In this month’s Further Education community meetup, we welcomed Kim Blanchard, Group Head of Digital Education Development and AI, and Patrick Kelly-Goss, Group AI and Innovation Specialist from Activate Learning. They shared their institution’s impressive journey in developing and implementing AI tools to support both staff and students while maintaining a strong focus on ethical considerations and data protection. Activate have been recognised for their achievements in AI, and were recent winners at The Learning Awards where they were awarded Gold for the Best Use of AI in Learning.
During the session, Kim provided us with an overview of Activate Learning’s strategic approach to AI implementation. She discussed the challenges they faced and their systematic approach to addressing them, including the development of a robust AI usage policy and training initiatives like AI breakfast sessions.
Patrick then took us through their suite of AI tools, including ALIA (Activate Learning Intelligent Assistant). ALIA features an extensive knowledge base and provides prompt support buttons to help staff create lesson plans and access relevant information efficiently. They also showcased their Maths and English AI tutors, designed to provide metacognitive coaching for students. As well as an AI feedback assistant which helps tutors provide more personalised and higher-quality feedback.
During the Q&A session, discussions centred around data security and bias prevention. Patrick and Kim explained how data involved in the tools is kept secure, and how a careful approach to prompt engineering and testing can mitigate bias. They also addressed the important topic of age restrictions and how to ensure that learner-facing tools are appropriate.
You can watch the full recording of the session on our YouTube channel. A link to download the full transcript is available in the video description.
Next month
In March we are very fortunate to be hosting two sessions featuring two more excellent guest speakers.
Our first will be on Monday 3rd March 12.30-1.30, featuring Kirsty Ingleson who will be joining us to share their AI journey at Kirklees College.
Then on Tuesday 18th March 12.30-1.30, Ryan Molyneaux from Gloucestershire College will be presenting ‘Beyond the Hype: Practical AI Strategies for Further Education’.
If you’ve yet to sign up for the FE community meet-ups, you can do so by completing this form. Sessions are open to all Jisc members.
If you’d like to volunteer to present at one of our future sessions, we’d love to hear from you! Please email us at AI@jisc.ac.uk.
Join us at Digifest
If you are attending Digifest this year then stop by the Community Hub on day one for our AI in FE workshop: Preparing learners for an AI-enabled working world.
Community workshop: Preparing learners for an AI-enabled working world
11th March 2025 – 15:45 in the Community Hub (afternoon break), Hall 3
We’ll be discussing the challenges of enhancing AI literacy in learners and students. Bring your questions and thoughts to share ideas around AI learner resources… what’s missing and what works well?
Find out more by visiting our Artificial Intelligence page to view publications and resources, join us for events and discover what AI has to offer through our range of interactive online demos.
For regular updates from the team sign up to our mailing list.
Get in touch with the team directly at ai@jisc.ac.uk