BCoT staff have been AI to make their teaching and learning more agile, engaging and productive for their students

BCoT lands hat-trick of awards at #Edufuturist event

Basingstoke College of Technology (BCoT) has successfully picked up three awards at this year’s Edufuturist Awards 2019 including the prestigious College of the Year Award sponsored by Texthelp.

The award ceremony held on Friday 12 July at The Brave Centre, Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, also recognised two members of college staff.

Creative Media lecturer and Digital Innovation Specialist Scott Hayden picked up the Educational Impact Award sponsored by Emile Education whilst Learning Technologist Charlie James, won the Student Digital Champion Award sponsored by Quizlet.

Chosen from a shortlist of four nominees in each category, the Edufuturist Awards celebrate people and institutions who are driving effective change in education to enable students to be future ready.

Winners were decided by a panel of eight judges and a public vote which saw around 2,000 people participate.

Principal of BCoT Anthony Bravo said:

“To win the College of the Year award and be recognised for our positive impact on students through our innovative, strategic and engaging use of technology is a huge honour.

“I am immensely proud of the hard work we have undertaken to integrate digital technology into our students’ teaching and learning experiences and I would like to congratulate Scott and Charlie on their awards, and for the part they have played in helping us accomplish this fantastic achievement.”

Edufuturist Director Ben Whitaker said:

“It was our pleasure to present an unprecedented three Edufuturist Awards to the amazing staff at BCoT. Scott Hayden is making a huge impact across the Further Education sector culminating in his Educational Impact Award and subsequently, he has had a direct impact on another winner, Charlie James, who won the Student Digital Impact Award”.

“These two, alongside the wider team at BCoT, are providing outstanding opportunities for learners across the spectrum and the judges made particular comment about their resources for English and Maths GCSE resit students.

“It is due to this, and the other ground-breaking work being done there, that they won the prestigious College of the Year 2019. An Edufuturist is a teacher, innovator or change leader who studies the trends of education and fosters a vision that will enable learners to thrive in the future world; BCOT staff are doing this in the bucket load!”

This latest awards win adds to a growing number of accolades attained by BCoT for their use of innovative technology in the classroom.

In addition to the college’s Times Educational Supplement Award 2018 for ‘Outstanding use of Technology for Improving Teaching, Learning and Assessment’, Scott Hayden recently won a Pearson National Teaching Silver Award in the category of Digital Innovator of the Year, supported by Google.

Charlie James has also been shortlisted for the ‘Rising Star Award’ at this year’s Women in IT Excellence Awards, in recognition of her innovative use of technology both in and out of the classroom.

More and more BCoT staff have been using the latest edtech to make their teaching and learning more agile, engaging and productive for their students.

Moving forward, the team want to roll out the use of AI to all students across the college, combining it with other digital tools such as virtual and augmented reality, as well as gamification to enhance the student experience and make sure they all get the opportunities they need to thrive.