Year: 2026

Anyone who has experimented with artificial intelligence in an educational setting has likely encountered the “context problem.” A foundation model might be highly capable of generating text or writing code, but when asked a specific question about an institution’s curriculum, a departmental policy, or the nuances of a specific vocational training module, it often falls flat. The AI lacks the internal context that human educators and administrators rely on every day. To address this, organisations have spent the last year building bespoke “knowledge bases” to feed their AI agents, resulting in a fragmented landscape of incompatible formats, proprietary systems, and […]

The regulatory landscape for artificial intelligence in Europe is shifting rapidly, and a significant milestone is approaching. While much of the discussion around the EU AI Act has focused on the delayed deadlines for “high-risk” systems, the transparency obligations outlined in Article 50 remain firmly on schedule. As of August 2, 2026, new rules will apply to how institutions and providers use and disclose AI-generated content and interactive systems. To assist with compliance, the European Commission recently published comprehensive guidelines clarifying these requirements. For those working in Vocational Education and Training (VET), understanding these distinctions is no longer a future […]

More from the UNESCO-UNEVOC guide “Integrating AI in TVET: A practical guide for institutions,” which I was lucky enough to be a member of the advisory group. I have written before of the challenge AI Poses for Vocational Education and Training being both the subject of VET and a means of teaching and learning about VET. VET institutions have to prepare learners for evolving occupational roles while figuring out how to use these technologies within their own teaching and administrative practices. The new publication from UNESCO-UNEVOC offers a roadmap for navigating this transition. Developed in collaboration with Shenzhen Polytechnic University […]

As the integration of artificial intelligence into educational settings accelerates, the conversation often centres on efficiency, personalization, and the automation of administrative tasks. However, a deeper philosophical question remains largely unaddressed: what is lost when we remove friction from the learning process? To explore this, we can turn to the work of Gert Biesta, a distinguished Dutch philosopher of education and Professor of Public Education at Maynooth University in Ireland, as well as Professor of Educational Theory and Pedagogy at the University of Edinburgh. Biesta has spent decades examining the fundamental purposes of education, arguing that it must go beyond […]

The narrative surrounding technological advancement often presents resistance as backwardness. However, a growing movement is reclaiming the term “Luddite,” not as a rejection of technology itself, but as a critical stance against the power structures that dictate its development and deployment. This sentiment is gaining traction globally, manifesting in diverse ways from cultural festivals in the United States to grassroots environmental and labour campaigns across Europe. For educators, trainers, and researchers, understanding this shift is crucial, as it highlights the profound social and political implications of the tools we increasingly rely upon. The historical Luddites of 19th-century England were skilled […]

This week, I had the pleasure of participating in an excellent webinar to mark the launch of a new publication from UNESCO-UNEVOC, titled “Integrating AI in TVET: A practical guide for institutions.” I was fortunate to have been part of the advisory board for the publication, so this launch felt like a significant milestone — seeing a project that many of us contributed to finally reach the wider TVET community. The event itself brought together experts and practitioners from across the globe to discuss the realities of embedding artificial intelligence within technical and vocational education and training. The publication, developed […]

My blog, the Wales Wide Web, now goes back over twenty years. We have covered many themes around teaching and learning, new qualifications, knowledge building and sharing, and of course, technology. Over the past year, many of the articles have focused on AI and education, syndicated through the AI Pioneers website and newsletter. This entry is also very pertinent to the debates over AI, although coming at something of a tangent. There is much handwringing over the limited number of large, cutting-edge technology companies in Europe, with only one major AI foundation model provider based in France. Some have argued […]

It is blog time. I have a few interesting things this week. First off is a very interesting signal from the European Parliament: a new Draft Report prepared by rapporteur Brigitte van den Berg on “Boosting Skills in the Union – Opportunities for Vocational Education and Training in Times of Transition” places Vocational Education and Training (VET) at the centre of Europe’s competitiveness agenda. Second is a thought-provoking keynote from Anthony Fisher Camilleri at the EDEN conference, arguing that digital sovereignty in EdTech requires an ecosystem strategy. Finally, we are seeing an interesting widening of the debate on AI readiness […]

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 […]