As artificial intelligence continues to permeate education and training, the language we use to describe these systems requires careful scrutiny. Two recent articles highlight how the vocabulary surrounding AI is often misleading, obscuring the realities of the technology and shifting accountability away from its creators. In educational settings, where trust and clarity are paramount, understanding the implications of these words is a critical component of digital literacy. The first piece, a newsletter post by Dr. Sam Illingworth and The Strategic Linguist, argues that the everyday vocabulary of AI misleads by borrowing terms from the human mind. The authors suggest that […]

The UK government’s recent announcement of a blanket ban on social media for children under 16 has been framed as a bold move to “give kids their childhood back.” Set to take effect by spring 2027, the policy targets platforms like TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, and X, proposing to lock young people out of these spaces while introducing further restrictions on infinite scrolling and livestreaming for under-18s [1]. While the instinct to protect young people from digital harms is understandable – particularly for parents who have tragically lost children to online bullying or dangero us viral trends – this blunt approach […]

In 1995, I moved jobs from Gwent Tertiary College, a large vocational school in Wales, to take up a post as a researcher at the Institut Technik und Bildung (ITB) at the University of Bremen in Germany. I had never worked in a university before and was excited by the prospect of being a ‘proper’ researcher. More than that, I was deeply impressed by the central tenet of ITB’s work: the social shaping of technology. At that period, there were growing worries in Germany about the impact of new technologies on skilled work, particularly in the engineering industry. Some of […]

We often assume that because young people have grown up with smartphones in their hands, they are inherently equipped for the digital demands of the modern workplace. We label them “digital natives” and expect that their fluency with TikTok or Fortnite will naturally translate into proficiency with professional tools and critical thinking online. However, a new report from AQA, titled “Digitally native or digitally naïve?”, challenges this assumption head-on, revealing a complex landscape where high usage of social media masks significant gaps in essential digital skills. For vocational education and training (VET), where preparing students for the realities of the […]

For some time, there has been a growing concern that many vocational schools lack a developed, cohesive policy around Artificial Intelligence. While comprehensive survey data specific to the vocational education and training (VET) sector remains scarce, a recent report from the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) sheds light on how UK universities are navigating this complex landscape. The findings are both revealing and, in some ways, uncomfortable. They offer critical lessons for teachers, trainers, and managers in vocational education as they consider how to integrate AI thoughtfully and effectively into their own institutions — and they resonate closely with work […]