New guide helps FE providers bridge the gap between teaching and IT teams

The effective use of digital in further education depends as much on successful collaboration between teaching and IT teams as it does on the technology itself.

Our new building bridges: enhancing collaboration between staff in IT and learning related roles in further education guide helps break down barriers as colleges navigate major challenges such as generative AI, cyber security and digital transformation.

Following a series of teaching and learning forums across the UK, our experts found that although there is often a shared ultimate goal of improving learner outcomes, approaching challenges and opportunities from different perspectives can create barriers to effective collaboration.

The guide identifies clear distinctions in team priorities that can include:

• IT teams often having a clear focus on security, compliance and reliability
• Teaching and learning staff seeking flexibility, experimentation and new approaches to engaging learners and maximising innovation

While these priorities are not inherently conflicting, they can create friction if organisations fail to align goals and communicate effectively.

The guide recommends five fundamental shifts to support better collaboration:

• Developing a shared vision for digital teaching and learning across departments
• Ensuring staff have the resources and time needed to collaborate effectively
• Building cultures that reward partnership and innovation
• Supporting hybrid roles that bridge technical and educational priorities
• Improving communication between teams to build trust and mutual understanding

The creation of multi-disciplinary teams that draw on key strengths from across the organisation, as opposed to departmental teams operating in silos, is another way to tackle this issue. A central theme of the guide is the importance of the "glue work" undertaken by learning technologists, digital leads, library staff and others who help connect different parts of an institution.

While often overlooked, these roles can play a critical part in helping colleges manage change, share expertise and overcome organisational barriers.

Chris Thomson, digital practice subject specialist at Jisc, said:

"What struck me most when looking into this issue with our members is what sometimes seems to be a simple question of personality clashes can actually be the result of something much deeper and more structural and strategic. Across the UK FE sector many staff are experiencing time and resource constraints that can impact how teams work and succeed together.

"What we know at Jisc is that laying the foundations for effective digital transformation is something that requires people to come together from across roles and specialisms. For the organisations that can foster a culture of collaboration and support, a lot can be achieved."

Jonathan Sansom, director of digital strategy, Hills Road College, said:

"Taking part in the teaching and learning forum with Jisc made me really reflect on the role my team plays within Hills Road.

"With a customer facing function such as IT services, you need a team that wants to fulfill the customer's needs, but you also need good customers so that it develops into a two-way relationship, and that can only be done through a healthy collegiate culture.

"This really comes into its own when we head towards complex periods of examination as expectations are high and deadlines are tight. Getting all stakeholders round the table from IT, technicians, teaching and learning and assessment teams helps us plan the direction of travel and build networks to allow us to respond well should any curveballs occur."

The guide will be featured in a session at today’s Association for Learning Technology (ALT) conference, titled “Building Bridges: fostering collaboration between IT and teaching and learning professionals in Further Education”.