Within the executive summary the following definition is offered:

'Learning technology is the broad range of communication, information and related technologies that can be used to support learning, teaching and assessment'

FELTAG stands for The Further Education Learning Technology Action Group.From this group 6 workstreams were identified:

1.Horizon Scanning - keeping abreast of change

2.Investment and Capital Infrastructure- appropriate and agile

3.Regulation and Funding - not inhibit innovation or improving learning outcomes

4.Workforce Capacity - Entire workforce to understand potential of learning technology

5.Employers - Relationship between FE and employers should be developed by the use of technology inside and outside the workplace

6.Learners - Empowered to understand and become familiar with digital technology for their own learning

The report looks to:

·Explain how digital technology helps achieve ambitions for education

·Summarises the changes needed to enable it

·Anticipates a ministerial response to help facilitate it

The report also looked at technology likely to improve:

·Personal support and access to learning

·Flexibility in Provision

·Learning Effectiveness

·Ways of assessing learning

·Ability of teachers to innovate

·Data security and identity

Some issues that emerged:

·To be a 'game-changer', the digital technology needs to enable economies of scale.For example an FE adapted version of MOOC's

·Learners will expect a movement towards BYOD and Bring Your Own App

·Providing video conferencing in the workplace

·Movement away from paper based assessment to new forms of formative and summative eAssessment

·Human-Computer interfaces that include haptic (touch) and kinaesthetic (motion) to improve authenticity for practice-based vocational education training

·New and open management systems providing a seamless integration of management and pedagogical elements

From surveys it was identified that:

·Practitioners are increasingly confident of their own skills but the industry is a lacking channel and forum to share ideas and developments across the sector

·A lack of funding to purchase digital technology and provide release and support for staff to help them enable the incorporation of digital technology

·Concern and risk averse until funding methodology aligns to digital supported learning

·Lack of strategic level direction learning to fragmented provision

·Technology policies often focusing on security and e-safety with few organisational policies of learning and teaching

Some Further Considerations:

·OFSTED's Learner View Survey includes the question 'The technology and online learning resources support my learning and I can access them from anywhere, anytime and using any computing device (mobile, tablet, computer etc.)

·Employers are to be encouraged and support the use of collaborative MOOC approaches for FE

·Investment to create a technology exemplar network using a 'hub and spoke' model

·Regulation to explicitly embed learning technology in teaching and learning strategy

·Funding methodology should encourage 'learning presence' not 'learning attendance'

·Mandate the inclusion for every publicly-funded learning programmes from 2015/6 of a 10% wholly online component, with incentives to increase to 50% by 2017/8 - This applies for all programmes unless a good case is made for why this is not appropriate

Reference:

FELTAG Recommendations. (2013). Paths forward to a digital future for Further Education and skills. Available: http://feltag.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/FELTAG-REPORT-FINAL.pdf. Last accessed 14th July 2015.