Tag Archives: policy

#Canvascon26 CanvasCon Europe 2026: Notes from London⤴

from @ Experimental Blog

I spent a couple of really interesting days at Instructure's CanvasCon, held on 2-3 November at Convene Sancroft near St Paul's under the theme "Future-Ready Education in the Making".

A declaration of bias

I should say up front that I'm biased: I supported the introduction of Canvas into two Colleges in Scotland. ( it was great to catch up with Clyde and City of Glasgow Colleges) and many Association for Learning Technology colleagues at the event and I attended as a guest of Instructure.

I've worked with various LMS tools since the last century - anyone remember Lotus Learning Space ? and no the VLE is not dead, if you remember that short lived movement.

I believe that if you want a platform that will support your institution into the future, Canvas is the best choice. Other options exist, but they come with different price points, different development pain points and don't offer the same holistic approach to lifelong learning. 

The pieces I value (over and above the high platform reliability) are:

  • Open sharing of resources through Canvas Commons.
  •  Microcredentials and badges, built on the Open Badges 3.0 standard.
  • A digital portfolio and certified qualifications that learners can take away after their formal learning ends.
  • Delivering courses and support beyond the institution through Canvas Catalog.
  • A sound platform for modelling good learning design and accessibility.
  • How Instructure embraces and supports open standards Edu.Api, Open Badge Standard3.0 and many more. 

One thing I'm unsure about is the new three-tier pricing model. I understand why AI isn't free and has to be paid for, but for many Colleges tier one will be as far as they can stretch. I'll be watching how this plays out for the FE sector.

Above all the conference was a great opportunity to polish up my product knowledge and network with the ever growing Instructure user base across UK and Europe. 

Student voices open the conference

The opening session put students front and centre. They know they shouldn't outsource their learning to AI, but they feel teaching staff are still in denial and aren't modelling their own use of AI. What they want is:

  • Worked examples of the best approaches for specific challenges
  • Enough understanding to use different AI models economically and sustainably

Other delegates picked up the same thread. Several noted that AI shouldn't be treated as taboo, that assessment needs redesigning around authentic tasks, and that staff need time to learn. Access has to be open to everyone, not just those who can afford it. Sue Turner's keynote framed the question well: what does "No AI use" actually mean in practice?. Spoiler, that approach doesn't work.  

During proceedings I ducked out to deliver a one hour online Workshop to Newham College London and all credit to staff there who are already tackling this AI challenge.

Product updates

The product session from Zac Pendleton and Joel Silvera was a useful one. The main threads were:

  • Making learning more personal
  • An improved block content editor
  • The impact of IgniteAI across the platform, from learning design to student experience
  • Better dashboards for tracking across all courses
  • An improved accessibility checker
  • New learner dashboards so students can track their own progress

The link between the IgniteAI agent and MCP servers particularly interested me. You can connect your preferred agent, such as Microsoft Copilot, and generate personalised experiences using only the information held in Canvas. That is a sensible approach to the data and privacy questions that worry so many institutions.

Parchment and the skills agenda

Kristie Lindell described developments at Instructure's Parchment, built around learner personas. Administrators can create pathways using the Open Badges 3.0 standard. Parchment now links to a global marketplace showing which skills are in demand, and the underlying framework will reflect ESCO and the developing European skills wallet. For anyone working in vocational education, this is where the skills and employer-recognition conversation is heading. Great too to see UK labour market and job opportunities appearing at back end of this system. 


Partners worth a look

I didn't get round all the partner stands, but CidiLabs caught my eye. I particularly liked their tools for turning PDF documents into course materials, and their design plugins such as TidyUp and UDoIt. Some of their other tools could make them an alternative to Anthology Ally.

Feedbackfruits for moving on the oral assessment debate and EDF for supporting really large organisations moving from one platform to another. It was good to see a strong overlap with the vendors attending the ALT Conference in Cardiff two weeks ago.

Free training: the On-Demand Training Portal

Alongside the product news, it's worth knowing what Instructure offers for free, especially given my worry about the pricing tiers.

The On-Demand Training Portal is accessible directly through Canvas. Instructure launched it for clients in EMEA and APAC through the LMS itself. All Canvas users except Free for Teacher users have access, and the free subscription level includes the Portal Walkthrough Course, Canvas Basics and Fundamentals of Accessible Digital Content.

What's in the free tier

  • Canvas Basics: a course on the core features of Canvas. It replaced the older Canvas Field Guide course.
  • Fundamentals of Accessible Digital Content in Canvas: launched in April 2025 and available in every tier, including the free one. It covers what digital accessibility means, checking accessibility in Canvas, best practices, and common mistakes.

Why it matters for Colleges: if tier one is as far as many Colleges can stretch, a free, structured route into accessibility and core Canvas skills is useful. It pairs well with the improved accessibility checker announced at the conference, and gives staff a low-cost way to build confidence before any paid AI features come into play.

Practice from the sector

Boston College, Lincolnshire (Peter Davis) gave a great example of cross-curricular recognition using credentials, badges and Canvas data. They created programmes recognising both staff digital skills and student digital progress. Competencies can be picked up automatically or awarded by staff for specific pieces of work. Canvas data feeds Power BI dashboards, including leaderboards for staff and students.

Edinburgh University / Saïd Business School stressed fast course development and smooth onboarding of learners. They showed good uses of Canvas Catalog, where courses can be free or paid for. They also use Drieam's Portflow and Eduframe, and good examples of open textbooks supporting open learning. A question from this session stayed with me: when learning becomes more modular and skills-based, what operating model holds it all together? Edu-API 1.0 (2026) may be part of the answer. It improves on OneRoster, could cure a lot of system-import headaches, and allows data to flow across multiple badges and credentials.


The award winners

  • Innovative Technology: Prof. Uwe Stoklossa and the Carl Remigius Fresenius Education Group for NextGeneration 2.0, bringing secure, course-grounded AI to 18 institutions.
  • Outstanding Course: University of Cambridge Advance Online for Creativity, Problem Solving and Design Thinking, with an impressive 94% completion rate.
  • Transformative Programme: Gemma W. and Luke Westwood and the SAJE team at the University of Birmingham, who are rethinking assessment for nearly 10,000 first-year students.

Final Reflections

My overall impression is that Instructure takes a broader view than many competitors. It isn't narrowly focused on digital learning experiences, and increasingly contributes to discussions on lifelong learning, educational reform, credentialing and the future of work. It is out in front when it comes to working with global open standards.


It is getting itself into bigger, cross-cutting education themes, with products aligned to them. As colleagues noted, Canvas is evolving beyond being a place to host course content, with Canvas Next, IgniteAI and learning analytics all pointing that way.

The organisation undertands that too - next year's conference becomes Instructure Con a reflection that they manage a coherent set of tools to support lifelong learning. if you are new to all of this it is worth checking out Canvas Lite.

As always, the networking was brilliant. I've come home with plenty of ideas, a growing list of things to explore, perhaps a set of challenges in some Colleges for our IT colleagues. 

I had some useful side conversations around learning technologist  access to AI tools and even simply powerBI.  This does not bode well for possible discussion around MCP servers and or Edu.Api introduction into work flows. 

National Museum of Wales Education Leaders Summit Pre #ALTC26⤴

from @ Experimental Blog

Last week I was invited to contribute to a discussion among UK education leaders in the splendid surroundings of the Welsh National Museum Cardiff. This was an event pre Association For Learning Technology Conference #ALTC26 gathering hosted by Instructure. 

As we were in Wales the discussion was shaped by developments there, I was impressed by focus to push forward tertiary opportunities for all. In some respects they are ahead of Scotland in some other areas they are behind. I think difference may be that they do seem more prepared to make funding contingent on Universities and Colleges working more closely together. Check out MeDr developments and specifically current list of projects.

 In Scotland I'd make all tertiary activity  funded at the same level - that would correct the market and behaviours - and perhaps be much simpler than drip funding range of projects. 

It's interesting the theme of Life Long Learning is back on everyone's radar.

Here is a summary of the five key takeaways for supporting lifelong learners: You can read things in full on the Instructure Website

  • Lifelong Learning as a Shared Societal Responsibility: Anchored in Wales’s Well-being of Future Generations Act, institutions and policymakers are encouraged to move past short-term priorities and collaborate on connected learning pathways. With AI reshaping the workforce, education must focus on long-term adaptability, creativity, and reducing inequality for underrepresented groups.

  • Removing Barriers to Inclusion: To reach non-traditional learners, institutions need to make opportunities more visible and approachable. Examples include bringing education directly into local communities, libraries, schools, and remote areas to engage individuals who might not otherwise consider life long learning opportunities. I think there is massive role that Open Educational policies could play in this space. 

  • Rethinking Traditional Institutional Structures: Current university administrative systems (enrolment, student records, course approvals) are designed for traditional 18-year-old undergraduates. To compete with agile commercial learning providers and adapt to policy changes (like England's Lifelong Learning Entitlement), institutions must simplify processes and embrace flexible, modular, or asynchronous online learning. Colleges in Scotland are much more agile here but lack funding. They could be a true engine of change. 

  • Prioritising Collaboration Over Competition: Despite financial pressures and internal siloes between academic departments, stronger partnerships—both internally and externally with colleges and employers are essential to address changing workforce skill requirements. This is still a live issue in Scotland. In Wales the approach seems to be to use funding to incentivise collaboration between Colleges and Universities - I think a blunter instrument is still required in Scotland. 

  • Redefining Success Metrics: Beyond standard metrics like enrolment, completion rates, and revenue, institutions need to evaluate success based on learner-centric outcomes. This includes career transitions, gaining confidence, social mobility, and supporting learners who move in and out of formal education over time. This remains really hard to track in Scotland while Universities resist adoption of Scottish Candidate Number etc. 

Where Scotland is Behind

  • Funding Unitised and Short-Course Learning: The biggest area where Scotland falls behind is modular/Unitised  funding entitlement.

    • England is rolling out the Lifelong Learning Entitlement (LLE), allowing adult learners to take out loan funding for individual modules (30+ credits) or short courses throughout their lives.

    • Scotland’s non-tuition fee model relies heavily on full-time degree or full-award funding (via SAAS). It lacks a flexible, universal "credit bank" or modular loan system for adult upskilling, making it harder for mid-career adults to take single college or university courses without paying out-of-pocket.

  • Institutional Agility & Admin Bottlenecks: Much like the UK-wide challenges raised in Cardiff, Scottish universities remain constrained by traditional multi-year degree structures and lengthy course-approval processes. Commercial providers and short-course online platforms often outpace Scottish universities and Colleges  in launching agile retraining programs. Though at least College and Training Provider provision is shaped around relevant occupational standards. SCQF Microcredentials have been a thing in Colleges since the last century - but things like part-time evening, saturday morning and or even flexible blended short course provision seem to lack support. 

Where is space for Open Education ? 
I rehearsed this in earlier posts - there is so much scope for collaboration around both course design and learning materials in Scotland. We need much more flexible models for all learners. 

Do you have a platform that really supports Life Long Learning ?
Too many institutions , despite COVID are still overly focused on old models of course development and delivery.  Perhaps as they are just easier to deliver ? 

College Funding in Scotland Revisted.⤴

from @ Experimental Blog


In 2024 I posted about the ongoing crisis around College funding. Things have not really got much better - so time for an update. 

Despite delivering essential vocational training and community social mobility, Scotland’s Further Education (FE) college sector is still facing an unprecedented financial crisis. While recent targeted, short-term funding streams (such as the New Flexible Workforce Development Fund and Defence Technical Excellence Colleges) provide welcome project opportunities, they do not close the sector’s core operational funding gap. Baseline funding cuts threaten the structural viability of local colleges across Scotland. Urgent policy rebalancing across tertiary funding is required.

Key Financial Realities

  • 7%+ Real-Terms Cut this year  Audit Scotland reports that college sector funding has fallen by over 7% in real terms over the last five years. If you look over last 10 years there is  a greater funding collapse. Audit Scotland's briefing paper, Scotland's Colleges 2025 shows that Scottish Government revenue funding for colleges decreased by 20 per cent in real terms over the five-year period from 2021/22 to 2025/26.
  • Widespread Operating Deficits: More than half of Scotland’s colleges operate in deficit, relying on emergency Scottish Funding Council (SFC) cash advances to maintain short-term liquidity. They can't plan ahead. 
  • Diminishing Provision: Workforce contraction via voluntary severance has coincided with course credits and student headcounts dropping to 10-year lows. That basically means less places for prospective students.  Part time learning numbers have plummeted.  Evening provision for reskilling adults has almost entirely disappeared.  

The Policy Disparity: Colleges vs. Universities

  • Fiscal Control & Governance: Colleges operate as direct instruments of government policy under SFC control. Unlike universities—which enjoy greater fiscal freedom and research autonomy college boards and leadership face direct Scottish Government intervention during fiscal distress. 
  • Targeted Grants vs. Baseline Stability: Short-term, ring-fenced initiatives (e.g., £10m New FWDF or £20m DTECs) enable rapid, employer-led upskilling, but cannot cover permanent staff costs, rising energy bills, or essential campus maintenance.
  • Equitable Distribution: The commitment to "free" higher education has created an unintended structural imbalance, diverting core tertiary resources away from lifelong vocational learning and local college pathways.

Key Action Recommendations for Policy Makers

  • Equalise Core Tertiary Funding Rates : Establish rate parity per candidate across Further Education, Higher Education, and work-based learning to ensure public funds follow the learner fairly and make the system make full use of SCQF.  Track learners across life long learning by full adoption of the Scottish Candidate Number SCN.
  • Re-evaluate Regional Governance & Autonomy : Re-evaluate Regional Governance & Learn from Glasgow’s De-regionalisation. The dissolution of the Glasgow Colleges Regional Board (GCRB) proved that adding an administrative "middle tier" above colleges creates unnecessary overhead without protecting frontline budgets. Remaining regional structures across Scotland must either be given genuine, ring-fenced budget autonomy to serve their local economies, or be streamlined to allow direct SFC funding to frontline college delivery. 
  • Align University Funding to National Standards: Differentiate public university subsidies by tying funding formulas to national occupational standards and articulation pathways from regional colleges. Academic autonomy should not extend to ignoring national occupational standards and SCQF. 

  • Mandate FE Inclusion in National Capital & Innovation Projects : Ensure major economic and innovation investments (e.g., NMIS, Data Lab, DTECs) structurally embed regional colleges as core funded partners, not secondary outputs
  • Expand Open Educational Resources (OER): Drive cross-sector adoption of UNESCO open education principles to widen access across regional communities. Ensure that all Colleges and Universities share all learning materials through open respositories and practice. To foster mutual support and collaboration and ultimately to support learners and teachers - wherever they are. 
  • Stop the pretence that the patient(s) can heal itself :  There are currently two projects going on in Scotland, both sponsored by the Scottish Govt - The College Sector of the Future ( for Colleges) and for Universities the  Future Framework for the Sustainability and Success of Scotland's Universities.  In isolation neither of the sectors can find a solution on their own.  As they are both in the new tertiary system scope here for one project. 
Joe Wilson has 40 years experience of the College sector and  among other roles spent 15 years serving on three different College Boards of management. 

Reflections on 25 Years of the SCQF #scqf25years⤴

from @ Experimental Blog

In 2001, I was leading a range of sector-wide projects across Scottish Further Education for the Scottish Further Education Unit (SFEU). Across colleges, there was a  buzz surrounding the arrival of the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF). For those of us working on the ground, news of a unified national framework was warmly welcomed.

Before joining SFEU, I had spent 15 years as a Course Team Leader in the college sector. My colleagues and I hit the same wall: a system of fragmented, siloed qualifications that created friction for learners trying to progress. We watched capable students pass college units linked to occupational standards with distinction, only to be told by universities or by professional bodies that their learning "didn't count" or that they had to start from scratch. The lack of proper, systemic recognition was frustrating and unfair. It wasn't just administrative red tape; it was actively hampering human potential. 

One year we lost an established articulation route simply as the academic course team leader who was the gatekeeper at a local university changed and their successor decided to block the articulation pathway. It could be a real lottery. 

So, when the SCQF Arrived in 2001 promising a single, common language for all learning built on the sensible view  that a unit of effort in a college held equal weight to one in a university it felt like a long-overdue revolution.

By 2003, my perspective shifted from curriculum support to national delivery when I moved to the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA), looking after half of all vocational awards in Scotland. The nascent SCQF team were along the corridor from me. 

Sitting at the SQA during those formative years was exhilarating we were doing the heavy lifting to make the SCQF work. We undertook the massive task of updating, reviewing, leveling, and credit-rating thousands of vocational awards, Higher National Certificates (HNCs), Higher National Diplomas (HNDs), and SVQs. We were creating the architecture for true "parity of esteem."

Since then, I have worked closely with the SCQF team members over the years (always a pleasure), spent time on the board of SCQF partnership and worked as an auditor for credit and levellng organisations.  

Looking back now, over two decades later, I ask myself: Did the SCQF live up to the promise we felt in 2001?

The answer is a nuanced yes, but.

Where it succeeded:

The SCQF created a transparent, world-leading infrastructure. It allowed colleges to build direct articulation routes into modern universities, saving thousands of students time and money. It gave non-traditional learners a way to see their worth, and it allows workplace learning to be formally valued alongside traditional academic degrees. It's been great to see professional bodies, community learning and other public bodies coming on board. 

 Where the battle continues:

The friction I fought as a Course Team Leader in the 1990s hasn't  disappeared. While the framework provided the language for seamless progression, it couldn't forcibly dismantle institutional culture. We still see universities guarding their gates, forcing HND graduates to repeat learning levels, and public perception clinging to traditional school-exam "gold standards."  

The funding system I think is the only lever left and that should be used very bluntly, to change some behaviours here. Public money should mean national standards. 

It's been a bumpy ride, during College restructuring a lot of experienced credit and levellers left the sector, though capacity is building up again. Universities tend to only credit and level their own provision, and there can still be some confusion in the system around the value of credit and levelling an award and or an awarding body seeking accreditation from the SQA. 

In 2001, we really hoped the SCQF would be a silver bullet. Today, I see it as an essential foundation. It didn't instantly solve every barrier to progression, but it gave us the blueprint to keep fighting for a fairer, more open education system in Scotland. #OpenScot  

In the School sector many of the benefits have still to be cultivated where -  academic subjects, vocational learning, and personal achievements could form an SCQF-levelled profile. We could  eliminate the high-stakes exam treadmill in favor of a balanced, credit-based portrait of a young person’s capabilitities - but that still seems out of reach. 

It is a key part of the Scottish educational landscape that needs to be better understood by everyone across the system. It is still the envy of many global education systems.  

Collectively we can all do more to make the SCQF Framework work for all. 

Happy Birthday SCQF and team members past and present. 

Once for Scotland Catch Up⤴

from @ Experimental Blog

 

I enjoy catching sessions from Once for Scotland on the first Thursday of each month.  It is great to hear about all of the joined-up digital initiatives in the national pipeline.  I do think many of these initiatives need more public awareness. There are a lot of potentially really good things happening. If you work across the public sector in Scotland you really should sign up for Once for Scotland. 

The initiative does not have a brand or logo, so I got AI to make one up. 

This month we got updates on 

Scottish Government Digital Mailbox 

The Scottish Government Digital Mailbox is a national digital communication platform designed to provide the people of Scotland with a single, secure location for receiving correspondence from public sector organisations. Following a successful CivTech challenge, and based on the Danish Digital Post system used population wide, the Scottish Government invested in the core infrastructure through Netcompany's AMI platform, integrating it with ScotAccount for trusted identity verification and the Scottish Government Cloud Platform to establish a scalable national service. The platform is now operational and forms part of key strategic programmes including the Digital Front Door (MyCare), providing a foundation for secure digital communications across health and wider public services in Scotland. The focus has now shifted from building the platform to driving adoption, onboarding public bodies, and realising the benefits of a shared national service. This supports the ambitions of the Sustainable Digital Public Services Delivery Plan, which aims to move 25% of public sector correspondence to digital channels by 2030 and deliver potential savings of more than £100 million per year through reduced printing, postage and administration costs.

I can see this as a great tool if adopted by organisations like Qualifications Scotland. 

ScotPayments – 

ScotPayments the payment service designed by and built for government, including background information, progress to date, what the programme is working towards and opportunities to become involved.

 Local Government Architecture Model 

The Local Government Architecture Model (LGAM) is an evolving shared framework for describing the technology councils need to deliver local public services. Creating a common language across local government to support collaboration, technology planning and the adoption of reusable solutions across the sector. 

ScotAccount v MyGovscot Accounts

Many citizens will be trying to understand the difference between their ScotAccount and their Mygovscot account, if they have set one or both up.  Here is a quick table guide. 


FeatureScotAccountmygovscot myaccount
Who runs itScottish GovernmentLocal councils / Improvement Service
PurposeNational digital identityLocal council service login
Identity verificationYes (photo ID or security questions)No
Typical usePVG, disclosures, MyCare.scot, Redress, DASCouncil tax, bins, schools, benefits
2FAYesSometimes
Reuse across servicesYes (national)Yes (local authority only)
InteroperabilitySeparate from myaccountSeparate from ScotAccount

The Silent Crisis: Why Your Vote in May 2026 Matters for Scotland’s Colleges⤴

from @ ...........Experimental Blog



Scotland’s funding system prioritises where you study over what you learn. This has left college students chronically underfunded compared to their university peers, even when they are studying for the exact same level of qualification.

As we approach the Scottish Parliament election on May 7th, the survival of the college sector is no longer a "future" problem; it is a present-day emergency. I have looked beyond the campaign slogans to ask: which policies will finally align our education system with the occupational competencies the modern world actually demands?

The "Data Gap": Why Universities Resist the SCN

A major hurdle to fairness is the lack of transparency. Most people don't realise that while work-based learning, schools and colleges use the Scottish Candidate Number (SCN) to track a learner’s journey from age five, the university system has largely resisted adopting it.

By using their own internal IDs instead of the SCN, universities make it nearly impossible to track a student’s progress through the entire system. This "data silo" hides a multitude of sins, including potential double-funding and an inability to prove if "widening access" programs are actually working. Without a single ID, we are essentially trying to run a national education system where the biggest players speak different languages.

The "Missing Link" Between Degrees and Competencies

The core of the problem is a fundamental divide in how courses are built. Universities enjoy "Academic Autonomy," meaning they create their own curriculum based on theoretical research. In contrast, colleges deliver a curriculum mapped to National Occupational Standards (NOS).

If a degree claims to be vocational but isn't tied to these competencies, should it be funded at the same rate as a course that is?

Qualification TypePrimary DriverLinked to Occupational Competency?
College HNC/DIndustry Standards (NOS)Directly. Required for professional registration.
Modern ApprenticeshipEmployer Demand and (NOS)Directly. Based on "doing" the job.
Traditional BA/BScAcademic ResearchRarely. Designed for "critical thinking," not a specific job.
Graduate ApprenticeshipCo-designed (Uni + Employer)Directly. The "Gold Standard"—should embed HN and SVQ levels based on (NOS)

Where the Parties Stand (May 2026)

I believe all the current manifestos fall short of delivering a truly equitable settlement for vocational education, but here is how the "Big Three" are pitching their solutions:

1. The Scottish National Party (SNP)

The SNP is betting on the Tertiary Education and Training (TET) Act 2026. Their plan is to merge college and university funding into a "single bucket" to ensure money follows the learner.

  • The Catch: While they talk about "parity," college funding has dropped by 20% in real terms, leaving campuses in an "emergency" state.

2. Scottish Labour

Labour is positioning itself as the party of the workforce, promising multi-year funding settlements. This would allow colleges to stop living hand-to-mouth and actually plan for the long term.

  • The Catch: They have been vague on whether the current "no-fee" model is sustainable without a massive injection of cash they haven't yet found.

3. Scottish Conservatives

The Tories are focusing on the physical decay of the sector, proposing a Capital Investment Fund for "wind and watertight" repairs. They also want more "college autonomy" to let institutions keep the money they earn from business partnerships.

  • The Catch: Their wider plans to cut government spending could leave little room for the revenue increases the sector desperately needs.

The Verdict

If we want a fair system, we must "cut our cloth" accordingly. A truly learner-friendly policy wouldn't just promise more cash; it would mandate that any vocational degree must be mapped to National Occupational Competencies and funded at the same rate as a college HND.

Until we close the "Missing Link" and adopt a single tracking number (SCN) for every student, the "parity of esteem" between colleges and universities will remain a myth.

Many of these issues are very long-standing, and no administration has really been prepared to tackle them. The system should be about learners, not institutions. I reflected on a similar theme in 2024.

 

Transparency Note: To help navigate the dense landscape of 2026 election manifestos, budget reports, and legislation like the Tertiary Education and Training (TET) Act, I used AI as a research collaborator to pull this data together. All policy comparisons and insights were cross-referenced against official party platforms and sector reports from Colleges Scotland and Audit Scotland to ensure accuracy.

Shaking Up the System: Reflections on the #Edufuturists Roadshow February 2026⤴

from @ ...........Experimental Blog


It was fantastic to finally meet the Edufuturists team in person during their UK Roadshow stop in Glasgow on February 2, 2026. The event was held in the pleasant, local surroundings of the Everyman Cinema , it's an excellent, intimate venue for conferences and discussions.

I've followed Edufuturists' rise from afar, and it's genuinely refreshing to see a fresh team challenging the status quo in UK education. Co-hosted by Ben Whitaker (former teacher, IDEAS Guy, podcast host) and Steve Hope (former PE teacher and EdTech CEO), the group is pushing for real revolution in how we support learners and society. Always nice to see some bottom up change makers - we seem to be in a period when we have run out of these in Scotland.
The Highlight: "The Real" David CameronThe standout moment was hearing from "The Real" David Cameron, In my view, still the most realistic and inspirational voice on the state of school education in Scotland. His provocation drew striking parallels between schools and colleges: an ongoing obsession with data measurement at the expense of genuine human relationships and connections at all levels.
I am sure he has done a few, but would be a great speaker for a College Learning and Teaching conference.


The Reality CheckWhile David's analysis of the system's struggles is compelling, it's also deeply depressing. The core message is one of bureaucracy over people, metrics trumping relationships and it's just got worse over my 39 years in education. We know the problems well, yet we're still circling the same discussions.


Networking & TakeawaysThe audience was a fascinating mix of change-makers from public and private sectors, including at least one former HMIE inspector. This created excellent networking opportunities and rich conversations. Great to catch up with some old friends like David and make many new ones.
My key takeaways: Even though Scotland's school system is far less fractured than England's, the deep-rooted challenges remain depressingly similar; the profound impact of poverty and persistently stalling learner satisfaction/engagement while teaching staff increasingly feel under siege.
Rehashed statistics everyone should know - lots of teachers being trained in Scotland but few full time jobs - at same time lots of current teachers and schools leaders want to leave the profession.
Overall, events like this Roadshow (themed "Funding & Efficiency," with free tickets thanks to sponsors like ParentPay Group) are a welcome spark for disruption.
But the persistence of these systemic issues after so many years leaves a sobering reminder that meaningful change is still elusive. Perhaps new agencies etc in Scotland will swiftly solve all of our challenges ? It would be great to see some clearer agendas for actual change.
Cross political parties politicians still really don't get learning and or are unwilling to really change up the offer available in schools and colleges and or in David's thesis empower schools to make more local decisions.
I did a bit to promote CMALT and ALT generally. Teachers need to know that there are structured ways to develop their professional recognition in the learning technology space.
Would be good too to welcome more of these folks in to the ALT community.
For more on the series: Get along to one of their next stops !




2024 In Review⤴

from @ ...........Experimental Blog



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.⤴

from @ ...........Experimental Blog

Happy New Year 2025 motif

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 and save whole sector and learners a lot of money.

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.

Draft Dubai Declaration on OER⤴

from

(This post previously appeared on the Open Scotland blog and on Open.Ed.)

3rd UNESCO World OER Congress: Open Solutions and AI for Inclusive Access to Knowledge

The 3rd UNESCO World OER Congress took place in Dubai last week.  The previous two congresses, held in Paris in 2012, and Ljubljana in 2017, resulted in the Paris OER Declaration and the Ljubljana OER Action Plan, which was the forerunner of the 2019 UNESCO Recommendation on OER.  The output of the 3rd OER Congress is the Draft Dubai Declaration on OER.

The theme of the Dubai congress was “Digital Public Goods: Open Solutions and AI for Inclusive Access to Knowledge”.  Digital public goods (DPG) are defined by the UN’s Roadmap for Digital Cooperation, as

“open-source software, open data, open AI models, open standards and open content that adhere to privacy and other applicable laws and best practices, do no harm, and help attain the sustainable digital goals (SDGs)”. 

In this context open education resources are regarded as digital public goods that “support the enrichment of the global knowledge commons”.

In addition to the Sustainable Development Goals, the UNESCO Recommendation on OER, and the Road Map for Digital Cooperation, the Dubai Declaration also references Commitment 7 of Our Common Agenda: to “Improve digital cooperation”.

Key themes of the Declaration are harnessing the opportunities afforded by emerging technologies such as AI and blockchain to create new OER, curate and index existing OER, translate OER, and “ensure the provenance, integrity, and lawful use of OER”. 

The Declaration outlines Recommendations in five areas (paraphrased from the draft):

Capacity Building

  • Support professional development for educators, content creators and those working on Gen AI projects, on copyright (inc. exceptions and limitations) and open licensing, to understand challenges posed by emerging technologies and ensure sharing and collaboration that respect copyright laws.
  • Promote digital literacy for users and developers to engage in the responsible creation and use of emerging technologies for OER.
  • Develop technologies such as cryptographic signing, semantic interoperability, and machine learning to improve attribution and discoverability of OER. E.g. Embedding metadata into OER, identifier generation standards, author-identity credentials, time-stamping mechanisms and signing OER packages. 
  • Prioritise digitally signed works for OER repositories, and their use in the training open AI models. 
  • Implement strategies grounded in human rights that are open, accessible, multistakeholder and gender inclusive to ensure respect for user generated data, metadata, privacy and attend to ethical practices and respect copyright rules.

Policy

  • Policy environments should focus on the protection and verifiability of authorship of OER and other Digital Public Goods.
  • Open licensing should be incorporated into the Terms of Use of AI applications specifying that it is only to be used by humans to generate openly licensed content.
  • Support embedding licensing information of training content in the output generated by AI tools. When open licensed materials are used to train AI models, the resulting generated content should be made available under compatible open licenses, and attribution to the copyright owner(s) of the training materials should be reflected in the generated content.
  • Encourage and support research into next generation attribution systems to enable tracing the use and re-use of OER. 

Ensuring inclusive and equitable access to quality OER

  • Support the development of AI-enabled OER that is accessible in low-bandwidth scenarios and designed to enhance the accessibility of vulnerable groups.
  • Include cryptographic signing into quality criteria for the production of OER. Emphasise the connection of signatures to real-world identity of authors – to create incentives for publication and counter misinformation.
  • Support the translation and contextualisation of OER with the participation of different user communities.
  • Encourage the engagement of diverse participants in communities of open practice.

Sustainability Models for OER

  • Support approaches IPR protection & OER development driven by the ROAM-X principles of human rights, openness, accessibility, and multi-stakeholder participation.
  • Promote sustainable environmental approaches for digital public goods to minimise energy consumption and reduce the carbon footprint, recognising when the use of AI-tools is not necessary or appropriate. 
  • Practice participatory governance, active transparency, public reporting and regular audits for the complete OER ecosystem (including technological, legal, and pedagogical aspects) to build trust among stakeholders.
  • Prioritise public infrastructure and public-private partnerships, while also supporting private initiatives for OER using emerging technologies, that adhere to the principles of digital public goods and openness.

International cooperation

  • Promote human centered use of emerging technologies, including AI, for the implementation of the UNESCO Recommendation on OER
  • Engage with the open community and legal experts on open licensing and IP law to ensure that emerging technologies adhere to legal terms and address the demands of diverse stakeholders.
  • Develop ethical frameworks and new technologies to promote OER, including more effective identification of provenance and tracking using AI-based techniques.
  • Encourage OER repositories and content source to implement policies that prioritize digitally signed works, and define how they may be processed and used, including criteria for the training of AI models. 
  • Develop AI platforms to create and OER adhering to the UNESCO Recommendation on OER.

A few thoughts

As with previous congresses, there were no representatives present from UK government ministries, education authorities, or institutions. While this is disappointing, we do hope that the new Declaration will prompt the education sector in Scotland to reconsider the benefits and affordances of open educational resources. It was the Paris OER Declaration that originally inspired the development of the Scottish Open Education Declaration, and Joe Wilson and I were fortunate to attend the 2nd World Congress in Ljubljana to represent Open Scotland. Though we had limited success persuading the Scottish Government of the benefits of supporting OER, the Scottish Open Education Declaration did prove to have some influence further from home, particularly in Morocco, where it informed the development of a similar initiative.  I was pleased to see that Morocco were active participants in the Dubai Congress where they highlighted their “national OER and Open Science strategy that aims to modernise education and expand research accessibility, driven by strong engagement from educators.” (Latifa bint Mohammed inaugurates 3rd UNESCO World OER Congress in Dubai.)

I’m very encouraged that the Declaration highlights the importance of developing digital skills and copyright literacy to ensure everyone is able to understand the impact of AI and emerging technologies.  Supporting digital skills development has always been one of the cornerstones of the University of Edinburgh’s OER Policy and OER Service.  Our approach is to empower staff and students to develop the skills and confidence to make informed decisions about creating and using open educational resources and open licensed content. 

I’m also pleased that the Declaration recognises the importance of supporting diverse communities of open practice, though I do feel that supporting open practice should underpin all the recommendations of the Declaration. 

I’m a bit surprised by the prioritisaton of digital signatures and cryptographic technologies and I’m alarmed by the recommendation that signatures should connect to authors’ real-world identities.  While this approach does have the potential to address issues relating to attribution and verification, and to combat misinformation, it’s also potentially ripe for abuse.  

It’s interesting that embedding metadata in open content and tracking OER have reappeared.  Both are great ideas, but neither are straightforward to implement.  I know, I worked with educational metadata standards for many years, and also managed a programme of small OER tracking projects way back on 2010. Part of the problem is that open educational resources are such a diverse class of things and, by their very nature, they are scattered all over the internet.  I can’t help feeling that many of these recommendations pre-suppose that OERs exist in curated repositories. While some do, the vast majority don’t, and never will. Semantic search services have long been seen as the key to enable cross searching and discovery of heterogenous resources distributed across the web, but I’m not sure how much progress has been made towards making this a reality. 

While I’m not surprised that the Declaration focuses on the affordances and challenges of generative AI and emerging technologies, I am concerned that it rather glosses over the many problematic ethical issues, including algorithmic bias, exploitative and extractive labour practices, and environmental impact. The Declaration does reference the ROAM-X principles, sustainable environmental approaches and highlights the importance of recognising when the use of AI-tools is not necessary or appropriate, but I feel it could have gone a lot further.  I would like to have seen some acknowledgement of the risks of rapidly embracing these new technologies, risks that is not evenly distributed across the globe, and to focus instead on human centred approaches to achieve the aims of the UNESCO Recommendation on OER and the Sustainable Development Goals.

Resources