Of all the VLE companies, D2L’s messaging is a lot stronger on teaching and learning, and this will be appealing to that fraternity in the UK, particularly when combined with the strategic investment in content interactivity and activity types.

Instructure is well positioned to remain highly competitive in the UK market, although it seems that fewer universities are looking to switch VLEs at present.

Product developments within existing technologies used by universities will be one of the main ways in which AI will continue to impact UK higher education. …What’s interesting is that they are largely targeted at educators, not students.

One of the challenges with digital technologies in education is how they are utilised and most importantly what informs their use. Education is replete with bad and ill-informed ideas - if AI is built upon these or implemented in sympathy with them - we’ll fail our learners.

Its impact and potential future impact on education continues to be hugely debated, but I don’t want to wade into that bigger debate here, but rather explore the impact it is having on synchronous online learning, through the primary vehicle for that, video conferencing technologies.