Dave Tucker

ootiboo CIC's partnership with RDUK (Resource Development UK) is a great example of how we’re evolving, and our SpringCraft competition is now the second project they’ve chosen to support. RDUK, a computer re‑manufacturer providing low‑cost, sustainable IT solutions for schools, is generously donating a refurbished HP laptop as the prize for the school that tops the SpringCraft leaderboard. They’ll even customise it with the winning school’s logo on the laptop cover. I recently visited Nick Waite and Tim Weedon at their Rochester office, and both Chris Green (our workshop lead and former headteacher) and I were genuinely impressed by their setup, ethos, and commitment to supporting schools. As ootiboo continues to grow from strength to strength, we’re delighted to work alongside RDUK to provide real‑life learning opportunities and the technology that helps bring them to life. #Education #EdTech #Sustainability #DigitalInclusion #Schools #CommunityPartners #SpringCraft

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🎯 Funding Opportunity UK registered organisations can apply for grant funding to develop vocational robotics skills courses and training materials that help build the UK workforce capable of specifying, procuring, integrating, operating and maintaining robotics across industries. 💰 Funding Up to £2,500,000 is available in total, with individual projects typically requesting between £100,000 and £500,000 over a duration of three to six months. ⏰ Deadline Applications must be submitted by 11:00am UK time on 25 March 2026. 👥 Who can apply UK registered businesses, research organisations, universities, charities, not for profits and public sector bodies can apply, either alone or in collaboration with partners. 🛠 Support This funding aims to address critical skills gaps in robotics adoption, from apprenticeships to vocational courses, helping organisations develop training that meets current and future industry needs. https://lnkd.in/enbsN2SR #RoboticsTraining #UKFunding #SkillsDevelopment #InnovationFunding #WorkforceDevelopment #GrantSupport #TechnologyTraining

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AI is rapidly changing education, but using it safely and in line with DfE guidance is crucial. This article is a great overview of what schools should be considering, and it’s exactly why The National College has created our new Teacher & Leader AI tool to help schools and MATs implement AI confidently, compliantly and with real impact. https://lnkd.in/eQYSbQvW

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🎬 Midweek #dev log from Team adaptiVLE Ltd 🎬 After a busy few days wrangling client requests and Moodle mysteries, we had a bit of breathing space… so naturally, we went rogue. Lewis Carr mentioned someone asking, "Could #Moodle feel more like a streaming platform?" And well… challenge accepted. 🧙‍♂️ With a custom Boost child theme, a slick block setup, and a sprinkle of JS wizardry, we cooked up something that feels less LMS… more Netflix. 🔥 Interactive hero area 🚀 Scrollable upcoming tiles 🐉 Mini-world aesthetics 🐾 Yes, that is a pug in a hoodie It’s still early days — but we’d love feedback: 👉 Too complex? Too out there? Not far enough? 👉 Would your learners use something like this? Drop us a thought. Or just say hi. #Moodle #elearning #dev #UIUX #Adaptivle #StreamingLMS #EdTechGlowUp #AIHelpedWriteThis

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Reasons to Study History! Understanding figures like Napoleon or Nicholas II helps us recognize patterns of overextension or disconnection from the public. Studying Marie Curie or Alan Turing shows how persistence and unconventional thinking lead to scientific breakthroughs that continue to save millions of lives. It forces us to ask, "Why did they think this was the right choice at the time?" Challenging Biases: By engaging with figures from different cultures and eras, we realise that our own current "universal" truths might be viewed very differently by future generations, and certainly were by those in the past! When we learn about their personal struggles, fears, and flaws, it makes their achievements feel more attainable. It teaches us that "great" people aren't perfect; they are simply people who acted decisively. We can, too. We can’t fully appreciate modern democracy without knowing the thinkers like John Locke or activists like the Suffragettes who risked everything to define it. And how quickly democracy can be removed... Figures like Confucius, Aristotle, or Mahatma Gandhi shaped the philosophical foundations of entire civilizations, influencing how billions of people think about family, duty, and justice today, Now, all we need to do is ensure Global Curricula reflect this, and that nothing is off limits in terms of study! #history #EDUCATION #Schools #CURRICULUM

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I really enjoyed this conversation. TLDR of what's inside; - UK AI sector would benefit greatly from the government expanding and clarifying "fair use" of copyrighted materials to be at least in like with the US - With where LLMs are today you still need human review to ensure 100% accuracy, especially in specialised domains; but humans are also often flawed - My advice to founders and startup people: be stingy with your time - find the simplest way of testing an idea before you fall in love with it and hire for general intelligence, not specific skills - R&D credits are a fantastic mechanism to fund innovation in the UK - much more flexible to work with than grants

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This is wild—in the best way. We talk a lot about improving user experience in learning platforms, but this is one of the few prototypes I’ve seen that fully commits to rethinking the interface from the learner’s perspective. Feels like: 👉 Less LMS. 👉 More streaming. 👉 Built for curiosity, not compliance. Is it right for every use case? Maybe not. But if you’re trying to make learning feel accessible, binge-worthy, or just less boring…this kind of thinking pushes the whole ecosystem forward. Props to the AdaptiVLE team—especially Lewis Carr and Charles Horton—for showing what’s possible when you take off the guardrails. #LMS #UXDesign #Moodle #LearningExperience #EdTechInnovation

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Questions I’m curious to hear the answers to: 1. If students and parents only receive summative outcomes via MIS reports, how are we clearly guiding them on what actions are required to progress to the next stage of learning? 2. What governance and quality-assurance mechanisms are in place to ensure the data entering the MIS is accurate, consistent, and decision-ready at the point of submission? 3. Why are we asking teachers to manually re-enter assessment data into the MIS after it has already been captured via spreadsheets and what value does that duplication actually create? 4. Given that learning data changes rapidly, why do we continue to rely on periodic “data drops” into the MIS, knowing that the information can be outdated almost immediately?

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Looking forward to presenting thoughts and ideas regarding the local governance of AI in education at a forthcoming UKSG webinar on the 23rd of April. The talk is tailored to anyone working in a library setting in a further education college or university, and to colleagues who wish to learn more about the local governance of AIED services. The planned learning outcomes for the webinar are as follows: 1. Understand the concept of hyper-contextual digital assistants and their potential applications within FE libraries, learning resource centres and associated academic support services. 2. Recognise the role of FE libraries in shaping the governance and responsible use of AIED services, including the development of locally managed frameworks and policies. 3. Identify practical approaches to managing library chatbots, including the use of chatbot management dashboards to monitor usage, content and interactions. 4. Develop awareness of the Department for Education’s Generative AI Safety Standards and explore how these can be applied in FE library contexts, including the use of AI safeguarding dashboards to support oversight. I wish to thank Tim Leonard for the invitation to present at this UKSG webinar. https://lnkd.in/e8S7Jmem

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We're proud to share a video of Jonathon Simons, founder of Code Inventorz, in his other exciting role as Big Ideas Education Lead — this time from their brand-new HQ in Manchester! 🏢✨ In this clip, Jon is introducing the BEA Robotics Program to an excited group of children and families. 🤖👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 This innovative program is all about inspiring young minds through hands-on robotics, creative problem-solving, and future-ready tech skills. 🚀 Launching very soon — and we can’t wait to show you more! #CodeInventorz #BRArobotics #STEMeducation #TechForKids #ManchesterInnovation #BigIdeasEducation #FutureCoders #RoboticsForKids

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📊 Drowning in spreadsheets and complex data? With Sisra Analytics, every teacher can instantly access web-based, powerful insights — anytime, anywhere. No more waiting for reports or chasing data. Schools can finally turn assessment data into clear, actionable insights. ✅ Web-based platform — accessible for all staff ✅ Clear visibility of pupil progress at every level ✅ Powerful filters to spot gaps fast ✅ Easy reports for staff, governors & parents ✅ Trusted by thousands of schools nationwide Schools using Sisra Analytics save time, reduce workload, and gain the clarity they need to raise attainment. 👉 Ready to see what smarter analytics could do for your school? #EdTech #SchoolImprovement #DataDrivenEducation #TeacherWorkload #Sisra Juniper Education

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Big news today for vocational education and practical skills training! I'm excited to share that Facilitate has partnered with Coleg y Cymoedd. This partnership grew from a great relationship over the past few years. Coleg y Cymoedd has been a valuable Facilitate customer, always pushing what's possible in vocational education to truly prepare students for real-world jobs. This partnership aims to bring hands-on, practical skills development to vocational training institutions and businesses across Wales and beyond. We want students and workers to get real, job-specific experience in a safe, dynamic, and realistic immersive space. Coleg y Cymoedd leads the way in using technology for vocational learning. They're combining their smarts with Facilitate's leading immersive tools. This will open up amazing ways to learn and build highly effective, career-ready skills. We think this partnership will be a game-changer for vocational education. It will help organisations give their trainees and employees the practical, job-ready skills they need now. Want to know more about how immersive learning can change your vocational training programs and boost practical skills development? Reach out to the Coleg y Cymoedd or Facilitate team. We'd love to chat! https://hubs.la/Q03rCdg60 #VocationalEducation #PracticalSkills #ImmersiveLearning #SkillsDevelopment #Partnership #Wales #EdTech #Facilitate #ColegyCymoedd

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What a great day yesterday, signing a Memorandum of Understanding with Agratas, a major step forward for clean‑tech skills in the South West. Joint ventures between providers and investors are key to delivering national and local infrastructure and regeneration schemes, as well as boosting Somerset's international standing as a high-skilled investment environment. Not only will this transform the lives of the those in our community, it will support the government as it drives the UK towards net zero. Thanks to everyone involved for making this happen! Becki Robertson, MCIPD, Bhavik Mistry, Aeneas Tole, Ben Hayday, Kinga Grabarczyk, Phil Smith CBE, Skills England, Julian Davis, Mohammad A Milani, Matt Tudor, Jenny Ashworth, Simon Brewer, Jason Gunningham,

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Unlock key insights shaping education in 2025! Our #Education Insights Survey report reveals how over 80 UK education professionals are navigating financial planning, staff retention, policy shifts, and the growing role of #AI & #EdTech in schools and #MATs. Discover practical strategies and expert recommendations to future-proof your school or trust. Ready to lead with confidence? 📥 Download the full report now and transform your approach: https://ow.ly/WYkK50WmgW1

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I'm incredibly thrilled to share the success of our pilot EdTech work experience program! For the past two weeks, the eLID Hub CIC partnered with the South Midlands Careers Hub Hub to deliver this vital initiative to high schools and colleges. Our aim is to support the government's commitment of 10 days' work experience for every young person, helping to fill the gap of insufficient placement slots for students. It was a privilege to spend a week each with the brilliant students at Watling Academy and St Paul's Catholic School Milton Keynes in Milton Keynes. My goal was to illuminate diverse EdTech career paths and immerse them in real-life projects that would inform their future career choices. Being back in a classroom was a truly special, full-circle moment for me – my last teaching experience was 24 years ago, delivering an engineering course at a naval college! The enthusiasm of these students were absolutely inspiring. Beyond technical know-how, the program focused on empowering them with future-ready transferable skills. Collaboratively, they navigated a hybrid work experience environment, and honed their time management and presentation skills through co-creation. A highlight was seeing them design visual storyboards and use authoring tools to develop captivating, interactive, scenario-based eLearning courses that they were able to include in building impressive professional portfolios. Crucially, to cater for neurodivergence in students, we provided a range of design methods, including worksheets, play cards, and specialized software. Watching their designs, developments, and presentations unfold was truly the best part of my weeks – it's a powerful reminder of how these skills are invaluable in any industry. Huge thanks to the career leaders and staff at both schools, Nadia Mahmood, Laura Palmiero, Nicola Honan, and to Mandy Browning at the South Midlands Careers Hub for their invaluable partnership on this fantastic initiative! It was also lovely to see Farayi Agbame PG pop in to support on one of the days. The feedback we've already received from students and career leaders will be instrumental in helping us continually improve this program. We so looking forward to partnering with more schools to help their students fulfill the mandated work experience and discover the exciting world of EdTech! Below is link to the scenario-based elearning created by a high school student creating elearning for the first time with Genially https://lnkd.in/eRMy3gXk #EdTech #WorkExperience #Education #SkillBuilding #MiltonKeynes #eLearning #Collaboration #CareerDevelopment #YouthOpportunity

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Turn school holidays into powerful UCAS evidence. This guide shows 10–18 year olds how to use specific Skilluble challenges and pathways to build real projects, badges, and portfolios that actually matter for UK university applications.

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Let's talk #EdTech tech. There have been a number of posts recently around changes in the EdTech sale cycles; tighter budgets, more discerning buyers, a rationalisation of products in schools, greater scrutiny of data protection and also the tech behind the app to name but a few. Personally I welcome this, both as a parent but also edtech founder (or rather someone who built a bit of something). When I worked in education I often spoke about #Open and #Ethical edtech. #Open, greater transparency, more information, clearer documentation, but also open in the way your data is shared back to you, no matter where you are on your technology/data journey; whether that's in a spreadsheet or via APIs. #Ethical, in that apps only collect the information they really need. I feel as strongly about this now as I did then, that's why these are both values in the Tide Education Mission Statement. Of course I'd love to talk you about the app, but I'd also love to tell you about our tech that's built in Amazon Web Services (AWS), tell you how it secures your data, demonstrate how it builds and scales automatically, show you the API stack and discuss data protection; because that too is really important in building trust.

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🚀 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗜𝗳𝗔𝗧𝗘 𝘁𝗼 𝗦𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱: 𝗔 𝗗𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗠𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗦𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽𝘀   Big changes are coming and they matter to all of us committed to building a skills system that genuinely works.   The recent announcement that IfATE’s functions will transfer to the Department for Education - paving the way for Skills England - is one of the most significant shifts we’ve seen in the technical education and apprenticeship space in years. This is more than a name change. It’s a realignment of power, priorities, and potentially, how employer voices are heard (or not) in shaping the future of work.   The proposed legislation gives the Secretary of State new authority to bypass employer groups to accelerate the creation of standards and assessments. While speed is often welcome, especially in fast-evolving sectors like digital and IT, it must not come at the expense of relevance, quality, or trust.   At Accelerate People, we see this moment as both a 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗻 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆. The challenge: ensuring Skills England doesn’t dilute the role of employer input and sector expertise. The opportunity: reimagining how we collaborate to deliver end-point assessments that are robust, fair, and genuinely reflect the needs of today’s economy. The truth is, apprenticeships are only as strong as the ecosystem around them. If we narrow the voices involved, we risk narrowing the vision.   I believe the sector has a powerful role to play right now. We must:  • Speak up for industry involvement.  • Share what’s working (and what’s not) in the current system.  • Push for transparency and accountability in how Skills England takes shape. This isn’t a time to wait and see. It’s a time to shape the conversation.   🔗 I’d love to hear your thoughts - what do these changes mean for your organisation, your apprentices, your industry? #Apprenticeships #AcceleratePeople #EPA #Change

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