BCoT named as finalist in the AoC Beacon Awards 2021/22

BCoT has made it through as a finalist in the prestigious AoC Beacon Awards.

Basingstoke College of Technology (BCoT) has made it through as a finalist in the prestigious Association of Colleges’ Beacon Awards for the category ‘The Jisc Award for Effective Use of Digital Technology in Further Education.’

The AoC Beacon Awards celebrate the best and most innovative practice among UK colleges each year. The award, which is supported by Jisc, celebrates an outstanding example of the use of technology carefully designed to improve the student experience in a digital age.

While BCoT has always proactively promoted and implemented EdTech to enhance teaching and student learning, the College’s delivery of online education throughout the COVID-19 pandemic showed that more could be done to ensure we help staff and students manage the other side of technology’s attraction.

The new five-year digital strategy puts digital health and wellbeing at the heart of all the College’s education provision and through a range of innovative resources and activities, students and staff are given the tools and confidence to manage their digital mental health, seek support and enhance their lives. This has been done by our specialist digital team helping students and staff moderate their screen time, offering 1 to 1 empathetic coaching, streamlining their workflow and raising our learners’ consciousness of not being used by technology, but using it to become employable for a number of opportunities, pathways and apprenticeships.

Scott Hayden, Digital Innovation Specialist at BCoT, said: “I feel incredibly proud that the AoC have recognised our digital wellbeing initiative is worthy of us becoming finalists. This shows our idea to bring compassion, originality, responsibility and empathy at the forefront of what we do with technology at the College is something which will benefit other schools and colleges.”

Mark White, Chair of AoC’s Charitable Trust said: “The AoC Beacon Awards showcase exactly why colleges are so important to every community and why people value them. This award celebrates an outstanding example of the use of technology and the work of the finalists in going above and beyond.”