The prototype campus chatbot platform which has been developed by colleagues at Bolton College will enable every student, teacher & campus administrator at the College to set up their own chatbots to support their studies & work. Looking forward to seeing this project take shape

Local open-source LLMs are incredibly versatile. Colleagues at Bolton College are utilising them for all our development projects. They democratise access, we have lower entry costs, and students-teachers help to co-design their AiED services. The latter is very important for us.

Bolton College is seeking two Learning Technologists to join its Learning Technology Team. ur0.jp/79gIZ
Successful candidates will be eligible to pursue a Master’s degree or a PhD with the University of Bolton.

Students & teachers will be able to use a conversational interface to gather insights from video content. Responses will take students & teachers to the appropriate point in the video. Great for assessment, presentations & lectures. Local open source LLMs negates token charges.

Students regularly present to their peers or they undertake verbal assessments with their teachers. Could open source local language models be used to support students and teachers to review the video recordings without passing info to 3rd parties? Our proof of concept says yes.

The ‘Blood in the Machine’ is a compelling read. Brian Merchant describes why ordinary people in towns like Nottingham, Huddersfield and Bolton took to destroying the machines and the factories that housed them during the early years of the industrial revolution. #Luddites

I came across this reference about the 1812 Luddite disturbances in Bolton. The Westhoughton Factory was burnt down on April the 24th, because of “weaving by steam.”

deanechurch.co.uk/library/BooksD… (pages 70-71)

The ability to respond contextually is a basic trait of a campus chatbot or digital assistant. The use of local open-source LLMs and function calling removes bottlenecks which previously limited the number of contextualised responses that Bolton College’s Ada service could give.

The history of technology is fascinating, especially when it’s filled with wonderful women like Grace Hopper, Donna Dubinsky, Jean Bartik and the ENIAC Six, Dame Steve Shirley and more. The following podcast from Computer History Museum gives a wonderful account of all their stories.

In 2017, we had to write all the queries which enabled the Ada service to deliver contextualised responses to students. In 2024, we use open-source generative Ai services which produce on-demand queries to deliver contextualised responses. Initial results look very promising.

The Jisc #digifest24 programme is full of interesting keynotes, breakout sessions & workshops that reference AiED. If you are interested in learning how to take a critical perspective on AiED, I would recommend the following presentation by Wayne Holmes. youtu.be/ntgOukyqOwk?fe…

The conversational feedback element between students and teachers on Bolton College’s #FirstPass platform is now live. The following video shows the assignment submission and feedback workflow. The student - chatbot - teacher interface is next.

youtu.be/SWfScyEQJ_Q

Colleagues at Bolton College are introducing conversational interfaces into the #FirstPass platform. Click ALT on the following images to learn more.

The DfE has published the latest version of its report on generative AI in education: educator and expert views. Basingstoke College of Technology, Bolton College and other educational institutions are referenced for their work in exploring and using GenAi services.

gov.uk/government/pub…

During the 1990s teams at Xerox PARC and MIT Media Lab had diverging views about interface agents. As always, the philosophers, ethnographers, engineers and scientists of the past provide valuable perspectives about current developments in technology, including GenAi services.

The call for evidence findings are well summarised and they reflect the thoughts of all those who shared their hopes and concerns for the use of GenAi within the education sector. It was lovely to have Bolton College referenced in the final write up.