ALT Scotland 24th April Catch Up - Meeting Summary

Here is a quick summary of what the Scottish ALT Special Interest Group Discussed on 24th of April 2025.

It's the curse of living in interesting times across the tertiary education sector. So many opportunities yet so much threatened. Our conversation covered a mix of personal updates, reflections on education, and ongoing challenges. 

But mainly some really useful insights from folks working across the Education sector with focus on learning technology. 

Much excitement that ALT Conference coming to Glasgow in October 2025. 

In all  a rich mix of policy concerns, educational debates, and technology insights

Padlet below here has relevant links we discussed and I highlight some of our discussion below. 

• Key discussion points:
  • Our key themes are reflected in the embedded padlet. We discussed in the round  and I'll single some specific things out here
  • Policy background of cuts across sector and reforms to Education Scotland, HMIE, SQA , SFC but clearer guidance from QAA etc and routes to improved learning and teaching. By a  range of definitions we are all working towards blended learning through learning design but all feeling pinch of less funding and less staff. 
  • Concerns about new UKVI regulations causing confusion. There is a useful summary from WONKE included in the padlet - this is impacting on blend of learning and more fundamentally viability and access of international students to UK HE.
  • The conversation around learning design and the tendency for it to be more intuitive rather than methodically pedagogically planned. Staff are still reluctant to embrace digital skills and or accept new approaches to delivery.  Some useful past work from QAA on multi modality was highlighted - see padlet.
  • The rapidly changing trends in AI, Including its use in digital art and Facebook-based AI-generated content and on going sustainability and  intellectual property right issues. Specifically large-scale AI-trained book databases and impact on copyright. 
  • Challenges of open and AI - is this simply eshittification ? is it inevitable that our content will be exploited ?. We are assuming that AI is always the answer. We need to challenge this. Individuals and institutions need to make more informed decisions. Will using these tools really lead to personalisation or to a dull  homogenous approach to learning and teaching ?. There is a lot to question. 
  • ALT are about to revisit their ethical framework and hopefully some of these concerns will be addressed in latest review. 
  • There is a lot happening in space from AI Alliance and others in Scotland but does not appear to be strong connection with Education.  Highlighted recent AI playbook with number of commercial and or public sector examples of AI in action but none at moment from Education. 
  • On open education specifically - more threatened by institutional systems which favour closed rather than open and in a competitive environment fears and concerns around sharing are amplified. The latest concern that AI could eat our content is simply the latest barrier to supporting open practice. Focus tends to be on commercialisation rather than collaboration and sharing,  Telling that even with learning technology few Scottish institutions are sharing their training offers across the sector. Though all run online webinars etc for their own staff. 
  • There is  also a trend to move staff support guides from the open web onto closed SharePoint etc 
  • Roll out of AI tools at institutional level  Lack of clarity around even simple things like what bits of co-pilot are switched on or off at institutional level and how under 18s are managed in terms of access. ( my interpretation I think this is ok and part of an institutions Acceptable Use Policy) . Issues here around how IT and LT teams and wider organisation navigate things like local agents and Co-Pilot studio ( what are GDPR risks , hidden costs ) This moved to a discussion on productivity as a concept, with noted tensions and frictions.
  •  VLE etc  Jisc are offering VLE reviews to help institutions and staff make most of their virtual learning environments. Increasingly VLE offers come with embedded AI capabilities.  Main challenge though still around learning design and making effective sensible use of the VLE for learners.  
  • Staff Digital Skills It is an old chestnut. We talked around use and or lack of use of excellent surveys from Jisc.  The College sector (CDN)  has started a bit of work to find out what real barriers are to using these excellent benchmarking tools. This both for Digital Capabilities and Digital Insights Surveys. CDN and Jisc Scotland are going to bring back Virtual Bridge Sessions as Inside Sessions to support innovative practice in College sector.  There is a list of useful training sites on Padlet. 
  • Scottish AI Alliance is worth reaching out to with suggestions to raise educational pointers for their playbook.
  • AR and VR noted this still has a way to go to make real learner impact. VR content is still very expensive both to create and to access. AR is probably way forward.  Centres still generally reluctant to procure class head sets and still slow to make their own AR content even for use on flat screens. Still a  big fan of ThingLink in this space. 
  
  
  
  And some final ALT related plugs
  
  ALT Scotland SIG
  Save the date: Monday, June 16th, 10 AM - 3 PM
  Face-to-face event at Jisc's interactive classroom, University of Stirling.
  Booking arrangements and agenda to follow
  
  
  New online community for ALT Scotland
  Jisc is supporting a Microsoft Team to sit alongside the Jiscmail list please sign up here.
  ALT Scotland Community Teams site registration request
  
  We will also retire the Alt Scotland twitter account and a new BlueSky account and LinkedIn presence will appear in due course.
  
  #OER25
  Share your ideas on "Speaking Truth to Power: Open Education and AI in the Age of Populism" at #OER25 in London, 23-24 June. Spread the word to inspire more voices to join this critical conversation and or simply get along. Learn more: #altc #openscot
  
  #ALT-C Glasgow October 2025
  ALT-C is coming to Glasgow please reach out to all those who work in learning technology across institutions and into the public and private sectors. Collaboration is key.

Smart Technologies: Calgary, Edmonton, Banff, March 2025

 

It was a great opportunity to be a guest, enjoy Canadian hospitality and share insights on blended learning and active classrooms with Smart Technologies. It was good too to share the experience and learn from an informed squad of Scottish Educators.  This post will reflect on what I learned from Smart and what I learned from my colleagues and some things I will follow up on.

It was a privilege to meet the Smart Technologies team and tour their operations in Calgary. The term “smart board” has become synonymous with interactive panels globally and in terms of product development they are still top of the class and deserve to be the generic name for interactive panels. 

However, in large tech exhibitions like BETT, where many screens and competitors are showcased, this can be lost and there still can be a general scepticism from the educational technology community about interactive boards and their impact on learning and teaching. This scepticism is often related to whether such panels support outdated models of learning if all learners and teachers have individual devices.

It's important to reassess this role, as interactive panels are crucial in learning spaces, facilitating blended learning and fostering collaboration and new approaches to learning and teaching. It was good to hear how the panels are used in new ways across schools in Scotland from the delegates and great too to visit the Edmonton School district to hear how smart boards are deployed and used across the district. It was great to meet and hear from real teachers on how they used their smartboards and associated software. It was interesting too to hear they had moved to Smart Boards from Epson data projectors.

Key takeaways include:

• Smart Technologies demonstrates a profound understanding of pedagogy and the role of their interactive panels in supporting active and blended learning.
• Their products are sustainable, reliable, and robust, as observed in the product development process.
• The software notebook is easy to use and Lumio supports a range of interactive activities.
•  It is easy for teachers to have multiple windows and applications open and to move across these and autosave they or the students’ annotations with smart ink
• Lumio offers great tools for whole class activities that learners can engage with from their own devices and/or on the smartboard.
• Credit to Smart they do a lot to track globally the digital landscape in education. It is worth accessing their free bench marking tool. (See how our group did below)
• They do some exemplary work too around neurodiversity and learning. 
• IT teams will like new easier ways to manage an estate of SmartBoards. 

I had several questions and challenges, which were all addressed. 

Smart Technologies excels in sustainability and performance metrics, and they now offer plugins like the AM60 to update older panels and give them longer operational lives. The panels integrate well with OneDrive, Google Apps, and virtual learning environments like Canvas , D2L and Moodle.

With multi-point touch capabilities, learners can engage in collaborative activities, making it easy and accessible for both teachers and students.

Hearing about the impact of Smart Boards in Midlothian, combined with the rollout of Chromebooks to all learners, was impressive and very similar to what we saw in action in Edmonton schools.

Unlike other panels that require being on the same network for full feature use, Smart Technologies has solved this securely. They demonstrated effective screen sharing and shared activities, allowing users to bring their own devices. I’ve battled that challenge in the past, for lots of security reasons IT teams don’t like unmanaged devices coming on to their networks.

While I initially thought from a college perspective, innovations like pre-programmed MFC chipped objects showed clear applications for primary and secondary classrooms. These could also fit into college delivery with some adjustments.

Their new interactive podium is ideal for lecture theatres or hybrid teaching, and the range of upcoming developments embracing Android 15, were very impressive and if I was still in a College I would be getting colleagues to check out Lumio as a potential improvement on Kahoot and some of the other solutions we have in the class activity space. I’d be exploring  purchase of an interactive podium for our theatre too.

My takeaways from Scottish presenters: Meeting the next generation of educational innovators was inspiring. Mid Lothian shared a story on inclusive digital transformation using Chromebooks and smartboards, while others discussed Smartboards with learner’s own devices, open learning initiatives, curriculum innovations for all school years, and VR headsets to understand neurodiversity. Collectively they are seeking solutions for digital credentials and better community support in educational technology and curriculum development. These concerns echo current uncertainties at Education Scotland and SQA.

The Gangs All Here

I plan to introduce them to the Association of Learning Technology. This post can't reflect all the fun we had in what is an anxious time in Canada. Perhaps never a better time to do business there. Smartboards and their associated product range are all available on relevant Scottish procurement frameworks and there are experienced channel partners and installers available. 

I have to include one image of the breath taking Rockies. Last time I was in Canada was 30 years ago on the east coast on a Rugby Tour - so first time seeing the mountains - truly awesome. 

Open Badges , Digital Credentials and Open Standards #Bett2024 #Bett24 Digital Badging Commission #openscot

Surely time for all qualifications to be digital !

This post reflects on a London 1Edtech gathering and the work of the UK Digital Badging Commission.  

Pre #Bett24 I was kindly invited to contribute to cross sectoral meeting with 1Edtech along with delegates from across the UK University and College landscape.  Thanks to Gill Ferrell who now leads for 1Edtech in Europe for kind invitation.

As an aside, I was amazed by transformation of StErmins Hotel a far cry when it was a run down hotel and the cheapest option for Westminster meetings. 

The meeting in London was excellent for highlighting the adoption of open standards around the world and the relative intransigence of the UK as a whole. It is worth having a dig into these slides from CEO of 1Edtech Curtis Barnes.  There were some other really excellent presentations and great discussion on day. If you really don't know what I am talking about here have a look at the standards themselves. Open standards are important - what allows you for instance to get emails on lots of devices. 

I led some national policy developments here from 2013 and I carried the lessons forward into my practice.  In a College setting we adopted Canvas partly as Canvas Credentials (formerly Badgr) brings open recognition for all learners. Having awarded badges to students and lecturing staff for two years I moved on just as our curriculum team were rolling out badges for meta-skills to the students.

It will be interesting to see how this approach develops and what reception this has from our learners.  There is huge scope here, if the College can push this on. Interesting too to see that Edinburgh and St Andrews Universities have adopted Canvas to support their micro-credential initiatives. 

It is concerning to see how slow progress has been around adoption of open standards for digital certification. I am glad to be a contributor to the UK Digital Badging Commission.  Being well led out by Patrina Law. 

In a global first, Ufi VocTech Trust and The RSA have launched the Digital Badging Commission to broaden the understanding, development and adoption of digital badges by accrediting organisations and employers.

Have a look at work to date of the UK Digital Badging Commission and you will see some green shoots. 

I was surprised and pleased  to see developments here between SQA and Skills Development Scotland around ways to display credentials in MyWorldofWork. But perhaps more impressed by the nascent Department for Education record of Post 16 learning. The vision is that  a learner can enroll on a course simply by a scanned QR code and can maintain their own record of achievements. See presentation above for details on these projects in development.  

I think biggest blocker here are the policy makers. A special shout out to City and Guilds and NCFE in England who have pushed on with developments in this space and as a Scottish Employer SCCC for pushing on badges for workforce accreditation. It would be good to see a fresh vision piece in this space from Scottish Government. 

The Digital Badging Commission includes representatives from educational organisations, awarding bodies, tech companies, and others interested in the future of learning and skills recognition.

Key themes and points discussed recently - 

Opportunities for Acceleration: The group discussed policy developments that could accelerate the adoption of digital credentials, including the potential of a national digital learner record and linking it to work experience data. DfE's "Project Titan" and the "Digital Wallet" work by DSIT were mentioned as relevant initiatives.

Barriers to Adoption: Several barriers were identified, including:

• Familiarity with paper-based credentials.
• Lack of a centralized wallet/store - perhaps not needed.
• Complexity and intelligibility for users.
• Perception that the metaphor of badges is not useful and devalues qualifications. The need for clearer definitions and a unified taxonomy was emphasized
• Confusion around terminology (badges vs. micro-credentials vs. qualifications).
• Quality assurance challenges.
• Employer scepticism and or lack of awareness.
• Recruitment processes lagging behind in recognizing digital credentials.
• And or many HR and OD systems don't use open standards.
• Lack of joined-up thinking across the UK's different educational systems.

Driving Change: How things might change 

• Regulatory mandates for awarding bodies to provide digital certifications and wallet adopting open standards. 
• Starting with smaller-scale projects (e.g., Foundation Apprenticeships) to test and build infrastructure.
• Focus on qualifications issued to schools, colleges, and work-based learning providers.
• Developing case studies showcasing the real-life use of digital credentials.

The ongoing conversation highlights the potential of digital credentials to transform learning and skills recognition, but also captures the challenges that need to be addressed to achieve widespread adoption and ensure that these credentials are valuable for both learners and employers.

I know Patrina and team are keen to talk to employers large and small about their view of digital certification. If you are a Scottish employer please reach out to Patrina using LinkedIn contact above. 

My own view it should be digital qualifications supported by open standards for all. You don't need a centralised store just verifiable credentials. Learners without digital access should always be able to access a paper or alternative format. 

#Bett25 #Bett2025 How Was My Bett

I think I say this most years. I am really lucky to have time to attend BETT and given that privilege it is important that I share my own reflections.

Will be remembered as year of big storm up north. I think everyone from Scotland will have a travel tale as all trains and planes cancelled at one point on Friday and trains on Saturday too. We made it home on Sunday. 

Here is a quick summary of who I met and what I discovered at this year's BETT25 Conference . It was nice not presenting this year and just being able to move around. I missed last year as I was in Ankara with Turkish Qualifications Authority. 

I was a guest and contributor at an excellent Tuesday pre conference event held by 1EdTech really around global intransigence to adopt open standards - I'll blog about that next.

This was the year when - shock horror - private consultants and private companies had to pay to attend BETT. I am chair of an educational charity and got my ticket that way. It seems fair enough that private sector folks pay for entry as a stand at Bett is a really expensive investment. Still lots of scope for meetings in an around London during event. I did notice that the World Education Forum has moved from the Monday and Tuesday of this week to a later date in April. I wonder if that will in time impact international policy makers attendance at BETT.


Here is my quick summary and observations

1. Queen Elizabeth line to Excel is a revelation for travelling to and from venue and opens up possibility of accommodation across London. ( though others will have spotted that last year)
2. I was staying between St Martins Kings Cross and Excel, to make it easier to catch up with daughter. Whitechapel was great fun, even managed a curry night with old city pal in his favourite spot. Tayyabs , the lamb chops amazing - I'll be back.
3. Ministerial address really excellent and on point - though I've heard a few good ones in past. Challenge is that the changes actually happen ( and also the education minister lasts more than a year) but sense that a vision is in place. But sense too from delegates that things on the technical front/blended learning agenda, have slowed down. I do think that the content is king rather than competency based models are winning the arguments at moment in terms of curriculum design. See too the anti-mobile phone lobby. Some bits of system are just so wilfully backward.
4. Probably less stands but still two halls full and busy on Wed and Thursday and a lot to get around.
5. Huge esports area, seems to have got bigger and large global area taking up one side of exhibition space. In centre a UK pavilion and lots of action from Department for International Trade ( will this lessen now world education forum not on as present ?) but no real Scottish exhibitor and or agency presence. The international stands made UK pavilion look puny.
6. Smartboards still everywhere but getting better and better , AI with everything and loads of programmable robots for every stage of learning.
7. Start Up areas kind of spread about - so not as easy to find and talk to new companies - did meet some Scottish edtech start ups - I hope they got value from BETT. If I can help them I will. 
   
   
   
8. I attended some key notes and sessions. Perhaps just me but I found particularly those in HE Advance area to not be well enough organised or themed and/or well that relevant. Perhaps organisers need to work more closely with Jisc and Association of Learning Technology - but may just have been my timing. I know I missed some great sessions on assessment on day one and on AI on Friday. So may just have been sessions that I attended.
9. Apple Education seemed to have more of a presence than previous years - perhaps trying to play catch up with Microsoft and Google but while I heard about great developments on Apple classroom front - hard to see how they can make up lost ground.
10. The size of London Grid for Learning Stand almost as big as Canva and Kahoot. Figured out why and lessons to be learned. They run an Appstore for schools and vendors pay to get inside this. Sensible really and good model for GLOW. The London system supports more schools , teachers and learners than GLOW - I sense too eye on rest of England in terms of services for schools and academy trusts.
11. Well done Smartboards for facilitating a Scottish edtech gathering on Wednesday afternoon. Was amazed no one from Education Scotland along at this - and indeed at Bett25 - really not a good idea to have no feet on ground. 
12. Panel session with English old guard Mary Bousted, Jim Knight , Robert Halfon - agree with one statement that English system has an obese curriculum thin on skills and competencies and weighed down with too much content.
13. TeachmeetBett25 I got to for a change and did a two minute plug for learning design and for membership of ALT - thanks too Everway/Texthelp for sponsoring cracking social at Millennium Dome and for old pal Dawn Holly-Bone from 2Simple for chairing so well.
14. Bonus additional day in London. We walked from Whitechapel across London to the West end, stopping for pie and mash in Smithfield and ending back at Aldgate - for excellent fresh pasta at Emilia's. ( a new chain to me) 

As usual I targeted having 30 minute meetings with 10 minutes in between to get around conference. It made for a busy two days but best way to make most of BETT.

Useful bits and bobs with some plugs at end -

Adobe 

Express is so good for education and now with more AI built in great for animation https://www.adobe.com/education/express/?

Microsoft - marching on on many fronts. Got along to some great sessions from Mike Tholfsen. He has helpfully blogged about these sessions and included his presentations. Here are some direct links. Liking particularly some of the new Canvas by Instructure integrations. Not sure about the Microsoft Designer plug by offering all attendees a chance to create our own badge avatar - but Microsoft designer is cool. 

AI for Educators from Microsoft useful on line course https://learn.microsoft.com/en-gb/training/paths/ai-education/
More AI for Educators Resources https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/training/educator-center/topics/ai-for-education
AI classroom Toolkit https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/training/educator-center/instructor-materials/classroom-toolkit-unlock-generative-ai-safely-responsibly
Overview of what is new https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/educationblog/whats-new-in-microsoft-edu-bett-2025-edition/4291951

Google - again moving on many fronts attended some excellent sessions AI and other developments all summarised in one place https://blog.google/outreach-initiatives/education/bett-2025/ 

Really interesting stuff is Google integration of Gemini, Video, Sheets and Docs and on going development of Notebook LM. 

You can find that in link above. You find 11 new ways Google can help you here https://blog.google/outreach-initiatives/education/ai-tools-education-2025

IBM Interesting stuff from Justina Nixon Santil https://www.ibm.com/think/insights/ai-skills-you-need-for-2025

Intel 

Still plugging their excellent Skills for Innovation programme

https://www.intel.co.uk/content/www/uk/en/education/intel4education/programs.html

Shameless Plugs 

Great to see and chat to Teachermatic Team Bett Gold award winning solution.

Caught up with Louise Jones and Thinglink - an amazing platform and still not used widely enough in Colleges and schools.

Padlet , Canva and Wakelet still brilliant. 

This for English composition looks interesting https://olex.ai/ and another competitor for Grammerly https://lex.page/

The  Daiverse Project  looks interesting for inclusion https://daiverse.eu/

On hunt for some funding - this potentially useful 

Though Colleges and training providers should be looking at grant funding from https://ufi.co.uk/

Great to see 

All the Scottish Edtechs who made journey and stayed the course and everyone else of course

- special mention to Graham Brown-Martin and Tony Parkin who I haven't seen at Bett for years and Mags Amond from Ireland doing her stuff at Teachmeet and Dawn Holly-Bone 2Simple and Charlie Love - Bett award winner. 

Sorry to miss around conference arena 

Dom Lukes , Vikki Liogier , Stuart Walker , Matt Wingfield , Elyan Ezekiel, Dan Fitzpatrick, Sara De Freitas, Debs Hill,  ClickView team , Scott Renton from City of Glasgow who made decision to head north before storm hit. 

And special shout out to  Prof Stephen Heppell who is normally a fixture but laid low - still found time to offer advice on Brick Lane Curry spots. Get well soon. 

For me funniest moment - International Teachmeet on immersive rooms - a really good session from Finland. Where Finnish colleague repeatedly asked us if we were "aroused"  apparently we should always ask students how 'aroused' they feel. You must be 'aroused' to learn. 

I'll not take that approach with Scottish staff ;-) . In fairness what was showcased was an immersive learning space - four walls of any image you want with suitable sound effects from forest to nightclub rave.   

2024 In Review

Graphic from Co Author Studio

Strange year, 2024. While Scottish education wrestled with AI's implications, I shifted back to consultancy after 7 years leading digital transformation at City of Glasgow College. The timing proved interesting - just as assessment anxiety peaked and international interest in Scottish vocational education grew and with the funding model for Colleges pretty much in crisis.

Some key developments from 2024:

In College -

• Supported Turkish Vocational Authority's education reform programme with workshops in Ankara.
• Led AI policy development at City of Glasgow College and continued to share this work internationally.
• Presented at QAA Conference on assessment in an AI world and delivered series of workshops on Active, Blended, Collaborative Learning for Tertiary Sector in Scotland and garnered welcome support too from SQA.
• Pushed on continued development of Canvas platform and staff digital skills against some interesting internal headwinds.
•Hosted ALT Scottish SIG - this time on-line from COGC.

Post College -

• Participated in UNESCO's Future of Education bootcamp in Bilbao and now authoring bid with international partnership around adoption of open badge framework to support micro-credentials.
• Continued pushing for open educational resources despite system inertia
• Supported hashtag#Canvascon in Barcelona and facilitated a tertiary sector workshop back in Scotland.
• Ran series of workshops for HE and Colleges on blended learning for QAA including online workshops - deploying model developed @cityofglasgowcollege. Active, Blended and Connected.
• Supported an enjoyable workshop on Future of Learning with Prof Martin Bean.

These posts from LinkedIn capture pivotal moments:

"It's not the end of learning design and blended learning - it is just the beginning." Moving back to consultancy while reflecting on 7 years of institutional change.
https://lnkd.in/eb4anc2y

"It was an amazing privilege to be invited to make presentations and chair workshops in Ankara." Supporting vocational education reform internationally while Scottish reforms continue.
https://lnkd.in/em6K23C8

"Scotland is still not even partly on the bus despite best efforts of hashtag#openscot. Yet we are a country proud of education as a public good." The perpetual challenge of advancing open education.
https://lnkd.in/evGZVnrJ

" It was great to have opportunity to be part of cross sectoral expert team to develop this resource for QAA and associated workshops"
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/joerwilson_planning-and-delivery-of-active-blended-learning-activity-7252070604621631488-6Uyb

Grateful to colleagues at City of Glasgow College and the team at Instructure Canvas who helped deliver real change, and to the broader Scottish education community still working to embrace open educational practices despite the obstacles.

Looking ahead to 2025: ready to help more institutions navigate AI integration thoughtfully while continuing to advocate for open education. The challenges around transferable skills and digital capabilities remain much the same as 20 years ago - but the positive relationships between learners and teachers still drive meaningful change.

Broadly I anticipate working with;

• UNESCO - Continue shaping bid for project around better understanding of the open source code available for creation and management of Open Badges in support of Micro credentials.
• Continue work with UK Digital Badging Commission
• Champion - Teachermatic and other AI platforms , Adaptive Comparative Judgement and Canvas by Instructure as means of changing the learning paradigm.
• Hopefully continue to support work of QAA around Scottish Tertiary Quality framework.
• Continue supporting sensible policy and practice around adoption of AI in vocational system.
• Following recent Dubai Summit working with Open Scotland to encourage more open educational practice in Scotland.
• Supporting institutions and staff who want to digitally transform their practice and their learners’ experience
• Continue as chair of ALT Scotland SIG and have a bit more time for community building - perhaps exploring new community platform.
• Where I can, offer informed input on shape of tertiary sector and future of vocational landscape including qualifications. 
• Continue having more me time - great trips since great escape to London, Berlin, Bologna, Viareggio, Lucca and France - along with business trips been a busy end of year.

To everyone working to make education more open and accessible: it is always the people who make the difference. Be as optimistic and cheerful as your learners.  

Here's to more progress in 2025.

Off the Fence: How Should Colleges in Scotland be Funded.

Perhaps fittingly, I'm authoring this as my ham cooks for New Year.

I count myself fortunate to have been one of the 700 staff who left the Scottish Further Education (FE) sector in recent years, following a fantastic 38-year career and better still, my skills are still in demand.

As I reflect on my time in this vital sector, it seems fitting to publish these thoughts at a time of hope and renewal. Ever the optimist, I believe in the potential for change.

Over the years, I’ve worked with national agencies responsible for awarding, funding, and staff development. I’ve collaborated with or worked for all the Glasgow colleges, including serving for 15 years on three college boards. Yet, I’ve never seen the sector in a more precarious position than it is today.

Scottish FE colleges are a cornerstone of the nation’s educational landscape. They provide vocational training, open pathways to higher education, and offer opportunities for lifelong learning. These institutions reflect Scotland’s historical commitment to accessible, practical education for all, evolving to meet the changing needs of society and the economy.

You won't find these stats in many places in terms of life long learning but most of the Scottish population are touched by a College at some point in their life. More so than say a university. 

They are a critical community resource. Vocational or leisure all of my family and friends have benefitted from a College course. It is the same across the country.

Having stepped away from the system, I feel compelled to highlight its challenges. These issues run deep, and it’s disheartening to see no sensible solutions on the near horizon. Agencies that once offered support and guidance are now in disarray.

Despite this, college boards, principals, teaching, and support staff continue to innovate and deliver exceptional results for their learners. However, the system they operate within is inherently unfair, inequitable, and in dire need of reform.

Staff are overwhelmed by the dual expectations placed on colleges: to close the attainment gap and drive social mobility, while also addressing skills shortages. These ambitious goals are undermined by ever-diminishing resources. Colleges, which could be a powerful engine for economic renewal both locally and nationally, are starved of the sustained support they need. In some cases, poor workplace relationships—driven largely by a lack of resources or a clearly articulated and funded national strategy, exacerbate these struggles.

It is rare to see college principals or even Colleges Scotland publicly addressing these issues. Given that college chairs are government appointed and principals are employed by college boards, it’s a testament to the severity of the crisis when these leaders dare to speak out. It is tough speaking truth to power and we need much more of this.

It's perhaps simply better that the public are aware of the manifest imbalance in the system.

The challenges, are undeniable. Audit Scotland has been flagging the sector’s fiscal issues for years. We are now past the critical point.

If there is less money in the system, a fresh approach is essential. The tertiary sector needs rebalancing, and there must be an acknowledgment that “free” higher education comes at a cost to the system as a whole.

Colleges operate differently from universities. I began my career as a local authority employee, transitioned to working for incorporated colleges, and ultimately worked for a regional college. Throughout this journey, colleges have always been directly reliant on public funding. Today, they are controlled and funded by the Scottish Government via the Scottish Funding Council (SFC). Unlike universities, which enjoy greater fiscal freedom, colleges are almost entirely instruments of government policy.

When a College gets into really deep challenges, the leadership team and even the College Board can be replaced, this is not how a University senate operates.

Recent history—particularly regionalisation—demonstrates that the system can be radically reshaped through direct intervention. Yet, what is lacking today is a clear vision, a direct steer, and mostly, appropriate funding.

Addressing these issues requires fundamental changes to how the education budget is allocated across the tertiary sector. There may not be more money but the resource needs to be distributed in a more equitable and focused way across life long learning.

While universities are also facing financial pressures, they have much more autonomy in managing their resources and have been more effective in lobbying.

Their stronger connections to senior politicians across the political divide, many of whom find posts in the university sector after public service, may partly explain the lack of collective political will to address these imbalances.

It is not simply that old chestnut that the policy makers and journalists move from school to university and they don't understand what Colleges do. It is much more pernicious. I think it may be some time before for instance the esteemed educational departments within our University sector speak out and or offer any solutions to the current College crisis. Their output on vocational learning is still scant. 

The disparity is stark. Glasgow residents cannot fail to notice the large-scale campus developments across the university sector, as well as the booming private student accommodation market. While academics often face precarious short-term contracts, for some universities, this is a golden age of campus expansion. Others, however, face much bleaker prospects.

What Needs to Change

Within the current college policy framework, certain elements appear for the present to be immutable: regionalisation, national pay and conditions bargaining, lecturer membership of the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS), and “free” higher education.

Yet, there are areas ripe for reform. Here are some questions and suggestions—some more radical than others:

1. Regionalisation: What is the point of college regions if they aren’t connected to more regional funding?

2. Funding Integration: Break down siloed funding within the SFC for further and higher education. Include funding for work-based learning and ensure activities are funded at the same rate. This would mean reallocating some university funding to colleges and work-based learning. Yes, there are proposals here but things are simply moving far too slowly.

3. Differentiated University Funding: Recognize that universities are not all the same. Adjust funding formulas to reflect these differences and use public funding to shape what is available. Any course at a University should surely be based upon national occupational standards. This would support proper articulation links.

Some institutions may value global status over local delivery but let them make that strategic decision.

4. University Mergers: Encourage mergers within the university sector. 

Perhaps make the old guard of research led universities have much closer partnerships with teaching led institutions and/or make newer institutions merge. 

Any changes here are tough with current governance arrangements. For example, a merger between Glasgow Caledonian University and the University of the West of Scotland could create efficiencies and similarly in Edinburgh and Dundee regions. 

UHI is a gordian knot - arguably Perth, Moray , Inverness and other partners need strong local College provision.

5. Inclusive Development: Ensure that any nationally funded development projects include colleges and work-based learning. How does the National Manufacting Institute for Scotland and Data Lab and other initiatives link deeply with Colleges, Training Providers and schools.

6. Open Education: Foster the adoption of UNESCO’s policies on open education across all sectors, including schools and local authorities. Let's make learning much more accessible to all.

Perhaps it’s even time to consider the unthinkable: university-college mergers. While this may seem radical, it could pave the way for a more integrated and equitable tertiary education system.

My caution against this would be that the very sector that that can be fleet of foot. That has short flexible courses and a vocational focus could easily be absolutely stifled by our slow ponderous and expensive higher education system. 

The simplest solution is an equalised funding formula for every candidate for public contribution to tertiary education in Scotland.

In College, in University in work based learning the disparity in funding needs to stop and focus needs to be on learning and skills.

I better go a check my ham - Happy New Year to one and all.

Shaping The Future of Education Session with Martin Bean

It was great to present alongside Professor Martin Bean To an audience of colleges and universities including some former colleagues. This was a busy session at City of Glasgow College around shaping the future of education. 

Thanks to the team at canvas by Instructure for facilitating this session. 

A summary below for folks who could not make it along.  

Martin laid out well the challenges facing global education. Generally we are far too slow to embrace innovation and deal with disruption. This has been familiar cry over the 38 years I have worked in the sector but more critical now than ever. 

We may not appreciate challenges like 

"Today is the slowest day of the rest of your working life"  But there is a truism here, change is becoming ever more rapid.

I summarise below some of Martin's gems but you really should get hold of his latest book ToolKit for Turbulance 

There is a re-skilling emergency across the world 

https://www.weforum.org/publications/putting-skills-first-a-framework-for-action/

While LinkedIn and others are busily mapping opportunities and candidates to skill descriptions and using AI to provide tailored learning solutions and microcredentials for learners. The established providers of learning are moving too slowly.

Knowledge and skills are a currency. The workforce need regular updates and current students need courses that are regularly reviewed, updated and delivered flexibly. Paper diplomas are old currency and current validation processes too slow.

Useful examples to have a look at 

Australia developing a digital skills passport to be used across life long learning.

https://www.education.gov.au/national-skills-passport-consultation

https://www.mypassglobal.com/

Even tied into migration policies 

https://www.jobsandskills.gov.au/consultations/draft-core-skills-occupations-list

In Europe the Europass continues to be developed

https://europa.eu/europass/eportfolio/

These developments allow the true creation of learning pathways based on micro/meso and macro digital certifications than stack together. In Australia being built around digital competency national skills descriptors.  

Digitally native Learners are moving to online platforms - examples 8 million Google professional certificates through Coursera , Salesforce and their Trailhead Academy Futurelearn in UK with 14million users 

Institutions often spend to much time focusing on their physical estate and do not realise that investment in their digital estate can deliver real value to their learners. 

The final challenge - 

Surely, Scotland with a new tertiary system should be looking at a digitally enabled skills passport/digital wallet for learners in Colleges, Universities and work based learning.  It would support employers and life long learners and make candidate search and opportunity discovery easier for all.  ( I know a few Scottish innovators in this space who would agree) 

My own reflection too much time and energy has been spent in changing the policy landscape and not enough time has been spent on looking at some of these system level changes in Scotland. It's easier to shuffle around agencies and lines of responsibility than to deliver real change in system. 

I followed up with a session focussing on how these challenges could be picked up in Scotland and what solutions institutions should be putting in place.  On the day I focused on challenges and vanilla solutions for broad audience. The presentation also covers how we used Canvas by Instructure to future proof our delivery.  I've redacted delegates inputs on day - feedback was really positive. 

I look forward to supporting future sessions.