023
Listen to a podcast about demonstrating digital transformation at Staffordshire University
Check out our framework guide for digital transformation in higher education, and explore a comprehensive perspective on how the digital environment can support positive work, research and learning experiences, and promote a sense of belonging and wellbeing
Subscribe to Headlines - our newsletter which has all the latest edtech news, guidance and events tailored to you
Get in touch with us at podcast@jisc.ac.uk if you’d like to come on the show or know someone who might suit the series

In this episode Lis Parcell is joined by Matt Turner and Gabi Witthaus at the Higher Education Futures institute (HEFi), University of Birmingham to talk about a hybrid teaching project involving two universities.

Gabi and Matt were part of a research team made up of staff and students from University of Nottingham (project lead) and University of Birmingham (project partner) which investigated experiences of hybrid teaching and learning in academic year 2020/2021. The principal investigator was Cecilia Goria (University of Nottingham) and the project was supported and funded by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA).

“…the term ‘hybrid teaching’ is used to refer to lectures/seminars/classes in which some students are physically present in a classroom and others join online simultaneously from remote locations”

Lis begins by talking to Matt and Gabi about the origins of the project and their definition of hybrid teaching. They look at how hybrid teaching rooms were developed at the two participating universities to enable all students to continue studying as some returned to campus and some remained online as Covid restrictions were lifted. Importantly, the research involved collaboration between students and staff and they touch on how this was achieved.

The project gathered a fascinating array of quantitative and qualitative data from over 500 students and nearly 50 staff (teaching and audio-visual/IT) across the two universities. Gabi and Matt offer an overview of the main themes which emerged, interspersed with quotes from staff and students. Whilst the project’s recommendations make particularly valuable reading for anyone contemplating hybrid teaching, we also hear how they might inform digital transformation of learning and teaching more generally.

Gabi and Matt finish with reflections on some potential areas for further investigation.

Show notes · Read the full report published on QAA website.

· Goria, C., Witthaus, G., Turner, M., Hanford, S., Bhend, M., Wray, A., Wahyudi, M., & Gibson, A. (2022). Hybrid teaching: a futurist model or a realist model for the future? QAA. (Accessed 2 June 2023)

· Find out more about the work of the Higher Education Futures Institute, University of Birmingham.

· Subscribe to our Headlines newsletter, which has all the latest edtech news, guidance and events tailored to you.

Get in touch with us at podcast@jisc.ac.uk if you’d like to come on the show or know someone who might suit the series.

In this episode, Sarah Knight, Head of learning and teaching transformation in higher education at Jisc is joined by Mike Phillips, the executive dean at the School of Health Science and Wellbeing at Staffordshire University where he discusses how the use of immersive learning and simulation learning is transforming the student experience in health care.

Mike outlines the role that the School of Health Science and Wellbeing has in the immersive journey and shares the challenges of delivering health care education in the sector over the past 20 years. Mike then goes on to explore how technology has enabled the university to address some of the challenges they face including the pandemic accelerating plans and the use of simulation placements for students across health, social care and wellbeing disciplines.

Mike shares how he has brought staff along on the journey to ‘simmersive’ and the innovative approaches that they’ve used to create an authentic workplace setting for students. Mike highlights the 3 P’s which are essential to embedding technology within the student experience: The people, the place and the pedagogy.

Mike talks about students and staff embracing the approach to simulation based learning post-pandemic and the welcoming of technological change at Staffordshire adopting a hybrid role across the academic and technical digital spaces.

Mike then goes on to share the five stage approach and the framework for the integration of skills and simulation when delivering an incremental exposure towards real world practice for the universities learners.

Finally, we focus on creating a simulation environment to develop an authentic assessment experience and enhance student learning and feedback.

In this episode, we are joined by Raheel Nawaz from Staffordshire University, where we learn about the exciting and innovative work Raheel is leading on in the digital transformation space.

Raheel Nawaz is a professor of artificial intelligence and a professor of digital education working at Staffordshire University as pro vice-chancellor for digital transformation.

Raheel explores his vision for digital transformation at Staffordshire University including the new digital at core strategy and the four main pillars that underpin this vision.

Raheel talks about the essential building blocks needed within a university to enable digital transformation to happen in the form of three main components : strategy, culture and governance of the strategy including the process Raheel and his team took when creating their digital transformation strategy.

He then goes on to explain the three projects the university are most excited about in the world of digital transformation. The first of the three being simplifying the student experience with the launch of the first ai assistant in any university with the aim of bringing course, community and career together in a single integrated student interface. Secondly, the self-coined ‘simmersive’, a support mantra of simulation and immersive and how Staffordshire is integrating this concept into the DNA of buildings and the student experience. And finally, a project around building minimum expectations around staff and student digital capabilities.

Raheel talks about what senior leaders can do to encourage a culture of digital transformation including what we can do for the culture of our university experience.

And finally we look to the future of the sector and where we see the university experience evolving since the pandemic and the rapid increase of ai. And finally posing the question to senior leaders ‘how do we make the most of technology?’

Show notes

Check out the events happening within our digital transformation series:
- Join us at University of Northampton for rethinking learning and curriculum design on 6 July. Book now.
- Taking place 18 July, join us at University of Greenwich for developing and implementing a digital strategy. Join our waiting list.

Check out our framework guide for digital transformation in higher education, and explore a comprehensive perspective on how the digital environment can support positive work, research and learning experiences, and promote a sense of belonging and wellbeing.

Subscribe to our Headlines newsletter, which has all the latest edtech news, guidance and events tailored to you.

Get in touch with us at podcast@jisc.ac.uk if you’d like to come on the show or know someone who might suit the series.

This episode is the first in a series of podcasts focused on further education and skills, hosted by Andrew McFadyen and Louisa Stamatelopoulos. Throughout this series Andrew and Louisa will be joined by experts from further education colleges to shine a light on how they support digital development through the use of Jisc tools, such as the digital elevation tool, building digital capability service and digital experience insights surveys.

Phil Peatling, Head of Digital Learning at Boston College, firstly discusses the digital transformation of development and skills for both teachers and learners, to prepare them for digital advancements across industries.

Next, Phil talks about how Jisc’s digital elevation tool gave the college a platform for development and brought the Digital team and the IT technicians closer together to assess their digital maturity levels.

Phil also shares advice for teachers on using digital technology and how he sees the role of the further education teacher changing over time.

Show notes See how our digital capability service can help you

Find out more about how the digital elevation tool can elevate FE and skills providers’ digital ambitions

Discover how the digital experience insights service works

Explore our further education and skills hub

Subscribe to our Headlines newsletter, which has all the latest edtech news, guidance and events tailored to you

Get in touch with us at podcast@jisc.ac.uk if you’d like to come on the show or know someone who might suit the series

How Nigel Francis uses the Star Wars universe to explain complicated topics like immunology

We speak with Dr Nigel Francis, senior lecturer at Cardiff University, about his project, immunology wars, which is a series of videos and illustrations that describes the basic functions of the immune system through the Star Wars movies.

Simon explains how he first came up with the idea to explain immunology in this way and shares how he worked directly with the students to develop the concept.

By linking the cells of the immune system with the characters from Star Wars, Simon and his students have created a unique and creative way to help students remember these different cells and their roles in the immune response.

Show notes Visit the Immunology Wars website
View the #DryLabsRealScience website Nigel mentions
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Get in touch with us at podcast@jisc.ac.uk if you’d like to come on the show or know someone who might suit the series.

Sarah Knight chats with consultants Helen Beetham and Sheila MacNeill about their recent review of learning and curriculum design in higher education.

We chat with Helen and Sheila about the findings from their review, which included a desk-based literature review, a survey of over 155 professionals and 20 interviews with staff from within higher education.

Alongside this, they also share examples of how universities are evolving their learning and curriculum design practices, and discuss how we can integrate things that worked well during the pandemic.

We’re joined by Simon Walker, Director of programme development at University College London, to discuss how they have moved to digital assessment by default.

Simon starts by talking through the challenges they have been facing with assessment, including how they had previously recognised that it was out of kilter with the student’s expectations for a modern education system. The pandemic enabled them to take a bold step toward adapting their practices, adopting an end-to-end digital assessment platform.

We then discuss how they have supported staff with their assessment and feedback practices, adopting a team of digital assessment advisers who help onboard faculties and share best practices.

In this episode, we are joined by Professor David Nicol, Suzanne McCallum, Lovleen Kushwah and Nick Quinn from The Adam Smith Business School at the University of Glasgow to chat about how they are using comparison based feedback to improve their assessment and feedback practices.

Professor David Nicol, Research Professor: Teaching Excellence Initiative, at The Adam Smith Business School, starts by taking us through the research they have undertaken into feedback, looking at what feedback students generate themselves when asked to compare their work against other types of information such as videos, textbooks or lecture notes, instead of a teacher’s comments. David’s research found that students generate significant feedback on their own whilst also reducing the need for teacher comments. He then explains the three concepts behind the work at the university:

All feedback is inner feedback - students are the protagonist of feedback.
All feedback is a result of a comparison process.
What students compare their work against determines the type of feedback they generate - Different kinds of information results in different kinds of feedback.

Suzanne McCallum, Lovleen Kushwah and Dr Nick Quinn then speak about the methods they are using to bring this comparison based feedback approach to life, sharing how they have found it so far and the feedback they have had from students.

In this third episode of our mini-series on rethinking assessment and feedback, we are joined by Karen Barton, director of the learning and teaching innovation centre at the University of Hertfordshire.

Karen shares some of the feedback they have had from students on assessment including, providing authentic assessment, providing personalised assessment where possible and changes to the workloads/phasing of assessment.

We then discuss a recent consultation and review that the university has taken to help identify the changes needed to support their vision for teaching, learning, and assessment. The review helped develop the ‘Herts learning principles’, which were created to help address some areas that the university sees as important in the future, with one of these principles being around how they harness technology to support their strategy.

We also discuss how the university is supporting staff to take these new assessment practices forward, discussing how they created an assessment experts group within the university to provide policy outputs, direction, and guidance for staff.

Lastly, Karen shares what she thinks are the critical success factors that need to be in place within an institution to help realise affective assessment and feedback.

In this episode of our rethinking assessment and feedback mini-series, Sarah Knight chats with Danny Liu and Benjamin Miller about how they are adapting their assessment and feedback practices at The University of Sydney.

Danny and Benjamin start by sharing some of the issues and challenges that an institution-wide review into assessment picked up, including assessment weighting, group work and assessment feedback.

They then talk about how the development of the student relationship engagement system (SRES) has helped solve the problem of engaging a large number of students with personalised feedback and personal care.

Finally, they share their tips and advice on the steps UK universities could take to improve their assessment and feedback practices.

As part of our ‘rethinking assessment and feedback’ mini-series, Sarah Knight is joined by Gill Ferrell to chat about the newly released review into the UK assessment and feedback landscape in higher education.

This episode forms part of our mini-series ‘rethinking assessment and feedback’ hosted by Sarah Knight. Over the next few months these episodes, Sarah will chat with experts from universities across the world about how they are rethinking their assessment and feedback practices.

Gill discusses the results of a survey of 46 higher education providers on what aspects of assessment and feedback they are currently supporting with technology, what has changed over time, and their current use of online submissions and marking.

Sarah also chats with Gill about the principles of good assessment and feedback featured in our new guide. Gill shares some real-world examples from universities across the world of how some of these principles are effectively being applied today.

In this episode, we chat with Rob Blagden, director of libraries, technology & information at the University of Gloucestershire.

Rob talks through the steps his university took to bring over almost all of their exams online, sharing the successes and hurdles they encountered along the way. He also goes through the feedback received from staff and students on the process.

We also discuss the future technologies that excite Rob, including artificial intelligence, machine learning and how cloud computing can help enable that.

This week we chatted with Aftab Hussain, information learning technology manager at Bolton College, about Firstpass, an automated system that helps automate the marking and feedback of open-ended questions using artificial intelligence

Aftab talks through the benefits of Firstpass, sharing how the system can help reduce the burden on teachers when marking formative assessments, whilst providing students with instant feedback to their answers.

Lastly, Aftab shares the latest updates and progress of Ada, Bolton college's digital assistant which went live in 2017.

This week Derfel Owen, Registrar and director of student and registry services at University College London, joins us to talk about how the university moved their exams online as part of a university wide digital assessment strategy.

Derfel explains how and why the university chose to transition exams to online at such scale, providing more than 20,000 students with 1200 digital exams in Spring 2021. He also shares the lessons learnt from the project, and provides advice about how other institutions could approach bringing assessments online.

We also discuss the future of assessment, looking into how things such as artificial intelligence help to improve the assessment marking process.

In this episode we are joined by Clare Killen, senior consultant for the business intelligence team at Jisc, to talk about the findings from the recently released HE and FE staff digital experience insight surveys.

The annual survey polls over 6,500 teaching staff in further and higher education, looking into their experiences of using technology to support their teaching.

Clare provides an interesting deep dive analysis into the results, as well as suggesting what can be done to support staff digital skills going forward.

The episode also investigates how the role of teaching staff has changed since the pandemic.

Our guest this week is Debs Gray, Principal of Grimsby Institute, and Jisc trustee. She joined us to talk all about the college’s trailblazing industry 4.0 programme.

This episode is packed with advice about how to support staff and students to prepare for the workplace of the future, in terms of digital skills and making the most out of the tools you already have.

Debs maintains a strong focus on not just levelling the field, but tilting it, giving every student a fair chance. You’d be hard pushed to find someone more passionate about further education.

A big thank you to Debs for coming on the show!

We’re joined by Dr Jill McKay, a senior lecturer of veterinary science education at the University of Edinburgh.

Jill has completed some fascinating research into lecture capture, how students use recordings, and why. The data is really encouraging, so it’s worth a listen to hear some of the benefits, in particular for students from widening participation backgrounds.

As you’ll be able to tell, this was a wonderfully fun and interesting chat. Jill is a brilliant speaker, and shares some great resources to help you to use recordings to their best potential, in a way that helps both staff and students.

Dr Phil Anthony, learning technologist from the division of natural sciences at the University of Kent, joins us to talk about his international digital teaching best practice community, where sector professionals from all around the world now engage to share advice, experiences and ideas about teaching online and digitally.

Phil is a brilliant guest, full of ideas and insights from what he’s learned from setting up the community. The group has proved a huge success in so many ways, reassuring staff around the world on mutual experiences (enter the great cameras on or off debate again, Phil shares a really interesting story there).

Phil also shares his top tips on making online teaching engaging, and how you can join in with the online community yourself – by visiting the link in our show notes.

Dr Rachel Bolton-King is an associate professor of forensic science, in the department of criminology, policing and forensic science at Staffordshire University. She joins us to talk about remote delivery, and how to help students to engage when working online.

Rachel covers how to ensure forensics students are fully engaged when working online and how to offer a truly immersive experience to students who are at home. We also explore what the future holds for subjects like forensics with large practical elements, and how can technology might help to enhance the teaching and learning experience for students and staff.

This was an inspiring conversation, and Rachel’s enthusiasm and expertise knowledge really shine through. A big thank you to Rachel for coming on the show!

If you’ve listened back to the series over the summer, or particularly enjoy this episode, please do share with your colleagues who might enjoy it too. And don’t forget, if you have any questions, or would like to come on the show, you can email podcast@jisc.ac.uk.

Rob Blagden, director of libraries, technology and information at the University of Gloucestershire, joins us to talk all about the environmental impact of universities, and what can be done to address the climate emergency.

You’ll hear all about what the university is doing in terms of sustainable technology, making physical buildings and systems more eco-friendly, and educating students and staff about the climate emergency.

This week we’re joined by the fantastic Miranda Melcher, a teacher, researcher, author, and a fellow of the higher education academy.

Miranda is currently completing her PhD on post-conflict military reconstruction at King’s College London’s Defence Studies Department, and she joins us to talk all about engaging students when teaching online.

Miranda’s enthusiasm for teaching is palpable. Her ability to engage an audience (and classroom) is evident in this interview, which is packed with tips and resources to do with making the most out of teaching all students virtually.

Miranda has taught as a teaching assistant, a PHD tutor, and provides 1:1 tutoring for students with learning differences.

We also look into the brand new and somehow age-old question – is it better for students to have their cameras on or off?

Dr Swati Virmani, senior lecturer in economics at De Montfort University, joins us to talk all about the importance of continuous professional development (CPD). An Associate Member of the Association for Learning Technology, she also holds an impressive list of qualifications from around the world.

To share the varied experiences of pandemic teaching had by her colleagues, Swati co-created a monograph, recording lessons learned and challenges overcome. We hear all about these stories, and why it’s so important that staff feel heard, especially during difficult times.

Swati also shares her thoughts on the link between staff wellbeing and CPD, her thoughts on the impact that technology might have on the future of CPD, and what she hopes might happen in the future.

This week’s episode is all about teaching students on the autism spectrum, with the incredibly inspirational and creative Charlotte Judd, from Weston Bay College.

Weston Bay is the only residential autism training environment in the UK, and Charlotte paints a brilliant picture of what it’s like to work, and study there. Everything from ensuring the wellbeing of students, to improving digital skills, and training students for the workplace, is perfectly tailored to the needs of each individual student.

Charlotte explains how they supported students during lockdown – including everything from online cooking classes, to work experience placements in COVID-19 test centres.

In this episode, we were joined by Keith W McIntosh, vice president for information services and CIO at the University of Richmond who is a keynote speaker at this year's Digifest.
Coding graphic with text on top that says beyond the technology, the education 4.0 podcast.

We spoke to Keith about his extensive work in diversity, equity, and inclusion, which includes his journey launching Intersections, a discussion group that started organically within his division then grew to include students, faculty, and staff from across the university. This group meets weekly to discuss the -isms of today, their roots in the past, and their impacts on our future.

In this episode we chat with Simon Hayhoe, Digifest speaker and author of six books on disability and the arts. His work is the subject of many international academic courses, and his specialisms are impressive and varied, from culture to disability, technology and teaching.

We chat about his presentation at Digifest next week: accessible technology 4.0, inclusion 2.0 - what next?, as well as where his passion for the subject comes from, how to embrace accessibility on a budget, and what the future holds when making sure technology works for everyone.

Simon is currently based at the University of Bath, and is also a temporary advisor for the World Health Organisation's Academy - as well as a centre research associate in the Centre for Philosophy of Natural and Social Science at the London School of Economics and an associate of the Scottish Sensory Centre, University of Edinburgh.

Back in November 2020, we chatted to Hannah Mathias, e-learning manager at Cardiff and Vale College, where they’ve created a personalised learning bot for GCSE Maths and English.

Hannah runs through how the bot can be used by students, how it’s programmed by staff, and how it can be used to support students to complete their work. Embedded into Microsoft Teams, teachers can easily add and tag up resources and assignments for students. The bot uses gamification and other rewards for student engagement and aims to provide a personalised learner experience.

The team are also working on a bot to support student wellbeing – not to replace human contact, but to point students towards the support they might need. It’s a work in process, but Hannah explores how technology might support student wellbeing in the future. The wellbeing bot in the pipeline is learner-led and designed by a student.

At Jisc we’re holding several online sessions around mental wellbeing in further and higher education. On the 24 of February, there’s a further education round table discussion: strategies and tactics for improving the wellbeing of staff and learners. Learn more and sign up here.

We’re keen to cover the subjects that matter to you, so do get in touch with us at podcast@jisc.ac.uk if you’d like to come on the show or have any suggestions.

Our guest for this episode is Professor Parama Chaudhury, professor in the department of economics at University College London.

Edtech fanatic, and departmental e-learning champion, Parama’s enthusiasm about using technology to support teaching and learning is infectious. She shares an abundance of tips, as well as stories from her time teaching in America and the UK, and what she’s learned along the way.

The biggest theme in this episode is the importance of structure for students, especially now with lockdowns and online learning having a huge impact on our lives. We discuss wellbeing, how the student experience has changed, and how and why Parama was an early adopter of online assessment.

This week we speak to Hayley Mulenda, all about student mental health. Hayley is an award winning international speaker, author and change agent, who speaks openly about her struggles with mental health as a student, and how best to support students who need help.

In this episode we go on a guided tour of a virtual world for students, created by Itzel Lopez, an international officer from Cardiff and Vale college.

Itzel’s students use the bespoke online environment to benefit both their education and mental wellbeing. The platform is complete with beach-side wellness centre and spaces to socialise. Students can also travel to art galleries and countries all around the world.

Itzel explains how the teaching possibilities are endless when working with second life, sharing the benefits of highly customisable environments. Examples include psychology students looking inside visual representations of the human mind, and simulations of physical trade training, such as working on virtual construction sites.

This interview is full of tips and ideas about getting started if you’d like to start a similar world for your own students, helping them to socialise and share knowledge, without leaving their homes – something that’s become incredibly useful over the past year.

Our guest this week is Jamie Giarraputo, a teaching and learning coach from South Thames College Group. Jamie leapt from the music industry into teaching, and in his own words, fell in love with the whole process.

Edtech, innovation, and digital skills are at the heart of his passion for teaching, and Jamie shares some brilliant tips and tech that can be used to engage learners.

Initially self-isolating during lockdown, Jamie turned to Instagram to share quick, informative and accessible updates to support staff with remote teaching. The TLA team are now on Instagram and Youtube, where they gain comments from teachers all around the world.

Jamie explains the benefits of using social media to support staff to upskill, and the positive impact that such social media accounts can have on staff wellbeing during situations like lockdown.

This week our guest is Dr Chris Bonfield, a technology-enhanced learning manager from the University of Bath. Chris is a once medical medieval historian-turned future gazer, who’s research explores education 4.0 around the globe.

Chris’s experience gives him a unique perspective about the potential that technology has to enrich the educational experience. We chat all about his findings and what the UK can learn from the rest of the world, what’s driving the change in employment and how higher education can react to industry 4.0.

In this podcast we hear from members sharing their journeys to realising Education 4.0.

This week we chat to Daniel Dybowski Bryant, an English language and Virtual Reality Lecturer (and all-round ideas person) from Coleg Menai.

Daniel uses virtual reality (VR) to create immersive and engaging learning environments for his English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) students. He explains how the technology can be used to support student and staff wellbeing, and why it’s such a good fit for the current national climate, as well as sharing numerous interesting and practical examples of how to use VR in the classroom.

Daniel even shares some words of wisdom from a good friend who just happens to be the creator of virtual reality.

This week we chat to Luke Rudderham-Cozier, a learning technologist from Barnet and Southgate College, all about online assessment.

During lockdown, Luke worked closely with his team to successfully coordinate 17 A level exams over Microsoft Teams. We cover plagiarism, preparing students and staff for online assessment, the human side of implementing technology, and how assessment might change in the future (and much more). Luke also shares a helpful list about where to start when considering online assessment.

This week, we chat with Professor Helen James, deputy vice chancellor at Canterbury Christ Church University, about her work around inclusivity, in particular for women in STEM. We also talk about how the university has coped with the pandemic during lockdown, Helen also shares her perspective on how education may change post-covid.

This week we are joined by Dr Chris Headleand who is director of teaching and learning for the school of computer science at The University of Lincoln. We chat with Chris about the power of games to engage with and teach students, looking into the digital skills and soft skills that games can help to develop. We also talk to Chris about his pirate-themed tour game of the University of Lincoln, which is allowing prospective students to experience the campus digitally.

This week we are joined by Seima Mahmood who is an ESOL Lecturer at Bradford College. Over the course of lockdown Seima and her ESOL students have built an online portal which showcases their experience during lockdown, providing a space for them to share pictures, blogs, recipes and more. The result is a fantastic online space for students, providing them with an engaging social space during lockdown and encouraging them to use and develop their digital skills.

Alongside this, Seima covers what tools have helped her and her students most during this time, how they have overcome hurdles during the transition to digital learning, and how to cope as a teacher during 'the new normal'.

In this episode we chatted with Keith Smyth, professor of pedagogy at University of the Highlands and Islands, about how the pandemic has raised awareness about the importance of accessibility, how it has shown more is possible with offering a flexible learning experience and the future of teaching post-lockdown.

We chatted with Anthony Sinnott, Access and procurement development manager at the University of York, about the logistics of libraries in lockdown, providing access to information during this time, and the positive qualities that have come from the situation.

This week we get a student's view on the response to COVID-19, we were joined by Owen Barlow, final year student and student fellow specialising in wellbeing and the curriculum at the University of Bristol. We chat with Owen about how universities can help support students during this time, the importance of interactivity when teaching online to keep students engaged and how he is handling studying from home.

This week Christian Celecia, Director of Information and Communication Technologies at the University of Gibraltar, shares how they responded to COVID-19 including how they trained and supported the staff to use technology for online teaching and how they have helped play a part in Gibraltar's fight against the virus.

In this podcast we'll hear from members about how they are implementing Education 4.0 technologies including their challenges, successes, and where they had to re-assess.

For the first few weeks we will be focusing on the impact of coronavirus, sharing how further and higher education institutions have responded to the crises and asking how this pandemic could impact learning in the future.

In this week's episode we were joined by Scott Hayden, digital innovation specialist at Basingstoke College of Technology, who shared insight into how they are supporting staff to continue their teaching online and how they have embedded digital learning during this time.

What will the library experience look like in 30 years time? Is there a role for paper books in the future? How will technologies like AI and machine learning factor into all of this?

In this two-part podcast we discuss all of these questions with library experts from higher and further education. We were joined by Dr Jessica Gardener, university librarian and director of library services at University of Cambridge, Nick Woolley, director of library services at Sheffield Hallam University, Neil Grindley head of resource discovery at Jisc and Karen foster, head of learning centres at Yeovil college.

What will the library experience look like in 30 years time? Is there a role for paper books in the future? How will technologies like AI and machine learning factor into all of this?

In this two-part podcast we discuss all of these questions with library experts from higher and further education. We were joined by Dr Jessica Gardener, university librarian and director of library services at University of Cambridge, Nick Woolley, director of library services at Sheffield Hallam University, Neil Grindley head of resource discovery at Jisc and Karen foster, head of learning centres at Yeovil college.

In this episode, John Cartwright director of computing services at the University of Liverpool talks about how his team are improving the student experience and saving staff time with technology.

John is joined by James Clay, head of higher education and student experience at Jisc, the pair explore the world of data looking how better use of it can transform teaching and power technologies like machine learning and artificial intelligence.

How can data help identify ways to improve the student experience?

Show notes

Visit our webpage to find out more about Jisc's vision for Education 4.0.
Get updates on technology in education straight to your inbox by signing up to headlines, our fortnightly newsletter

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In this new episode of What the Edtech?! we explore web accessibility and the new regulations for websites and mobile applications for public sector bodies that came into force at the end of last year.

We hear from Julia Taylor, subject specialist (accessibility and inclusion) at Jisc, and Robert McLaren from Policy Connect.

Since the launch of the series we’ve had fantastic feedback from listeners with lots of suggestions for topics for future episodes – thank to everyone who has been in touch via our Twitter and Facebook pages. We’re already hard at work on series two but in the meantime enjoy this ‘best of’ episode.

In the final episode of series one of What the Edtech?! we take a look back over the best bits so far. This mega-mix of insight and advice from top industry experts from the worlds of education and technology, covers everything from social media for student engagement to learning analytics to the future of AI in education. We’ve collected all the key take-aways into one concise 40-minute episode.

Since the launch of the series we’ve had fantastic feedback from listeners with lots of suggestions for topics for future episodes – thank to everyone who has been in touch via our Twitter and Facebook pages. We’re already hard at work on series two but in the meantime enjoy this ‘best of’ episode.

Artificial intelligence: the biggest shake up since the invention of the motorcar?

In this penultimate episode Martin Hamilton, resident futurist here at Jisc, and historian Sir Anthony Seldon explore the amazing, and often misunderstood, world of artificial intelligence (AI) and discuss how future technologies can enhance the teaching process.

We also hear from professor Bob Stone, director of the human interface technologies team at the university of Birmingham. He shares his thoughts on current and future technologies, and chats through some of his projects, including his work in mixed reality (combining the best of the real with the best of the virtual) in order to teach RAF trainee medics.

Like this podcast? Subscribe via iTunes or add the RSS feed to your favourite podcast app. You can also visit the Jisc website for more content.

An in-depth look at cyber security, the types of attacks targeted at universities and colleges and the measures taken to mitigate the risks.

Jisc’s chief security analyst Lee Harrigan-Green joins us this week to give insight on the cyber security threats facing institutions and their students. In a fast-moving sector where preventative measures must stay ahead of new and evolving threats, Lee takes us through what individuals and organisations can do to stay secure online. Apprentice developer James Hodgkinson also joins the panel to discuss experiences during his apprenticeship.

In a special expert practitioner segment, Jisc’s Matthew O’Donnell reveals the work of a penetration tester attempting to uncover chinks in the armour of institutions security.

Show notes

For a comprehensive collection of resources and further information on cyber security, head to the cyber security section of our website.

Celebrating the careers of female tech experts, their motivations and the challenges they’ve faced in an industry where in the UK just one in six specialists are women.

Female representation in the tech sector has stalled over the last ten years despite efforts to encourage more women into the industry. Our panel this week, editor of Education Technologymagazine Charley Rogers and Jisc training director Shirley Wood, discuss their careers, motivations, and what can be done to create a more diverse tech workforce and why this is important.

Our expert pratitioner this episode is Helen Richardson, learning, innovation and IT manager for Gateshead College, who gives us an insight into her career and the innovative work she's leading.

Our experts explore the fascinating (and mind boggling) world of artificial intelligence (AI), and how cloud computing is changing how we think about access to technology.

In this episode Daniela Duca, who works with us as a senior co-design manager, and Kenji Takeda, director of the Microsoft Azure for research program, have a fascinating chat about some pretty big ideas - the equipment data project, post-quantum cryptography, big data, the Cambrian explosion, AI and cloud and quantum computing.

We also hear from Miranda Mowbray, lecturer in Computer Science at University of Bristol, who dispels the magic surrounding machine learning. She also discusses her work identifying a tax on computer networks, discovering previously undetected malware.

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Student contracts, data collection, the ideas of students as customers, and the employability agenda all take a turn under the microscope.

Do the things students need match what they're telling us that they want? Sarah Knight, our head of change - student experience, and Paul Humphries, CEO of Student Crowd, explore the ways we find out, and discuss why it's so important that a culture of collaboration between staff and students is encouraged.

We also hear from expert practitioner Steve Frampton, principal at Portsmouth College, who shares his innovative vision for the college, and what the outcomes were after asking students what they wanted from their FE experience - timetables were shifted, budgets re-focused on different technology and more time was allocated to work experience, which has contributed to 93 young people volunteering in local primary schools.

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We explore the mysterious world of learning analytics, and how it can potentially be used to enhance the student learning experience.

Senior co-design manager Paul Bailey and project officer at UCL Samantha Ahern join us as the learning technology experts for episode four of What the Edtech?! They discuss what data institutions are currently collecting on their students, consent and boundaries and the future of learning analytics.

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Episode three is all about the changing landscape of research. We hear conversations between Terry Clark, research fellow in performance science at the Royal College of Music, and an honorary research fellow at Imperial College London, and Caroline Ingram, our senior co-design manager. We also chatted to Dr Rachel Bolton-King, lecturer in forensic investigation who shares a fascinating case study from Staffordshire University.

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Our expert guests in this episode are discussing startups and how great ideas are turned into successful businesses. Sue Attewell, head of change for further education and skills at Jisc, and Atif Mahmood, founder and CEO of edtech startup Teacherly, join our host with bucket loads of tips and advice for any fledgling startup.

Vivi Friedgut is today’s expert practitioner. Her passionate account of how she founded Blackbullion will provide motivation to any startup in need of some inspiration.

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Welcome to the very first episode of our brand new podcast What the edtech!? In this episode, our host, Laura Kidd, is joined by education consultant and thought leader, Eric Stoller, head of change - student experience, Sarah Knight, and Kardi Somerfield, senior lecturer in digital marketing and advertising at The University of Northampton.

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Sue Attewell chats to us about our student ideas competition, which launches next year; from how to work the competition into the curriculum, to what students can gain from entering (from business skills to confidence and everything in-between).

Together with Emerge Education, we're looking for fresh edtech ideas from students. Winners will receive £2,000 and expert mentoring. The student ideas competition is part of our edtech launchpad.

Learn more and register your interest

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Staff digital capabilities are central to student and organisational success. It's a digital world, and in addition to a chosen subject, students are preparing for work and life in a digital society.

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Within the world of publishing, we are seeing some new trends emerge. Born from a desire to change the current publishing landscape, dominated by a handful of large commercial publishers, there is an increase in new publishing models, being led by universities and academics.

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As the UK population becomes digitally-savvy from an increasingly younger age, it’s easy to assume tech take-up is evenly shared across every aspect of our lives.

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Can colleges and skills providers become efficient and financially stable, while also providing an excellent learning experience that produces a workforce with the skills required to help the UK economy thrive post-Brexit and beyond?

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Recently, a number of colleges and universities have asked for advice on how to manage the digital elements (pictures, recordings, etc) of their research data projects. To help answer your questions we’ve created a new guide to audiovisual research data. It's not just for creative arts research, but advice for any subject area.

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Our shiny new competition celebrates the excellent social media work being done by sector professionals out there - we’re looking for the most innovative ways of social being used to add value to teaching.

In this podcast Emma chats through her blog all about the #JiscTop10 competition.

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At Jisc we believe that education technology (edtech) can improve education, research and student life – and not just in the classroom or lecture theatre. However, most of us are consumers of technology rather than producers.

In this podcast we chat to Jisc's futurist Martin Hamilton.

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We’re on the look-out for the most social media-savvy folk in higher education (HE). Sound like you? Well, if you make our top ten list you could win an edtech visit for your class, with virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and even a robot, and hey, it’s always nice to be acknowledged for your hard work!

In this podcast we chat to Jisc's digital communications team as they explore all things social media.

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We launched our report, the evolution of FELTAG, last spring to celebrate effective digital practice in colleges and skills organisations, and to inspire others. Here, two colleges discuss how they're getting to grips with the FELTAG recommendations.

In this podcast Sarah Knight shares fresh perspectives on delivering a digital student experience in FE.

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Jisc's Mark O'Leary, head of network access, and Emma Smith, Govroam development manager, discuss the benefits of Govroam - bringing the success of eduroam to other public services.

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Overseas’ students are a key part of the UK economy, but Brexit is already having an effect on the numbers from the EU who want to study here. To ensure the UK remains a world leader in delivering education and research internationally we must now capitalise on developing opportunities for “borderless” study

In this podcast we take a look at why we must build more bridges towards borderless education.

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Boosting retention is an area where learning analytics could have a big part to play in supporting fair access. Evidence from around the world shows that effective use of insights from learning analytics can be used to achieve statistically significant increases in retention.

In this podcast we take a look at how learning analytics can be used to boost fair access and retention of students in higher education.

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At Digifest this year, our startups competition had a twist and nine teams pitched live to a crowd of sector experts and peers in an attempt to bag the grand prize of a support package worth up to £20,000.

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There's a huge interest in the next generation of digital learning environments. At Digifest we caught up with Lawrie Phipps, our senior co-design manager, who spoke with Ange Fitzpatrick from Cambridge University and Elizabeth Ellis from the Open University about what those environments might look like.

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Jisc's Sarah Davies discusses technology-enhanced learning in HE.

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Jisc's Rob Wyn Jones shares a learning analytics update at Digifest 2017.

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We chatted to Steven Exley, FE editor at TES, and Wendy Peskett, TES award winner, at Digifest17 - our celebration of all things digital.

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Jisc's Futurist Martin Hamilton shares the best of Bett 2017, the world’s largest education technology event.

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Jisc's CEO discusses a changing HE landscape

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A review of funding for students with disabilities has led to the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) placing duties on further education colleges to develop an evidence-based access and inclusion strategy.

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Each area of enquiry should map out a journey, from where your organisation is now, the direction in which you’re travelling, and who needs to come with you – with digital being the vehicle that will enable you to get there. So, what should happen next?

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The imperative to increase use of technology and improve the digital skills capability of the workforce is a common thread running through recent government and sector reports. Clare Killen explains how Jisc are meeting the challenge.

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Researchers continuously have to make decisions around preserving their data, the best way to describe it, and who will have the long-term oversight. Daniela Duca looks into ways that we can create user-led solutions for better research.

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The 2016 Times Higher Education (THE) Awards on 24 November 2016 saw the sector come together to recognise innovation from institutions across the UK, showcasing the best of higher education.

Dr Daniel Morgan, Associate Professor: Igneous Petrology & Volcanology; talks to us about the winning project, Virtual Landscape. Then Martin Hamilton, Jisc's resident Futurist, discusses the judging process.

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The AoC Annual Conference and Exhibition marks the coming together of people from across the further education sector to exchange ideas, share best practice and stimulate debate.

Speaking to Val Keay, Paul McKean, Jisc head of FE and skills, reflects on the Jisc panel session from the first day, which featured college principals who are using technology to enable organisational change and enhance the learning experience.

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Universities UK (UUK), in partnership with Civitas Learning and Jisc, recently released a report on learning analytics in UK higher education (HE), which recognises it as being a powerful set of tools for helping institutions to support learner retention and progression.

Jisc's Niall Sclater takes a closer look at the report, discussing the potential of learning analytics, blockers and challenges, and gives advice on how to move forward and make the most of the opportunities.

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You can also visit Jisc's learning analytics project page for more information on our pilot.

Earlier this year we spoke to Dr Nick Moore, director of IT services at the University of Gloucestershire, about the university’s interest in learning analytics and involvement in Jisc’s effective learning analytics pilot. Now a couple of months into deployment, we pick up conversations with Nick to find out how far they’ve come in the on-boarding process, experiences in terms of challenges and opportunities, and what comes next.

In this podcast James Clay and Andy McGregor discuss the concept of the intelligent campus. There has been plenty of hype over artificial intelligence and the internet of things - we believe it may be time to put aside the cynicism that this kind of hype generates and look seriously at how we can take advantage of these emerging technologies to improve the student experience, research and the management of our campuses.

Find out more at https://www.jisc.ac.uk/rd/get-involved/what-does-the-imminent-arrival-of-the-intelligent-campus-mean-for-universities-and-colleges

Earlier this year the University of Glasgow, School of Mathematics and Statistics won The Herald Higher Education Awards category for Innovation Technology Excellence. These awards celebrate the best and brightest in higher education in Scotland, with the school commended for its innovative digital approach to providing students with continuous feedback. We speak to the university's Professor Tara Brendle, Professor Ian Strachen and Dr Andrew Wilson to find out more.

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One of the ways that Jisc supports its members is by offering training and consultancy that empowers them to embed best practice across their organisation. Aberystwyth University is an example of an organisation that has recieved our advice and guidance, and been able to disseminate their learnings further, to excellent effect.

Following a 'train the trainer' session on digital storytelling with subject specialist, Chris Thomson, the university's e-learning group has delivered its own session for teaching staff. This has inspired attendees to develop innovative teaching activities using digital storytelling, with the help of CADARN Learning Portal, which provided the WeVideo platform for video editing. We hear from Mary Jacobs, e-learning advisor, and Stephen Chapman, teaching fellow and researcher about how they've embraced digital storytelling whole-heartedly.

For more information you can visit the university's guide on digital storytelling.

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We hear from winners past and present at the design sprint, and Justin Haylock tells us about this year's winning ideas, and what the teams have been up to as part of the four day rapid-prototyping process (including playing with lego).

Jisc’s effective learning analytics project aims to help colleges and universities better analyse and understand their data, and use this to improve retention and attainment. This includes building a national learning analytics service for the sector, and a student app that puts the power in their hands by tracking their learning activity and allowing them to maximise their learning potential.

University of Gloucestershire are one of the institutions to pilot the student app. We speak to Dr Nick Moore, director of IT services for the university, about the interest in learning analytics and why they're working with Jisc.

For more podcasts from Jisc, subscribe via iTunes, or add the RSS stream to your favourite podcast app. Visit the Jisc website for more information.

Lisa Gray and Martyn Roads have been examining use of technology-enhanced assessment and feedback in FE and skills. How is the sector doing?

As the move to open access gathers pace article processing charges are having a big impact on academic libraries. Katie Shamash explores the issues...

In our last podcast for Connect more 2016, we take a look back at all of our events, featuring interviews from our events in London, Belfast, Stirling, Swansea, Liverpool, Nottingham and Cheltenham.

Google for Education provides go-to solutions for students and teachers - with more than 50 million users of Google Apps for Education and ten million using Google Classroom. Jisc Futurist, Martin Hamilton reports from the latest Google for Education Summit. We hear from colleges and universities about how they are using Google tools in their own practice, as well as Liz Sproat, head of education EMEA at Google, about the latest product and service developments.

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For our final Connect more event for the south and east we headed to Nottingham. Jisc's Gemma Ellis spoke to a number of practitioners from across higher education, further education and skills who were presenting at the event and sharing their experiences and practice for others to learn from. You’ll hear from Kerry Pinny, digital educational developer at the University of Lincoln on embedding digital capabilities; Pete Gallop, head of ILT and LRC at Isle of Wight College on their use of Microsoft 365; and Sarabjit Borrill, lead tutor (English) for Leicestershire Adult Services, who’s engaging learners through tools such as Wikis. Jisc’s senior co-design manager, Sarah Knight, who had a busy day heading up two workshops, also chats to us about Jisc’s digital student project.

Find out more at http://jisc.ac.uk/connect-more

Jisc's Georgie Myers reports from Cheltenham Racecourse, where we held the fifth in our summer series of regional Connect more edtech events on Thursday 30 June 2016.

Georgie chats to the University of Plymouth's Steve Wheeler, head of Jisc south west and midlands Lyn Bender, and Jisc's resident futurist Martin Hamilton about the highlights of the day.

In this podcast Jisc's Emily Jones reports from the British Library, the venue for Jisc's fourth 'Connect more' event of the summer.

Emily discusses what students really want from their learning experience with Jisc's Sue Attewell and gets an idea of what makes our series of connect more events unique.

She also talks to Lewisham College's Jo Burbidge about the flipped classroom concept, and the University of Arts' London's Dave White discusses his idea of 'learning as becoming'.

For more on our summer series of connect more events, see our website http://www.jisc.ac.uk or follow the Twitter hashtag #connectmore16.

Alan Buxey, Senior IT Services Specialist at Loughborough University and eduroam technical specialist, talks about the eduroam clinics that are run by Jisc. Whether you are in the process of deploying eduroam, have an operational service or are considering applying to join eduroam, listen to this podcast to discover what you can gain from joining one of our live online eduroam clinics.

Find out more and register for the next eduroam support clinic taking place on the 5th July 2016: https://jisc.ac.uk/advice/training/network/eduroam-live-online-clinic

Jisc's Georgie Myers reports from Stirling, where we held the first #connectmore16 event of the summer on 16 June.

She talks to Jisc's deputy chief innovation officer Andy McGregor, Glasgow Caledonian University's Lina Petrakieva, and head of Jisc Scotland Jason Miles-Campbell.

https://www.jisc.ac.uk/events/connect-more-in-scotland-16-jun-2016

Learning analytics is big news at the moment, so, along with our M5 colleagues QAA, HESA and Universities UK, we recently held a successful ‘think tank’ exploring the hot topic of data-driven decision-making and the recommendations in our recent horizon scanning report.

In this podcast, our resident futurist Martin Hamilton talks with delegates from Brunel University, Blackboard, Civitas Learning and from the University of Greenwich. What did they go along for? How do they think learning analytics could make a difference in the future of education? What’s inspired them? And what ‘quick wins’ will they be taking back to their institutions? Listen to get the lowdown on the latest thinking, and join in the conversation at #jiscfutures. We’ll be writing up the event in a short report, too, as part of our ongoing horizon scanning project – so watch this space!

Visit https://www.jisc.ac.uk/rd/projects/effective-learning-analytics to learn more about our current work.

Paul Bailey, who manages the Summer of Student Innovation competition, talks about why you should take a look at this year’s entries, and vote for your favourite ideas.

The UK education funding councils’ post-2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF) open access policy came into effect in April. Mafalda Marques, project officer (PASTEUR4OA), Jisc, talks through the key requirements and the support available to institutions to help them comply.

For more information on the policy visit the original blog post.

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Further education (FE) and skills in the UK have come up against a lot of challenges in the last few years. Does FELTAG still have a place?

Justin Haylock, Senior innovation developer at Jisc, talks about his role as part of this year's Summer of Student Innovation competition, shares some inspiration from previous winners, and explains why you should apply if you think you have a great idea

How do we move to a data-led culture in UK research and education? In this podcast, hear about the second in a series of reports due to emerge from our horizon scanning project.

The University of Stirling has recently upgraded its internet connectivity, taking an additional connection to the Janet network and becoming a Janet Point of Presence. This has increased the university’s capabilities and resilience, supporting its business strategy and improving teaching, learning and research.

Kathy McCabe, university librarian and director of information services, tells us about what they’ve done and how they’re benefitting.

Find out more about the Janet network on Jisc's website. For more podcasts from Jisc subscribe via iTunes or sign up for the RSS feed.