Meet the Scottish colleges leading the digital pack at the 2023 CDN Awards
The Jisc-sponsored award for digital learning celebrates the colleges and further education providers using digital innovation to support students, staff and the wider community.
Jisc has been a proud sponsor of the Colleges Development Network (CDN) awards since 2016, helping to recognise talent, innovation, and digital skill across the Scottish college sector.
This year’s finalists Fife College, Forth Valley College and West Lothian College have implemented creative ideas to improve the quality and effectiveness of technology-enhanced learning, teaching and/or assessment practice.
Jason Miles-Campbell, Jisc’s director of Scotland and Northern Ireland, said:
“We are proud to again be sponsoring the CDN award for digital learning, and to showcase some of the ways in which Scotland's colleges are using technology to innovate for the good of their students, staff, local communities and industry.
“Congratulations to our finalists Fife College, Forth Valley College and West Lothian College, who have identified very different, but equally important, issues within society that can be improved with the use of digital.
“From protecting the vulnerable from infection to upskilling education professionals and highlighting the importance of digital learning for students, all three projects should be commended.
“Good luck to all and keep up the good work.”
Fife College – MyPortfolio
MyPortfolio is a bespoke app designed by Fife College to collate evidence of digital skills and help students create a digital portfolio.
The web app is designed to be used by all students, irrespective of their current ability and chosen course of study, and can be used on both computers and mobile devices. It can also be shared with university admission teams and prospective employers, allowing learners to showcase their work beyond Fife College.
Developed in-house by Fife College digital learning staff, MyPortfolio allows learners to customise the look and feel of their own portfolio. Students can upload a range of media including blogs, images, and videos, depending on their area of study and the type of content they are interested in. It has been specifically designed to be simple, intuitive and user friendly, providing a seamless experience for learners.
The various possibilities within the application - such as the ability to produce their own website - also allow learners to gain experience of a content management system. This can be highly beneficial for many jobs, and also for those who wish to develop their own business.
The goal is to share the app with other colleges in Scotland to benefit learners throughout the country.
Forth Valley College – IDEAS (innovative digital education and skills)
The IDEAS project is the development of a suite of digital tools created by tertiary education providers at institutions across Europe to equip teachers with the key knowledge and skills to raise their digital competencies.
Designed by educators, for educators, the pilot project includes a bespoke teacher training platform, an interactive artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot, an evidence-based best practice pedagogical guide and an online community of practice.
Through collaboration with digital teaching and learning teams at Forth Valley College, SERC, Universidade Aberta, Portugal, B+P Emtech, Malta and Smart Learning, Denmark, the project applied knowledge of pedagogy models and teaching practice theory with digital knowhow to create a learning package to suit all levels of development across several subjects.
The content is adaptive to individual learning needs, allowing the user to select topics to suit their continuous professional development. Through focusing on the creation of engaging and interactive learning experiences for education professionals, IDEAS also provides teachers with the tools to develop personalised, inclusive learning experiences for students.
Post-pilot, the IDEAS team are considering additional project opportunities to widen access to different resources and leverage AI.
West Lothian College – digital health VR project
The digital health virtual reality (VR) project aims to enhance learning in West Lothian College’s health and social care courses through the use of VR technology.
Students use VR simulations to develop the skills needed to prevent the spread of infection. Infection prevention was identified as one of the skills gaps that exists in social care by Scotland’s digital health and care strategy, along with digital skills, trauma informed practice and quality improvement.
The module was developed in collaboration with visual communications organisation CAD People to work for students at all levels within health and social care and across a number of different environments including on a hospital ward or in a care home.
West Lothian College identified that students not able to operate in a practical setting could find it difficult to visualise how infection is transmitted. They designed the VR module to bring to life how pathogens move through the body, and the health and safety measures needed to prevent the spread of infection.
The module has been created to provide students with a live learning experience that is more than just watching a video or listening to someone talk. West Lothian College plans to develop a third virtual space based on a crime scene to support the delivery of modules within social science courses.
The winner will be announced on Thursday 30 November 2023.