Digifest 2021 programme

Paul Feldman, CEO of Jisc, welcomes you to Digifest 2021.

• Download a transcript for timing is everything (.docx)

Speaker: Gillian Keegan, minister for apprenticeships and skills, Department for Education

Ahead of the Barber review on the use of edtech in higher education, and as the United Kingdom comes through the COVID-19 pandemic, minister for skills and apprentices Gillian Keegan will take a look at how education technology will play a vital role in delivering on the government’s Skills for Jobs white paper, support skills reform and revolutionise education.

• Download a transcript for shaping tomorrow together (.docx)

A panel discussion with:

• Moderator: Jonathan Baldwin, managing director, higher education, Jisc
• Alex Butler, chief digital and information officer, Bath University
• Debbie Holley, professor of learning innovation, Bournemouth University
• Aftab Hussain, ILT manager, Bolton College
• Steven Hope, head of independent learning, Leeds City College

In this panel discussion, find out what the global pandemic has taught us about current and future student generations. Understand what will prove to be the lasting benefits of the new learning model(s) that the sector has quickly adopted. What will be the biggest challenges and hurdles in 2021?

Speaker: Chris Payne, deputy chief executive, NCG

Understand how COVID-19 has brought together local communities across the UK’s only national college group to be able to offer so much more than education.

This session looks at the importance of collaboration to amplify innovation, problem-solving and support. It'll also cover how to use the strengths of a college group to accomplish real change for young people, communities and economies across the country.

Speaker: Danielle Johnson, manager digital experience, library, Deakin University.

DeakinGenie is a smartphone-based virtual assistant designed to provide personalised, relevant information and resources to students via a voice/text controlled app. Since Genie’s launch in July 2018, Deakin University Library has actively delivered services to their undergraduate student population through the app.

This session:

• Discusses the progression of library engagement with and delivery of library services through Genie
• Considers the conversation-led approach to delivering library services, and compares it with other modes of service delivery

Speaker: Graeme Atherton, access HE and director of NEON, London Higher 

In this session, Graeme looks at assessment of evidence on digital engagement and social background in the UK. It will include:

• A discussion of ways in which digital divides and lockdown learning will impact on HE participation in 2022-2025, in particular widening access to HE
• Recommendations for policy makers and institutions to support learners impacted by digital divides and lockdown to enter HE from 2022-2025

Speakers include:

• Fiona Shelton, centre for excellence in learning and teaching, University of Derby
• John Hill, head of library and digital learning, University of Derby

Join this session to hear Fiona and John discuss:

• The development of an educational model
• Staff development activity
• The institutional approach to implementation
• Student feedback, evaluation and swift intervention

Speaker: Amy Hollier, head of blended learning at Blended Learning Consortium, Heart of Worcestershire College

In this session, Amy will take a closer look at:

• Structuring and designing blended learning to enhance the learner experience
• The contextualisation of blended learning for further education
• Getting the right 'blend' of synchronous and asynchronous activity

Speaker: David Anderson, director, BRM and engagement, University of Glasgow.

This presentation will use examples from the University of Glasgow to demonstrate how university libraries are working together with students, researchers and other stakeholders to create innovative new services, environments and partnerships.

It will look at how the University of Glasgow's experiences of the past few months have accelerated these activities and how change will be embedded into the future development of libraries.

Speaker: Sarah Knight, head of data and digital capability, Jisc

An overview of how students in FE and HE are experiencing remote and online learning. Sarah looks at:

• What challenges students are facing with remote provision
• How colleges and universities can better support their students to provide an equitable and high quality online experience for their students

This session is delivered in partnership with Wooclap

Speakers:

• Peter Roberts, e-learning system manager, Goldsmiths, University of London
• Annelies Dejonckheere, head of expansion, Wooclap

For this presentation, edtech platform Wooclap will be joined by Peter Roberts, e-learning system manager at Goldsmiths, University of London, to discuss how Wooclap improved their teachers' and students' experience in the last few months.

This session is delivered in partnership with Collabco

Speakers:

• Jon Lock, internal communications officer, University of Gloucestershire
• Daniel Taylor, sales director, Collabco

Digitalisation is connecting people, universities and countries in ways that vastly increase our potential. But in equal measure is making the world volatile, complex and uncertain.

While there are differing views on the role that digital technology can and should play in universities, we cannot ignore how digital tools have fundamentally transformed the world outside of the lecture hall and how preparing students needs to start with university practices.

Join Jon and Daniel to hear how digital transformational needs have evolved over time and how the pandemic has allowed the University of Gloucestershire to fast-track their digitalisation strategy delivering increased student engagement time, a 60% growth in users of their app (with 90.8% now finding it useful) and improved recruitment figures resulting in savings for the institution.

Speakers:

• Joe Steele, group operations manager, trust and identity, Jisc
• Mark Williams, identity services manager, Jisc
• James Edwards, international sales manager (EMEA), OpenAthens

In this session, we will explore why trust and ease of access to digital resources are more important to the student experience than ever before; particularly as more and more learners move to remote or blended learning.

From enabling easy remote access, unlocking student rewards schemes from the likes of Spotify and Dominos, or delivering slick single-sign on experiences and learning analytics for library resources – there are a wealth of tools and services at your disposal, so you can maximise your investment in digital resources and ensure excellent and secure experiences for your staff and students alike.

This session offers a high-level walk-through of the ways that Jisc’s trust and identity solutions can enable your institute to meet these increasing needs and expectations, as well as offering inspiration for own-build solutions.

Speaker: Lis Smith, principal and chief executive, Preston's College

This session is delivered in partnership with EBSCO

Speaker: Richard Burkitt, director of innovation, EBSCO

The FOLIO community has been at the forefront of developing the first new library system is well over a decade. A true platform on which staff can manage the complex cycles of print and electronic resource management; FOLIO stands tall for customisability, ease of use and effectiveness as a replacement for older library systems.

A panel discussion with:

• Moderator: Susan Easton, head of learning and skills, Scotland’s Learning Partnership (SLP)
• Jackie Grubb, principal and chief executive, City College Plymouth
• Anthony Bravo, principal, Basingstoke College of Technology
• Jane Baker, vice president of Pearson Higher Education Qualifications, Pearson

This discussion will cover questions such as:

• How can we be a nimble, responsive workforce partner with antiquated delivery models?
• How can we arm students with skills that support the latest technologies and credentials the future workforce will demand if our course approval time is longer than the shelf-life of the emerging skill set?
• How can we ensure economic mobility for our students if we’re not working to ameliorate the barriers that stand in their way?

• Download a transcript for libraries after lockdown (.docx)

Speaker: Ann Rossiter, executive director, SCONUL.

Libraries across the world have responded to the current pandemic by accelerating the transition towards digital delivery to support blended teaching and learning and research. They have done so at impressive speed, using the tools they had to hand with great agility and ingenuity.

As we take stock and review the impact of the sudden shock the sector has faced, we have an opportunity to think creatively about the future. Libraries are looking together at what we have learned about what our users most need and value and which elements of their adaptive practice we should retain.

We are also having shared conversations with institutional leaders about where strategic investment can support the transition, and how we might overcome the internal and external barriers to making fully blended teaching and learning a reality.

A summary of the day by Liam Earney, executive director, digital resources, Jisc.

Speakers: Steven Hope, head of independent learning, Leeds City College, will be joined by Charlie James - previously apprentice and technologist at BCoT, and now a student at University of Southampton.

The way we learn is constantly changing. Our learners live in an online environment where they learn independently every day. How can we meet them where they are with learning that is relevant, motivating and rewarding? 

Speaker: Steve Masters, CTO, Jisc

Speaker: Priya Lakhani, Founder CEO, CENTURY Tech.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had transformative effects on nearly all sectors, not least of all education. Almost overnight millions of teachers and students shifted into remote learning, with many schools, colleges and universities struggling to make the change with little extra resource. In the process, many students have missed out on invaluable learning time, while teachers’ already stressful lives have been made even more difficult.

But amidst this there are signs of hope, with many schools, colleges and universities showing that with the right technology and strategy, remote learning can be a success. Priya Lakhani OBE, founder CEO of CENTURY Tech, an award-winning AI edtech company, will discuss how technology came to the fore in education in 2020 and what this means for the future of education. Priya will discuss how, despite remote learning never being able to compete with face-to-face learning, the lessons of the pandemic can be used to improve education overall.

This session is delivered in partnership with Studiosity.

A panel discussion with:

• Moderator: Steve Hoole, head of analytics for teaching and learning, Jisc
• David Hayes, chief data officer, The Open University
• Dr Arfan Ismail, head of digital learning, Blackpool and The Fylde College
• Christine Couper, independent consultant, University of Bedfordshire
• Isabelle Bristow, managing director, Europe, Studiosity

This panel will discuss:

• How can big data and analytics be used most effectively in student outcome prediction?
• Minimising drop-out rates through data, while improving student outcomes
• How can AI and machine learning in combination with data help with retention?
• How to improve student outcomes for students at risk, lifelong learning and gifted and talented?

Speakers: Professor Liz Bacon, deputy principal and deputy vice-chancellor, professor of computer science, Abertay University

This session will discuss:

• Challenges of university digital transformation
• Abertay University’s progress to-date
• Approach to engaging staff and students
• How to survive/compete in the future
• Impact of digital on all areas of university business

Speakers: Fiona Durham, FHEA learning and teaching librarian, engineering, science, languages and education, Open University

In early summer 2020, the OU Library's librarians shared practical tips from more than a decades worth of experience of library teaching online. In this presentation, Fiona will be looking at the next steps covering:

• Synchronous and asynchronous library teaching
• Acquiring feedback from online teaching and acting on it
• Integrating online library teaching

Speaker: Dr David Kellermann, senior lecturer, University of New South Wales (UNSW)

This session looks at how modern enterprise productivity platforms, rather than learning management systems, can facilitate the practical realisation of concepts of Education 4.0, such as predicative data-analytics, data driven experience, personalised learning, bots, human centred AI and machine learning, augmented reality, collaborative learning online, community building, student engagement and retention, synchronous/asynchronous and hybrid online/ on campus experiences.

Speaker: Rachel Bass, VR developer, Lakes College

This session looks at how a small independent college used VR to help promote the college and help welcome students to campus virtually. Hear about innovative curriculum practices conducted at Lakes College, and how they increased staff digital engagement through digital surgeries.

Speakers:

• Dale Karim, teaching and learning coach, Barnsley College
• Rob Lea, eSystems technologist, Barnsley College
• Nathan Kenworthy, Barnsley College

Barnsley College showcase how drone footage can provide hands on learning experiences for different topics and subjects.

A panel discussion including:

• Moderator: Lis Parcell, subject specialist - digital practice (library and learning resources services), Jisc
• David Parkes, director of library and learning services, De Montfort University
• Rosie Jones, head of library and student engagement, Teesside University
• John Hill, head of library and digital learning at University of Derby

How can libraries meet growing user expectations and reimagine services that will meet future community needs? This discussion will explore:

• The evolving digital behaviours and how this impacts library experiences
• The vital role of the physical library space
• How interactive technologies can provide a range of opportunities for libraries to connect with users and to bring the digital and physical services of libraries together

Speakers:

• Jonathan Baldwin, managing director, higher education, Jisc 
• Louisa Dale, director of insight, Jisc

Launched in November 2020, learning and teaching reimagined: a new dawn for higher education? is the flagship report from this sector initiative into the digital transformation of learning and teaching.

In this session, Jisc’s leads Jon Baldwin and Louisa Dale will share on the sector challenges identified in the research.

A panel discussion including:

• Moderator: Dr Sarah Jones, deputy dean: computing, engineering and media, De Montfort University
• Dr David Swapp, senior research fellow and immersive VR lab manager, University College London
• James Parker, director of education improvement, USP College
• Sophie Costin, head of learning design, Make Real

Topics include:

• Creating an immersive space with a wow factor
• Room to enable peer and collaborative learning, keeping it a social experience
• Real time, high quality sound and vision
• Versatility of space to enhance TLA without needing technical geniuses
• Solving the teacher shortage and cost base

Speaker: Catherine Nicole Coleman, digital research architect, Stanford Libraries, Stanford University.

In this session, Catherine will look at how libraries are using new technologies to expand modes of engagement with collections - with particular attention to how artificial intelligence and data science can be used to encourage a critical approach to information discovery.

Speaker: Michael Webb, director of technology and analytics, Jisc

In this session:

• Find out how to start exploring AI with Jisc’s AI demo site
• See demos of text, vision and knowledge services from provides such as Amazon, Microsoft, IBM and Jisc
• See how AI can be embedded in 3D and virtual reality services

Speakers:

• Moderator: Andy McGregor, director of edtech, Jisc 
• Aftab Hussain, ILT manager, Bolton College
• Professor Madeline Eacott, pro-vice-chancellor education, Essex University
• Dan Perry, CIO, Keele University
• Scott Hayden, digital innovation specialist, BCoT
• Michael Webb, director of technology and analytics, Jisc

From this discussion, you will hear about how AI is currently being used in education and the possibilities for the future.

You'll gain an understanding of how AI can support and improve the student experience and key points to consider.

You'll also have the opportunity to ask the panel about their experiences.

• Download a transcript for open all hours (.docx)

This session is delivered in partnership with Studiosity.

Speaker: Lewis McKinnon, head of partner development, UK and Europe, Studiosity

While real-time engagement and feedback at scale has become the standard in a range of industries, the education sector is still yet to fully adapt to meet these expectations from 21st century learners.

Sector culture, resource constraints, and quality assurance have proven to be continual barriers to development, however these are now being overcome by an increasing number of institutions fostering a closer relationship with specialist companies like Studiosity; drawing on the strengths of both stakeholders to create an on demand 365, 24/7 tailored support infrastructure for all students and study modes.

A summary of the day by Jason Miles-Campbell, head of Jisc Scotland and Jisc Northern Ireland, Jisc.

Speakers: Steven Hope, head of independent learning, Leeds City College is joined by Priya Lakhani OBE, founder CEO, CENTURY Tech.

New technologies such as AI, machine learning and automation mean that our learners will work in a world that would be unrecognisable to their grandparents. If education fails to utilise these technologies will it also be unrecognisable to them?

Speaker: Paul Feldman, CEO of Jisc

Speaker: John O'Brien, president and CEO, EDUCAUSE.

John O’Brien will set the stage for the day’s discussion of digital leadership with a call for leadership less driven by technologies and more animated by humility, creativity, and vision - core values at the heart of the academic enterprise for centuries.

He insists that the leadership characteristics the current pandemic requires include empathy for students and employees, a transformational vision, and creativity in our approach to unprecedented challenges. Thoughtful, strategic focus on these areas will not only successfully lead universities through the current crisis but position them well for whatever follows.

A panel discussion including:

• Moderator: John Sumpter, subject specialist (digital practice – leadership), Jisc
• Paula Philpott MBE, head of learning academy at SERC
• Masud Khokhar, director of library and archives, University of York
• Gavin Ian McLachlan, vice-principal and chief information officer, and librarian to the university, The University of Edinburgh

More details coming soon.

Speaker: James Clay, head of higher education and student experience, Jisc.

The future is uncertain, however we do know that digital is integral to ensuring the success of students and learners across higher and further education. Digital leadership will be critical in ensuring the transformation of institutions as they meet critical future challenges.

This presentation will focus on how leaders and managers in HE and FE will need to shift from transactional to transformational leadership, how they can do this and what this will mean for students and learners.

Speaker: Ann D. Thornton, vice provost and university librarian, Columbia University.

Research data is of increasing importance to faculty as more and more research is based on locally-produced data sets, large and small, and as computational approaches are increasingly being used to address research questions.

Yet student and researcher digital competencies and comfort levels with computational tools and methods do not always match the expectations and needs of academic programs throughout the university. Libraries have an important role to play in bridging this skills gap.

By partnering closely with stakeholders to assess the needs and current applications of digital tools and methods, libraries can target non-credit training opportunities for learners with varied skill levels and within different disciplines. These types of programs not only serve the needs of students, researchers, and academic units, but also help define the vitality of the library in relation to other parts of the university's research ecosystem.

Speakers:

• Professor Sir Anton Muscatelli, principal and vice-chancellor, University of Glasgow
• Dr Neil McDonnell, Lord Kelvin Adam Smith fellow for virtual and augmented reality, University of Glasgow 

In this session, Sir Anton and Dr Neil look at how immersive learning has aided higher education to adapt to the challenges faced by the pandemic. He'll discuss the role VR can play in delivering engaging, high-quality educational experiences, as well as the role universities can play in supporting and driving forward innovation, particularly as we look to build back from the pandemic.

Speaker: Simon Hewitt, principal, Dundee and Angus College 

Simon will share experiences including:

• What it's like to lead through a cyber attack
• Issues and behaviours that are impossible to scenario plan
• Lessons learned and advice for senior leaders currently planning

Speaker: Andy McGregor, director of edtech, Jisc

This session will introduce Jisc's plans to establish a national centre for AI in tertiary education.

AI offers the potential to transform education, delivering a better experience for students and for staff. But there are plenty of pitfalls along the way. We believe a national centre could help colleges and universities in the UK accelerate their adoption of AI and by identifying the most effective and ethical AI technologies and then supporting colleges and universities to adopt them.

This session will outline the initial plans for the National Centre and explain how people can get involved.

Speakers: Professor Neil Morris, interim deputy vice-chancellor: digital transformation, University of Leeds

In this session, Neil will discuss:

• Delivering digital education strategy institutionally
• Supporting pedagogically-led technology adoption
• Reflections on leaders’, managers and teaching staff perceptions of digital transformation and growth of online education

Speaker: Vikki Liogier, national head of edtech and digital skills, Education & Training Foundation.

In this session, Vikki will discuss the EnhanceDTP Super Contributor and Reviewer roles and how they will be instrumental in fostering sustainable learning communities of practice that will lead to the co-construction of knowledge and practice.

This session is delivered in partnership with Tribal.

Speakers:

• Mike Cope, chief technology officer, Tribal Group
• Max Scales, student experience and learning technology lead, Tribal Group

The importance of a rich mobile offer that provides a great experience cannot be overstated. The value of mobile technology is huge - giving students the freedom to interact with their institution in the way they expect. Chief technology officer, Mike Cope and student experience and learning technology lead, Max Scales will take you through the importance of getting a student engagement strategy right for the modern student.

This session is delivered in partnership with Purlos.

Speaker: David Bartlett, CEO, Purlos

In this session, David will discuss:

• Tapping into the power of AI to personalise communication at scale and streamline the admissions process
• Why supporting students in real time, will dramatically reduce the likelihood of them dropping out or deferring
• How you can convert more students by working smarter, not harder

Speaker: Louise Rowland, deputy chief executive officer, Ufi VocTech Trust.

Hear about how vocational technology helped workplaces adapt to the circumstances of COVID-19 for some of the hardest to reach learners, across the criminal justice system, health and social care and domestic abuse support.

Plus, a call to the sector to collaborate to close the digital poverty gaps highlighted in 2020 through stronger community, advocacy of quality voctech and rethinking impact investment.

Speakers:

• Professor Norbert Pachler, pro-vice-provost digital education, University College London
• Professor Sam Smidt, academic director, UCL Arena Centre for research-based education
• Dr Fiona Strawbridge, head of digital education, University College London

The presentation will outline and exemplify UCL’s ‘Connected learning’ approach. This draws on and extends UCL’s established curriculum framework to ensure a rich and engaging student experience on the basis of ‘digital first’ at a number of levels: pedagogy, staff development, infrastructure, and regulatory; an approach that goes way beyond an emergency remote response to COVID-19.

Connected learning incorporates a number of design principles linked to the institutional education strategy including: connecting with people; connecting with knowledge and research; and connecting with the wider world.

The presentation will explore and analyse the support ecosystem developed to enable a rapid pivot from face-to-face- to online at scale across some 7000+ members of staff, 5500 modules and 43k+ students, and how to systematically evolve that ecosystem to become a sustainable approach to blended learning and teaching in the longer term.

Speakers:

• Jonathan Baldwin, managing director, higher education, Jisc 
• Louisa Dale, director of insight, Jisc

In this session we will distil and reflect on the key takeaways from each of the sessions in the leadership track.

• Download the transcript for how OneKeele is driving a cultural and technological shift (.docx)

This session is delivered in partnership with AWS.

Speakers:

• Dan Perry, chief information officer, Keele University
• Craig Ridsdill, head of higher education, Amazon Web Services

Keele University is working with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to implement a new technical foundation and sets of services to support the broader transformation of the university’s professional services (OneKeele).

From a standing start two years ago, Keele and AWS created an on ramp to build on top of success, moving its website, DNS (Amazon Route 53), Virtual Clearing call centre (Amazon Connect), and virtual orientation day to the cloud.

Join this session to explore how they achieved the migration and what lies ahead, both in terms of technology and its implementation.

A summary of the day by Louisa Dale, director of insight, Jisc.

Speaker: Steven Hope, head of independent learning, Leeds City College is joined by John O’Brien, president and CEO, EDUCAUSE.

In a world where digital innovation is rapidly changing, making decisions and leading can be daunting. How can we bravely lead the way so that our learners don’t miss out?

Speaker: Robin Ghurbhurun, managing director, further education and skills, Jisc

• Download the transcript for building resilient teaching (.docx)

This session is delivered in partnership with Coursera.

Speakers:

• Mike Damiano, director, Coursera for Campus, EMEA, Coursera
• Professor Stephen Heppell, learning innovator, technology and spaces, Heppell.net and Universidad Camilo José Cela

COVID-19 has undeniably changed higher education instruction. In 2020, 47% of higher education professionals conducted teaching mostly online with some face-to-face, while 42% conducted all teaching online.

Join Professor Stephen Heppell, education futurist and Mike Damiano from Coursera, in a fireside chat where they will discuss how education institutions are enhancing teaching and learning to provide students with the emerging skills needed in the new workforce through resilient teaching methods and digital transformation of their curriculum.

• Download the transcript for how can culture reimagine education (.docx)

A panel discussion including:

• Moderator: Allen Crawford-Thomas, Subject specialist: strategy (lead/digital strategy), Jisc
• Graham Razey, CEO, EKC Group
• Jackie Potter, professor of HE learning and development, head of Oxford Centre for staff and learning development, Oxford Brookes University
• Karen Spencer, principal, Harlow College

This session will look at how to communicate culture in a distributed world, as well as discussing:

• What role does culture play in a college or university’s branding, communications, or marketing strategy?
• How can you communicate culture in ways that are both true to your institution and resonant with increasingly distributed target audiences, whether they be current or future students, faculty and staff, alumni, donors, trustees, or the broader general public?
• How to strive for your institution’s culture to be universally cherished, valued and respected by all

Speaker: Dr. Simon Hayhoe, reader in education, director of public engagement, department of education, Bath University

This presentation starts by defining the aims of accessible technology, inclusion and inclusive technology. We will then look at four generations of the development of accessible technologies from the 19th century until present.day. We'll continue by discussing an adapted form of the SAMR model of applying educational technology to accessible technologies.

Simon will talk about what is happening at the moment in ground breaking projects that can be described as Inclusion 2.0, to develop what he calls Accessible Technology 4.0. Simon will finish by speculating, given the first four generations, what Accessible Technology 5.0 might look like and investigate what AI, the IoT and what social scientific advances might bring to such future technologies.

Speaker: Marilyn Clarke, director of library services, Goldsmiths, University of London

In this session, Marilyn will talk about building wellbeing collections, repurposing spaces for student relaxation and working collaboratively with the university's wellbeing team. She'll also cover what technology has to offer us in the era of COVID-19, asking students what works and what doesn't and what has a negative impact on student wellbeing

Speaker: Nazrene Mannie, executive director, GAN Global - The Global Apprenticeship Network

In this session, Nazrene will look at:

• Understanding the role of work-based learning in the future of work context
• Identifying the role of the private sector in shaping work-based learning innovations
• Key elements of the enabling environment
• Good and best practice from GAN Global members

A panel discussion including:

• Moderator: Kellie Mote, subject specialist: strategy (accessibility), Jisc
• Megan Hector, research and policy manager, Policy Connect
• Piers Wilkinson, student voice commissioner, Disabled Students Commission
• Chris Heathcote, product manager, Government Digital Service, gov.uk
• Bethany Winkler, student experience manager (access centre and assistive technology), Edinburgh College

In this session, the panel will cover questions including:

• How will compliance with the Public Sector Bodies Accessibility Regulations change things for disabled students in the future?
• What should educational institutions focus on when it comes to getting things right for disabled students?
• What have organisations learned so far when implementing Public Sector Bodies Accessibility Regulations and are there barriers to achieving parity of learning opportunity for Disabled students?
• What can we expect from the policy and regulatory landscape on digital accessibly in the coming year?

This session is delivered in partnership with Talis.

Speaker: Matt East, learning technologies lead, Talis

One of the key challenges we are seeing across the sector with forced migration to online learning is the opportunity for meaningful and impactful collaboration. Whilst many tools and technologies help support and maintain a sense of course community, ensuring that all students are able to find their voices continues to be critical. This can cover many aspects, from digital poverty to student confidence.

In this session, we will explore some of the key challenges we can observe across the sector during this crisis, and delve into strategies being adopted to facilitate rich collaborative learning communities.

Speaker: Robyn Guillaume-Smith, programme manager, Mind

Supporting university staff with their mental health needs to be a priority now more than ever. In this session, Robyn will speak about the importance of supporting university staff with their mental health and introduce the Mental Health at Work Commitment as a useful framework.

She will also share information on the Mentally Healthy Universities Programme and how the universities have been taking forward the commitment along with practical ideas for delegates to take away and implement in their university to support staff to thrive.

Speaker: Esther Wilkinson, head of international, Jisc.

The importance of engaging and listening to their international students, learning from those that have worked to support their large numbers of international students since the pandemic hit, and some tools, techniques and technologies to start on this journey.

Speaker: Scott Hayden, digital innovation specialist, Basingstoke College of Technology (BCoT)

This session will share experiences of teaching every timetabled session online in lockdowns, while also supporting 60 other schools and colleges throughout England as part of the DfE's EdTech Demonstrator Programme.

Scott will share best practice from BCoT's brilliant vocational teachers, the English and maths team, as well as their observations from working, pivoting, and evolving with other institutions since March.

This session is delivered in partnership with Clevertouch.

Speaker: Nick Barker, Clevertouch

This session covers an overview of Clevertouch Technologies as a collaborative, digital ecosystem. Learn how to use and deliver cross platform blended/remote teaching and learning and more about the partnership opportunities available.

Speaker: Andrew Cormack, chief regulatory adviser, Jisc.

Andrew will be looking at:

• Key features of "ethical"
• Ethical principles and requirements
• Using GDPR as a stepping stone towards "ethical"
• A framework for discussing "ethical"
• What might be left

A panel discussion including:

• Moderator: Lisa Gray, senior consultant - data and digital capability, Jisc
• Jon Hofgartner, director of technology, learning and resources and progression skills, Weston College
• John Hill, head of library and digital learning, University of Derby

From this discussion, you will take away ideas and tips for how to build the digital capability of your staff and students through both strategy and practical implementation approaches. You'll also have the opportunity to share your successes and pain points with the panel for discussion.

This session is delivered in partnership with AWS.

Speaker: Jude Sheeran, head of higher education and research, international, Amazon Web Services.

In 2020, universities around the world needed to carry out more teaching and research online than ever before. Join this session to explore the lessons learned, as well as the opportunity for universities to deliver more, better, and faster outcomes through continued digital transformation in education and research.

This session is delivered in partnership with Pearson.

Speakers:

• Freya Thomas Monk, SVP English assessment, Pearson plc
• Dr Rose Clesham, director academic standards and measurements, Pearson plc

AI and algorithms have had a bad reputation in education recently, when in reality:

• AI and the use of technology provide the structure to deliver reliable and fair assessments
• AI enables human experts to standardise to a much greater level of accuracy

• Download the transcript for intersections (.docx)

Speaker: Keith W McIntosh, vice president for information services and chief information officer (CIO), University of Richmond.

During this conversation, Keith W McIntosh, will share his journey launching "Intersections," a discussion group that started organically in his division then grew to include students, faculty, and staff from across the university. This group meets weekly basis to discuss the -isms of today, their roots in the past, and their impacts on our future.

He will share stories and insights from their journey the audience can use to start something similar in their office, department, division, school, or campus. Additionally, learn how to facilitate conversations about diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI)

A summary of the day by Alice Colban, deputy chief executive and chief operating officer, Jisc.

Speaker: Steven Hope, head of independent learning, Leeds City College is joined by Keith W McIntosh, vice president for information services and chief information officer (CIO), University of Richmond.

Culture is key to any change in education. We need to respond to the demands of the changing landscape of the world we are preparing our learners for. Education can be very insular and we need to change this to work as a collective and collaborate beyond the silos of organisations.