THE information technology network across 10 Glasgow colleges will point the way to developments for the rest of the further education system, Helen Liddell, the Education Minister, told the “Tactics and Trends” conference organised last week in Glasgow by the Scottish Council for Educational Technology and supported by The TES Scotland.
The Government will continue to fund the Glasgow network so that it can realise its full potential “and the lessons learnt can be applied in the creation of an all-Scotland FE broadband network”, Mrs Liddell said.
The network, to which the Government has already contributed Pounds 500, 000, allows all students access to the Internet and remote access to their assignments on computer files, enabling them to work from any of the 10 colleges.
Mrs Liddell said she would announce early next year how the first Pounds 5 million of the Pounds 29 million made available in the comprehensive spending review for the next three years would be used in FE information technology.
As well as the “Glasgow 10” there are 10 other groups of colleges, including those in the Highlands and Islands University project, developing IT collaboration as part of the National Grid for Learning.
Mrs Liddell said that while the Government had a responsibility for the basic frameworks of learning, employers and individuals themselves had to ensure that they made the most of opportunities to update skills and learn new ones.
The Scottish University for Industry would be designed to “connect those who want to learn with ways of doing it”.
