AI’s Future, Saving the Skills System, and FE Sector Insights: Soundbite Edition 706

Welcome to Soundbite Edition 706, 5th August 2023, brought to you by Finley, Holly & Danielle.

This is the weekly e-newsletter and e-journal brought to you by FE News: ISSN 2732-4095. We know life is busy, so here is a snapshot of the latest announcements and epic thought leadership articles, from sector influencers and cool thinkers across FE and Skills this week on FE News.

In this soundbite, we will give a rundown of this week’s exclusive articles, our personal top three and even a quick rundown of this week’s major news and announcements!

As usual, we have picked out our top three exclusive articles from the week:

Crafting an antiracist curriculum: Rehumanising by Yusuf Ibrahim, Assistant Principal at Cardiff and Vale College. We had the opportunity to join Black Leadership Group’s Crisis Summit. Here Yusuf held a discussion about the Anti-Racist Nation initiative in Wales, with Wales moving to becoming an Anti-Racist Nation by 2030. This article explores the role of curriculum in ‘rehumanising’ our understanding of the world.

Further Education in the UK Needs a Reboot by Hadi Moussa, Managing Director (EME), Coursera. He discusses how flexible learning models are essential to bridge the digital skills gap. Also how this will prepare the UK to thrive in the digital economy.

Exams Results Time: Options and Opportunities by Deirdre Hughes OBE, owner of dmh associates, a research and consultancy organisation & Co-Founding Director of CareerChat (UK). Deirdre reflects on the challenges students face during exam results time due to the Covid pandemic and other factors. Discussing different academic routes, she also emphasises on mental health support and fostering inclusivity.

On top of these epic exclusives, we have also had:

• Bright Futures’ research sheds light on greens skills needed to transform energy workforce, by Andy Moss, Chief Customer Officer, City & Guilds.
• Teacher Attrition in the UK: Economic Consequences and Implications for the 21st-Century Workforce by Gavin Hoole

What’s new at FE News this week?

This week the CUK TVET Alliance (CUK) and FE News, signed an innovative strategic partnership to create sustainable cooperation between Chinese and UK Vocational education colleges.

This week we also announced the winners of the Top Three most popular articles of July. So if you haven’t already, check out these epic thought leaders and their winning articles!

We have also announced more speakers for the FE Collective! Check out these epic speakers and get your tickets here! Keep an eye on our socials as we announce more epic speakers soon!

EdTechX Explores a Decade of Innovation and Anticipates AI’s Future

Benjamin Vedrenne-Cloquet and Charles McIntyre lead the 10th Anniversary Edition of EdTechX. They reflected on the past decade of educational technology and envisioning its future. They discuss; Organoid Intelligence (OI), bio-computers powered by lab-grown brain cells, and the growing race to create AI that rivals human brain capacity. Technology’s rapid advancement and the looming impact of AI present both opportunities and fears in a changing world. Click here to watch the opening keynote.

Call to Save Our Skills System: 17 Providers Unite as Threats Loom

The Association of Employment and Learning Providers (AELP) campaign gains support as 17 ‘Employers and training providers join forces to call for immediate action to save the skills system’. Rising costs, reduced funding, and other challenges are jeopardizing the system’s future. An open letter to the Secretary of State for Education urges immediate action to prevent a significant reduction in learning choices for students.

We hope that you’ve enjoyed this week’s soundbite. Now that you’re all caught up on what’s going on in the FE Sector this week, we hope you have a restful weekend! 


This week’s Soundbite is brought to you by:

Finley Vile, Platform Growth Manager, FE News

Holly Wheaton, Digital Project Manager, FE News

Danielle Watters, Digital Project Manager, FE News