One Year Over the Top ; Reflections. The Joy of Not Being There: A September Without the Start of Term

I've been feeling a bit guilty. I've done a bit of work over summer but mainly I've just chilled.  It was strange coming back from a foreign holiday and not having to check lots of work emails - but it is a really nice sensation. 

This September, for the first time in thirty nine years , I am not preparing for the start of term. No staff briefings. No last-minute system tweaks. No wondering whether staff will be more engaged, more challenging, more everything - and what budget cuts are coming down the line etc and mainly wondering if the students will cope and will staff actually step them through induction or leave them to sink or swim. And or the dreaded moment when we discover that something promised to support induction hasn't actually happened - but it's included in all our start of session materials. 

As I push on I am bringing opportunities back to the College sector and the folks I know will be receptive to new ideas.  

Time to for a quick reflection on what I said I would do and what I've actually achieved and what I have to catch up on - I am due a post both on ALT Scotland SIG meeting at end of June and on #OER25 which I keynoted at before heading off on leave. That will be my next tasks.

When I said my farewells I promised I would keep pushing on a number of fronts.  Here is a potted update and a report card. 

• 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. Bid completed and I anticipate publication appearing before Christmas.  This from work in Bilbao 
• Continue work with UK Digital Badging Commission - input completed and work now published. Tied in well with UNESCO work and my fellowship with RSA. Led to some comms and  work with 1Edtech.  Scottish education seems miles away from adopting these approaches. 
• Hopefully continue to support work of QAA around Scottish Tertiary Quality framework. Delighted to say I now have a part-time role as a Quality Assurance Specialist for QAA.
• Champion Teachermatic and other AI approaches to changing learning paradigm. This is still work in progress have delivered a number of sessions and keynotes.
• Champion Canvas by Instructure . I am still due to do a bigger deeper blog on Canvas and why it should be platform of choice. But enjoyed working with Martin Bean in Scotland and enjoyed my time in Barcelona at #CanvasCon 
• Continue to support Open Scotland following Dubai Summit to encourage more Open practice in Scotland. I keynoted #oer25 in London in June ( post to follow) I've presented to Once for Scotland to see if we can re-engage policy makers across Scotland and hoping to pick up conversation with Lee Dunn in the current administration. I am presenting OERGlobal25 in November. 
• Encourage better understanding of Adaptive Comparative Judgement - this probably one area where I haven't really pushed on. 
• Offer informed input on shape and future of tertiary sector in Scotland.  I keep knocking on relevant doors. There really needs to be a wholesale change in approach. 
• Continue as Chair of Association of Learning Technology special interest group in Scotland and do a bit more community building for ALT. Held two meetings this year. Summary of online conference April  - report on June Stirling Conference to come and I am co-chair of UK ALTC Conference coming to Glasgow for first time in October. 
• Continue to offer support to  suppliers , institutions and staff who want to digitally transform their practice and the experience of learners. Some notable successes with Smart Technologies really down to quality of product and support available in Scotland and in dialogue with a number of other suppliers. I continue to work with lots of old friends from @Bett Conferences  and my network. 
•  I've run a couple of College sessions but sector could do with a few more - still not really seeing blended learning to the fore.  I think I could do more on that front. (if anyone wants a short workshop on digital transformation for managers or teaching staff - please just reach out) 
• FRSA - Support Glasgow branch around organising a series of events this and next year. Making progress civic reception at City Chambers and event at Citizens Theatre in planning - reaching out to Education contacts for RSA.
• Continue as Chair of IWasGonnae and Old Hall Scout Group. - both organisations thriving - really down to the energy and skills of the teams there. 

I've done lots of travelling over the year for business and fun and hosted some guests in Glasgow. 

Here are two happy snaps of 

Kim William Gordon, PhD from EdTech Research Labs St Louis USA

Maria Soledad Ramirez Montoya, UNESCO Chair Open Educational Movement for Latin America

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.

ALT Scottish SIG Agenda and Sign-Up Wed 21st 10am - 2.30pm

 

Looking forward to seeing some familiar and some new faces from across the sector.

Learning Technology is really under the spotlight. A range of agenda items relevant for Schools, Colleges, University and work-based learning. 

Click here to view the accessible version of this interactive content

ELESIG Evaluating Learners Experiences of e-learning Special Interest Group Conference Input

 I was scheduled to deliver a short presentation for ELESIG  but was at short notice invited for a long weekend in Barcelona.  So input was pre-recorded and shared here. 

Slides and recording for ELESIG 

and back-channel Joe Wilson (@joecar) / Twitter

#ELESIG