When I first started to develop a learning technology strategy for my then college employer, the idea of edtech was in its infancy.

Today, more than 15 years on, technology has, more than ever, the power to be transformative, both to the business of colleges and for the student experience.

In Jisc’s new Breaking Through report, looking at effective digital practice in the further education sector, we highlight the brilliant uses some colleges are finding for tech in teaching - especially emerging tools such as augmented and virtual reality.

Sadly, such best practice examples are not yet the norm in the FE sector. Many colleges have yet to begin the necessary journey to a digital-first strategy, so the positive influence of edtech is not available to all students. Lack of funding has much to do with this.

Tech in FE ‘needs updating’

Results from the recent Association of Colleges IT and digital technology survey show, for example, that 36 per cent of devices in colleges are already more than five years old, and, by 2020, 33 per cent of devices will be obsolete. If you have used a five-year-old mobile phone recently, you’ll know how frustrating it is to use something so slow and clunky.

We believe that if the sector is to survive and thrive, and colleges are to meet the government’s expectations for upskilling today’s and tomorrow’s workforce, investment in technology must be a priority.

So what’s the hold-up? The two biggest obstacles, of course, are lack of funding and lack of time - which, in turn, impact staff skills. The AoC’s survey (with results from 75 colleges) found that only 48 per cent felt digital technology was a budget priority, and one in four admitted to having to downgrade planned IT investments for 2018-19.

When asked to list the main barriers to the use of edtech, 93 per cent cited practitioners’ lack of confidence and digital skills, 77 per cent cited a lack of practitioner time and more than half blamed a lack of money. Jisc helps its members get the best value from technology and we can also help to plug the staff skills gap, too, through our new service: Building Digital Capabilities.

Tech can unlock independent learning

It’s not all doom and gloom though. Our digital experience insights survey, with answers from more than 14,000 FE students this year, showed that three-quarters rate their college’s digital provision as above the midpoint in the scale, and 72 per cent rate the quality of digital teaching and learning as above average.

However, a third of FE students want digital technologies to be used more on their courses and almost two-thirds agree they are more independent in their learning when digital technology is used.

A further one in six college students agree that digital approaches help them to fit learning into their life - remote access to the virtual learning environment, digital resources and online assessment, for example.

Technology like this allows students to learn independently at a time, pace and place to suit them, which is just as important, if not more so, for adult learners, especially those who work and need to juggle study with earning.

Love Our Colleges 

Among the aims of the Love Our Colleges campaign is to increase lifelong learning opportunities for adults. Jisc is already engaging with the government on the role that technology can and should play in delivering adult education and the new T levels.

We also advocate digital apprenticeships where, again, the maximum use of online study and assessment builds a flexible learning model that suits apprentices and their employers.

Through its industrial and digital strategies, the introduction of T levels and Institutes of Technology, the government has put FE front and centre in the race to plug the UK’s technical skills gap and give the economy the shot in the arm it needs to keep pace on the world stage.

Colleges are trying to respond positively to government demands, but without sufficient funding, they won’t be able to keep pace with the changes in technology and will not, therefore, be effective in producing the digitally-savvy workforce the UK needs.

Paul McKean is head of FE and skills at Jisc