Day one opens

Opening session TBC

Break

The session is about community co-creation and making a resource that will benefit the FE sector. Since October 2024, Laura Hutton (subject specialist in accessibility) and Rosie Hare (community intelligence and impact lead) have been leading a project with FE members from the accessibility community, focused on making a resource for collating and organising resources for accessibility. The project has completed its discovery and information gathering phase, and is now building a prototype of the resource. During the session, we will hear from some of our project members about the co-creation process itself, some of the benefits and challenges of this approach, and have a first look at the prototype of our resource, which should be available to share with the accessibility community for testing and feedback in early 2026.

The FE accessiblity training matrix - a community co-creation project

The session is about community co-creation and making a resource that will benefit the FE sector. 

How do we design-in opportunities for building resilience in a time of technological evolution.Discover how educators can lead a cultural shift in using AI as a trusted companion in learning. This session explores strategies to help students embrace AI while building resilience, and shares lessons from embedding AI literacy across the digital experience.Key takeaways:<ul><li>Balancing AI integration with responsible use</li><li>The future-facing CRAFT model for ethical AI</li><li>Designing authentic learning and assessment experiences</li><li>A roadmap for resilience in the academic journey</li></ul>

Designing for and developing the AI and digital resilient learner 

How do we design-in opportunities for building resilience in a time of technological evolution.

This session details 'Fixter', our custom AI teaching assistant, and shares our ethical, human-centred strategy ensuring teacher accountability and data privacy remain integral to innovation.As BCoT progresses into its third year of strategic AI integration we have moved beyond early adoption towards ethical in-house development of bespoke tools. This session will detail the creation and pilot deployment of our custom AI assistant 'Fixter' a staff teaching and learning bot designed to be a sparring partner for teachers in assessment feedback and planning.We will share the prescriptive human-centred requirements that mandate its design including our commitment to UK GDPR and contractual agreements that prohibit vendor use of our data for model training. A key focus is the implementation of a three-step mandatory human-in-the-loop process - involving a sense check, an accountability nudge and a criteria-specific review - ensuring teacher accountability is never outsourced to the technology. The session provides an honest look at how we are proactively mitigating algorithmic bias by designing the system to support genuine expression and avoid encouraging masking behaviours.

Teacher-led innovation: 'Fixter' and the ethical imperative to keep the human being at the heart of learning

This session details 'Fixter', our custom AI teaching assistant, and shares our ethical, human-centred strategy ensuring teacher accountability and data privacy remain integral to innovation.

Explore key accessibility challenges for HE, new global regulations, and how Jisc and partners aim to drive ethical, practical digital accessibility in AI-driven times. How can higher education provide a digital environment accessible for all students and staff—and how are we working to address this at a sector, policy and industry level? We hosted five workshops with the Glenlead Centre, bringing together stakeholders from 49 UK universities, plus representatives from government, non-profits, and industry to explore how digital technologies including AI can better support the higher education sector. We found that accessibility must be embedded in the design, development, and adaptation of all technologies. Achieving this requires stronger policy, collaboration with industry, shared procurement, institutional leadership, and sector-wide upskilling. Our findings highlight accessibility as a potential global advantage for UK higher education, with benefits for all who study and work in the sector. Realising this vision demands coordinated effort, creativity, and foresight.Our joint report with the Glenlead Centre outlines our insights. Join this session for a briefing and to ask questions.

An accessible digital future? Collaborative approaches to ensuring digital products used in HE work for everyone

Explore key accessibility challenges for HE, new global regulations, and how Jisc and partners aim to drive ethical, practical digital accessibility in AI-driven times. 

360 photospheres offer a simple way to enhance students observational skills in real world situations when matched with meaningful learning activities.Many teaching scenarios require students to develop strong observational skills in real-world contexts—such as identifying safety issues in a factory or interpreting body language in group settings. This session will explore how simple 360° photospheres can be used to strengthen these skills through virtual field trips. Richard Treves will share how this approach helped students interpret river forms without leaving the classroom and discuss practical strategies that can be applied to any observational learning situation.The River Restoration Centre's method avoids the complexity and cost of high-end virtual reality. These virtual field trips are easy to use, accessible on any networked computer, and provide an effective alternative when in-person visits are challenging. Field trips can often be expensive, logistically difficult, or inaccessible for students with mobility issues—or even impossible, such as studying Martian landscapes. Virtual experiences offer a valuable solution but do not replace in-person visits."

Simple virtual field trips via online learning

360 photospheres offer a simple way to enhance students observational skills in real world situations when matched with meaningful learning activities.

This session explores managing and responding to black swan events in education contexts, how we learn from experience to manage better for the next change.The COVID-19 pandemic...genAI...these ‘black swan’ events (Potter 2023) will not be the last disruptors of business as usual in education, so how exactly are we learning from these experiences to both expect and prepare for future disruptions? While the theme of the workshop will focus on genAI use and technological disruptors this approach would suit other disruptive events or elements that impact business-as-usual in an institution particularly when these events are difficult to predict with significant impact (for example the COVID pandemic). Framing the workshop through the lens of positive panic (a term coined by YouTuber and climate change activist Leena Norms) allows for the very human response to rapid change and big issues (such as climate change or how to tackle the endeavour of education in the face of a new tool that changes the game).

Positive panic: genAI case study for managing change

This session explores managing and responding to black swan events in education contexts, how we learn from experience to manage better for the next change.

Day one closes

Day two opens

Join this session to discover and share how AI is impacting digital accessibility both as an educational field and as a professional practice.Across our digital society, accessibility is increasingly important. Continuing digitisation, new regulation and the rapid expansion and application of AI across society mean there is growing demand for professionals equipped with the necessary skills and expertise to deliver accessible products and services. But what are accessibility skills in an era of artificial iIntelligence?AI-enabled tools promise time-saving and scalable solutions for accessibility, across design, coding, captioning, auditing, testing and remediation, and this industry is only set to expand. How might AI influence the skills that accessibility professionals need now and in the future? And what are the key issues at stake?Sarah Lewthwaite and Andy Coverdale are researching how educators in different fields and subject areas most effectively develop accessibility skills. Jisc supports their work through hosting and collaboration in community engagement activities and members of the Jisc accessibility team will be supporting this session.

AI and accessibility skills: building the accessibility professional of the future 

Join this session to discover and share how AI is impacting digital accessibility both as an educational field and as a professional practice.

Discover how prompt engineering can become a teaching method for building curiosity, critical thinking, and self-regulated learning in AI-enhanced classrooms.This interactive session reimagines prompt engineering as a pedagogical scaffold rather than a technical skill. Drawing on classroom practice and early doctoral research, it explores how structured prompting can foster curiosity, reflection, and critical thinking in AI-rich learning environments.Participants will see how small changes in language, framing, and intent can alter both AI outputs and learner understanding, revealing how prompting can surface assumptions and deepen metacognitive awareness.The session introduces a practical framework linking prompting to self-regulated learning theory, illustrating how educators can help students think with AI instead of outsourcing thinking to it. Attendees will leave with adaptable, classroom-ready strategies for embedding ethical, critical prompting into formative assessment and curriculum design.

Prompt engineering as pedagogy: scaffolding critical thinking and self-regulated learning in AI-rich classrooms

Discover how prompt engineering can become a teaching method for building curiosity, critical thinking, and self-regulated learning in AI-enhanced classrooms.

Exploring ways to engage staff in digital transformation and embrace disruption.In a time of rapid change educators have a unique opportunity to reimagine their roles and reignite their passion for teaching.This session explores how disruption can be a catalyst for growth curiosity and innovation. Through the lens of initiatives like the DigiWest Festival we’ll highlight practical ways educators can engage with digital tools upskill confidently and build communities of practice that inspire transformation.

From disruption to discovery: empowering educators in the digital age

Exploring ways to engage staff in digital transformation and embrace disruption.

Discover how Cardiff and Vale College’s student digital specialist programme empowers learners to co-create inclusive, future-ready digital experiences through personalised skill-building and collaboration. As an extracurricular initiative learners apply at the start of the year and meet weekly to develop a wide range of digital skills tailored to their individual goals and career aspirations. We’ll share success stories and showcase how the programme supports diverse learner journeys through co-designed pathways and personalised opportunities. The session will also highlight how we allocate time and resources to facilitate this initiative and how student voice and collaboration are central to its design and delivery.

Beyond the classroom: the student digital specialist 

Discover how Cardiff and Vale College’s student digital specialist programme empowers learners to co-create inclusive, future-ready digital experiences through personalised skill-building and collaboration. 

A staged transition framework supporting international students through pre-arrival, on-arrival, and during-studies phases, combining universal institutional support with tailored programme-specific guidance.How can universities help international students feel prepared, confident, and supported from the moment they accept an offer?Glasgow Caledonian University's approach brings together universal resources, covering common challenges faced by all international students, with school and programme-specific guidance tailored to disciplinary and professional contexts. This ensures support is both accessible and relevant, creating a scalable model that can be adapted across programmes.Key features include:<ul><li>Orientation to the UK academic system and its distinctive features</li><li>Guidance on University policies and procedures</li><li>Practical advice for settling into life in a new country, from banking to mobile networks</li></ul>By integrating institutional resources with targeted academic and professional preparation, this framework helps students thrive both academically and personally.Join this session to explore how this model can enhance student experience and success across diverse programmes.

Integrating universal and program-specific support for international students

A staged transition framework supporting international students through pre-arrival, on-arrival, and during-studies phases, combining universal institutional support with tailored programme-specific guidance.

Closing session TBC

Reflections from the final day of Connect More

Reflections from Connect More

Reflections from the final day of Connect More 

Connect More 2025

Connect More 2025 programme

About Connect More 2025

Connect More 2025 tickets and booking information

Apply to speak at Connect More 2025

December's event will bring engaging discussions, expert-led sessions, and real-world case studies to help empower you to transform education through practitioner-led, ethical digital innovation.