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Michael Webb

@mwebb.bsky.social
849 followers 824 following 177 posts

Mostly AI and technology in education. Director of AI at Jisc. Might post the odd music and cat thing too.

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Michael Webb @mwebb.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
That's a fair question - sometimes we comment on the articles people are talking to us about. Given access to published literature is still quite restricted, it's often things like this post. Our usual audience, I think, understands that, but this one went viral on Reddit.
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Michael Webb @mwebb.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
Do you know which Jisc blog post by any chance? It certainly hasn’t been our intention to make people believe that so I‘d like to review it. We have wanted people to think about digital impact more widely so I’m guessing it may be the comparison one?
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Michael Webb @mwebb.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
Rebecca Flook and me on the power behind gen AI tools. "The systems now being woven into education are shaped by a remarkably small group of people." wonkhe.com/blogs/the-ch... #jisc
wonkhe.com
The choices universities and colleges make about AI are political
Ahead of this week's Digifest, Michael Webb and Rebecca Flook confront the complex values systems behind general purpose AI technology
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Michael Webb @mwebb.bsky.social · 06/03/2026
Digifest is almost here. I’ll be in conversation with Rebecca Flook and Lawrie Phipps on “The Power and the Principles: Who’s really shaping AI?” A timely discussion given everything happening in the world right now. Tuesday, 12:30 (Hall 8B) #jisc
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Michael Webb @mwebb.bsky.social · 03/03/2026
A follow-up on Claude Cowork. Two weeks in, it's the most genuinely useful AI tool I've used so far. The browser automation actually works. mwebb.blog/2026/03/02/c...
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Reposted by Michael Webb
Nicole Hennig @nic221.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
Here’s my handout for the webinar I did a while back in AI’s environmental impacts & putting stats in context). docs.google.com/document/d/1... #AI #environment #DataCenters
docs.google.com
AI’s Environmental Impact: Understanding the data and acting sustainably
AI’s Environmental Impact: Understanding the Data and Acting Sustainably Nicole Hennig (nicolehennig.com) Handout for Oct. 17 and Dec. 5 webinar, 2025 1. Individual use of generative AI is a drop i...
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Michael Webb @mwebb.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
A quick overview of a really good All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) meeting on AI horizon scanning: mwebb.blog/2026/01/26/a...
mwebb.blog
AI APPG Horizon Scanning
I’m on a train heading back from a crowded committee room in the House of Lords for an AI APPG (all-party parliamentary group) evidence session on horizon scanning. AI events always draw a cr…
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Michael Webb @mwebb.bsky.social · 21/01/2026
Random thought but I wonder if social media bans for U-16 are the wrong approach and instead we should regulate toxic design patterns like the infinite scroll.
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Michael Webb @mwebb.bsky.social · 04/12/2025
The missing part of the jigsaw is investment in the software developers, UX people etc needed to maintain the open source software. Otherwise it’s just looking for a free ride.
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Michael Webb @mwebb.bsky.social · 28/11/2025
Another busy week with lots of travel. Good to be home with the kitty cats :-)
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Michael Webb @mwebb.bsky.social · 28/11/2025
Should be an interesting day at the Federation of Awarding bodies conference - I'm on a panel looking at how AI can be used in assessment, with a focus on the assessor, rather than the student, which has perhaps been the focus of most conversations so far.
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Michael Webb @mwebb.bsky.social · 27/11/2025
ok, thanks - I've tried to get that across in 'be problem focused' section, but I'll look again at this. I agree with what you are saying, so feedback on whether it's clear is helpful.
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Michael Webb @mwebb.bsky.social · 27/11/2025
Yes absolutely - definitely no ‘one sizes fits all’. But for a sizeable number of people it helped.
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Michael Webb @mwebb.bsky.social · 27/11/2025
Striking the right balance is always a challenge - I get feedback about being too negative too. FE is the place where we have the best evidence of timesaving, particularly with Teachermatic through our pilot and others.
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Reposted by Michael Webb
EDLAB – Maastricht University Centre for Teaching & Learning @edlab-ctl.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
Maastricht University teaching staff: test your digital skills in 20–25 minutes with the Jisc Discovery Tool. Get a personalised report on online teaching, collaboration, media literacy, AI use and digital wellbeing — plus trusted resources. Voluntary & anonymous! maastricht-uni.potential.ly/signin
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Michael Webb @mwebb.bsky.social · 15/11/2025
Pretty wet on this morning’s ride. This is a road.
A swan landing in a flooded road
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Michael Webb @mwebb.bsky.social · 12/11/2025
I think so. This is the press release - it feels like AI-powered was shoehorned in so it would get press attention. www.gov.uk/government/n...
gov.uk
Education Secretary sets roadmap to improve attendance levels
Every school to be set an individual minimum target to improve attendance and set up every child to achieve and thrive.
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Michael Webb @mwebb.bsky.social · 12/11/2025
I’m guessing it really means ‘using maths’ rather than Gen AI.
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Michael Webb @mwebb.bsky.social · 11/11/2025
This is interesting - when I try to get ChatGPT to give me song lyrics without searching it gives me a few lines and then errors. Does anyone know if it's always done this? Or is it a rapid response to the German court ruling?
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Michael Webb @mwebb.bsky.social · 11/11/2025
Has anyone found a fix for the iPad iPadOS26 scrolling issue by any chance? The one where scrolling from anywhere apart from the edge of the screen stops working until you reboot?
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Michael Webb @mwebb.bsky.social · 11/11/2025
We (Jisc) do for colleges. We don’t separate Welsh students and teachers from others in our reports, and it’s a very mixed picture, with concerned mostly being centred are jobs.
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Michael Webb @mwebb.bsky.social · 11/11/2025
Oh! Now you point it out, our research team’s email address doesn’t look right here! I’ll mention this to them. It’s definitely not market research! We just want to get a range of views to help Medr prioritise activities.
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Michael Webb @mwebb.bsky.social · 22/09/2025
iOS 26 has made my iPad mini 6th gen pretty much unusable. Slow, screen barely responds. Anyone found a fix?
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Michael Webb @mwebb.bsky.social · 02/09/2025
My colleague Sue Attewell leads our stream of work looking at staff and student perceptions of AI. In a new blog post the focus is with a group of pre-sessional international students. nationalcentreforai.jiscinvolve.org/wp/2025/09/0...
nationalcentreforai.jiscinvolve.org
Student Perceptions 2025: Insights from a Group of Pre-sessional International Students at the University of Manchester - Artificial intelligence
How do international students preparing to study in the UK view AI? Sue Attewell spoke with a group of pre-sessional students at Manchester, mostly from China, about their hopes, worries and everyday ...
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Michael Webb @mwebb.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
There are similar issues with, say, Turnitin. We want to get these discussions in right at the start this time rather than when it’s too.
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Michael Webb @mwebb.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
We really want engagement from critical voices.
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Michael Webb @mwebb.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
Thats the kind of thing we want the pilot participants to answer. We want to collectively work out the most responsible approach. There will be a lot of discussion as there are multiple places we need to consider this. Best way to contribute is engage with people in your uni running the pilots.
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Michael Webb @mwebb.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
All sensible questions! We absolutely want students to be fully involved, and to help universities develop best practice. We know this is a complex area and the views and input from everyone is crucial.
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Michael Webb @mwebb.bsky.social · 25/07/2025
In a perfect world, maybe we’d all be able to accept everyone’s authentic self and not judge people by how they communicate, including how they write and express themselves. But we don’t live in a perfect world, do we? #jisc #aied nationalcentreforai.jiscinvolve.org/wp/2025/07/0...
nationalcentreforai.jiscinvolve.org
Opinion: how generative AI can help us address linguistic inequalities - Artificial intelligence
Within the theme of AI and social inclusion, Tom Moule discusses how generative AI can address linguistic inequality.
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Michael Webb @mwebb.bsky.social · 25/07/2025
The US have released their AI action plan. We need to take notice as it has profound implications for academia. More here: #jisc #aied nationalcentreforai.jiscinvolve.org/wp/2025/07/2...
nationalcentreforai.jiscinvolve.org
Comparing and contrasting the US and UK AI Action Plans - Artificial intelligence
The US Government has just published its AI action plan.  Given the UK’s own AI Opportunities Action Plan was published earlier this year, and that both plans touch directly or indirectly on education...
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Michael Webb @mwebb.bsky.social · 27/06/2025
AI detection, assessment and learning to use electricity. If we rely on scales/traffic lights and ignore assessment redesign then the logical conclusion is we have to detect AI misuse. Tools aren't great at it, and nor are people. nationalcentreforai.jiscinvolve.org/wp/2025/06/2...
nationalcentreforai.jiscinvolve.org
AI Detection, assessment and learning to use electricity - Artificial intelligence
This blog post is an update to two previous entries that focused on AI detection tools: ‘AI Detection: Latest Recommendations’ (September 2023) and ‘AI Writing Detectors – Concepts and Considerations’...
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Michael Webb @mwebb.bsky.social · 06/06/2025
Have you heard of wooden data centres? nationalcentreforai.jiscinvolve.org/wp/2025/06/0...
nationalcentreforai.jiscinvolve.org
Artificial intelligence and the environment: Looking ahead - Artificial intelligence
In our AI and the environment blog series, we’ve covered taking a responsible approach, provided an update on the current landscape, and looked at putting the numbers into perspective. In this final b...
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Michael Webb @mwebb.bsky.social · 24/05/2025
How often does this lift break down that this signed is needed? Didn’t fill me with confidence!
Don’t panic
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Michael Webb @mwebb.bsky.social · 24/05/2025
How often does this lift break down that this signed is needed? Didn’t feel me with confidence!
Don’t panic!
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Michael Webb @mwebb.bsky.social · 19/05/2025
Can image generation be more than a gimmick? We think so. We ran a pilot exploring imagine generation with 44 institution late last year, and we've now released our report blog post, which includes a nice gallery of images and their prompts: nationalcentreforai.jiscinvolve.org/wp/2025/05/1...
nationalcentreforai.jiscinvolve.org
Guidance on AI Image Generation: learnings from our pilot - Artificial intelligence
Following Jisc's Image Generation pilot, this report provides guidance on how colleges and universities can use image generation effectively.
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Reposted by Michael Webb
Jisc @jisc.bsky.social · 02/05/2025
Two wins for the Jisc cyber team at last night's Security Excellence Awards! Winning both CISO and security team of the year, the judges remarked "exceptional leadership defending not just one organisation, but the entire academic sector, while building a security community."
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Michael Webb @mwebb.bsky.social · 09/04/2025
A new blog post from my colleague Catherine Barker. Well worth reading, especially to see the striking fashion images that it can create and how they compare to those possible when we did our image generation pilots just a few months ago. nationalcentreforai.jiscinvolve.org/wp/2025/04/0...
nationalcentreforai.jiscinvolve.org
ChatGPT image generation: What’s changed and why it matters - Artificial intelligence
OpenAI have built their most advanced image generator yet into GPT-4o, which ‘excels at accurately rendering text, precisely following prompts, and leveraging 4o’s inherence knowledge base and chat co...
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Michael Webb @mwebb.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
Got round to trying Perplexity deep research. The name overhypes its ability but still a decent enough tool to help with some search activities.
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Michael Webb @mwebb.bsky.social · 12/03/2025
It’s snowing in Birmingham this morning! Ok, just a tiny bit but still… #digifest25
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Michael Webb @mwebb.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
I think it’s largely because developing secure in-house tools is really hard, and data security is an important ethical consideration. With commercial companies it can be managed with contracts.
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Jacqui Bartram @jaxbartram.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
So much in Sana Khareghani’s wonderful keynote on where we are with AI that I could only capture a fraction! #digifest #digifest25 from @jisc.bsky.social
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Michael Webb @mwebb.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
Fantastic session sharing examples from our Learnwise pilot, with a message around both how useful it is and how quick to deploy. #digifest25
View of the stage and a slide with 4 people.
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Michael Webb @mwebb.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
Standing room only in our Kaltura workshop around personalised learning and their AI Class Genie beta. #digifest25
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Jisc @jisc.bsky.social · 10/03/2025
Hall 3 is starting to take shape and there's a buzz in the air. Make sure you tag us in your posts if you're joining us at #Digifest25 so we can share our favourites 🧡
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Michael Webb @mwebb.bsky.social · 07/03/2025
Who’s coming to Jisc Digifest next week? If you are come and add to our AI map!
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Reposted by Michael Webb
FE Week @feweek.bsky.social · 22/02/2025
🤖 'We need to learn from the sudden leap we saw with ChatGPT – we're likely to see a similar leap in robotics, which will broaden the impact across many of our skills areas' @mwebb.bsky.social of @jisc.bsky.social tells colleges feweek.co.uk/with-the-rig...
feweek.co.uk
Preparing for the AI Era: How UK colleges can lead the way
The AI automation age will create stronger demand for uniquely human skills
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Michael Webb @mwebb.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
Engineering Responsible AI:foundations for environmentally sustainable AI. An excellent new report: nepc.raeng.org.uk/media/2aggau...
nepc.raeng.org.uk
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Edtech McKean @paulmckean.bsky.social · 29/01/2025
Jisc's @mwebb.bsky.social initial top level advice on #Deepseek nationalcentreforai.jiscinvolve.org/wp/2025/01/2... #AIEd
nationalcentreforai.jiscinvolve.org
DeepSeek - Initial Thoughts and Advice. - Artificial intelligence
Another day, another new and slightly unexpected AI development. This time, it’s DeepSeek. It’s been hard to miss the news, but in case you have, here’s a quick summary: Chinese company DeepSeek has s...
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Michael Webb @mwebb.bsky.social · 26/01/2025
I’m sure there’s some metaphor or story here - but anyway, I love the inventive use of an upside down gym bench to fix the velodrome track.
Man climbing a bench to fix the track
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Michael Webb @mwebb.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
Today's announcement at BETT from Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson: Phttps://www.gov.uk/government/news/education-secretary-outlines-plans-to-modernise-education-sector
gov.uk
Education Secretary outlines plans to modernise education sector
Education Secretary to announce plans for digital revolution in schools at the Bett Show in London.
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