Edtech organisation Jisc and the Association of Colleges (AoC) are launching a project to study the impact of the shift to remote learning in further education due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Named Shaping the Digital Future of FE and Skills, it will involve researching and collating examples of innovative teaching, learning and assessment practice in an effort to establish and consensus on what ‘good’ looks like.
It will also look at the impact on staff, the requirements for good leadership, business operations and funding for service needs.
The two organisations are planning to run a series of webinars, beginning on 15 June, and virtual round table discussions between now and August, to be followed by detailed research in the autumn.
They are also planning to publish a short series of reports, the first of which will highlight some of the best emerging practices in remote learning in further education.
Robin Ghurbhurun (pictured), managing director for FE and skills at Jisc, said: “Jisc and the AoC share a belief in a transformed ‘digital first’ FE sector. While some colleges are well into this journey, others have yet to start, but all have made great efforts over the last few weeks to enable ‘emergency’ remote learning. Now is the time to build on that achievement.
“But first, we need to understand what has worked and what hasn’t, the expectations of staff and students and the aims and challenges for FE leaders now and into the future.
“In the short term we will focus on gathering the best of emerging practice, in order that we can equip college leaders with what they need to affect full scale digital transformation for staff, learners and estate.
“Crucially, we’ll also be examining priorities for funding. We hope that the evidence collected by this research project will encourage government investment in digital technologies across the FE sector.”
Jisc, the not-for-profit edtech provider to further and higher education, is running a similar project on remote learning in universities and colleges.
Image from Jisc
