Future’s bright as Digital Ambition Roadshow comes to College

The future of learning was top of the agenda this week as the Digital Ambition Roadshow began their tour of a number of Scotland’s colleges, and Borders College was second in line to host the event.

Staff and student representatives were invited along to a workshop and given the opportunity to have their say on what future learning will look like in ten years.

The event was facilitated by Gina Wilson, Head of Innovation and Partnerships at College Development Network (CDN) and Tom Hall from Colleges Scotland, and participants worked together in small groups, sharing their visions, expertise and expectations on future learning. A series of questions were put to each of the groups and they were asked to think outside the box and look ahead in terms of digital learning.

The aim of the Roadshow is to gather views of college students and staff on what they think future learning will incorporate, and, chaired by Dr Ken Thomson OBE, Principal of Forth Valley College, a Short Life Working Group was established by Colleges Scotland to develop a sector-wide Digital Ambition 2030.

The group, comprised of representatives from colleges and sector bodies, including College Development Network, Scottish Funding Council and Jisc, will engage in a series of national workshops to gather views on colleges digital priorities.

The Roadshow will also stop off at colleges in Fife, Glasgow, Forth Valley and North East Scotland, with the aim of gathering as much feedback as possible.

This feedback will be used to develop a Digital Ambition for Scotland’s college sector. All of the information gathered will be pulled together and the complete document will be presented to the Scottish Government, and also sent out to everyone involved around March 2020. Individual colleges will use the document to decide how they will plan for the future.

Borders College Vice Principal Hazel Robertson, who is part of the working group, commented:

“The pace of change in the world of technology is incredible. At Borders College we have high hopes for how technology can help improve teaching and learning, opening up learning to people not currently able to access it, and ultimately improving success rates for our students. Effective use of technology permeates all of what we do and can dramatically improve effectiveness and efficiency. I am delighted that so many people took part in this important engagement event.”

The event was a great success, with some excellent input and ideas for the future of college learning discussed in detail by the attendees.