City of Wolverhampton College is on an ambitious digital transformation journey. With a commitment to ensuring that every member of its community thrives in a digital world, the college has adopted a range of Jisc tools including the Digital elevation tool (DET) and Digital experience insights survey (DEI), alongside internal programmes such as Defining Future Learning (DFL) and Tech Tuesdays, to develop confident, digitally capable staff and students.
This case study outlines how the college’s blended strategy has shaped an inclusive, forward-thinking digital culture that supports professional development, curriculum innovation, and improved learner outcomes.
Why Use the Digital Elevation Tool?
City of Wolverhampton College adopted Jisc’s Digital elevation tool to take a strategic “pulse check” of its digital maturity. The college had strong digital and IT practices in place, but they existed separately. The tool helped merge these into one unified Digital Transformation Strategy that aligned with the wider Defining Future Learning vision.
It also provided a valuable framework for surfacing new insights, particularly from voices across the organisation. Governors, senior leaders, and professional support staff were engaged in the process, ensuring decisions reflected the full diversity of the college community.
We used the Digital Elevation Tool not just as a self-assessment, but as a mirror to spark honest reflection and targeted improvement.
Conrad Taylor, Head of business learning and technologies
Listening and Leading with Purpose
The Digital elevation tool helped connect strategic ambitions with the practical realities of college life. Input was gathered through surveys and feedback sessions, while the Jisc Discovery tool was embedded into annual performance reviews, allowing over 227 staff to self-assess digital confidence and set personal development targets.
A digital KPI is now a standard part of appraisal conversations, linking individual growth directly to organisational improvement.
Overcoming Challenges
As with any whole organisation change, the journey wasn’t always straightforward. The comprehensive nature of the Digital elevation tool could have slowed progress. To counter this, the college adopted an agile, “hop on, hop off” approach, implementing improvements in real time rather than waiting for perfect data sets or a date when every stakeholder could meet, which we all know is an impossible task. This iterative mindset allowed departments to act quickly on insights, test new ideas, and refine them before rolling them out more widely.
“We didn’t want the process to become a tick-box exercise. We wanted honest reflection and meaningful action.”
Petra Hosey, Digital innovation coordinator
Amplifying Student Voices and Insights
Alongside staff development, the college used three Digital experience insights surveys (students, teaching staff, and professional services). These provided evidence-based insights into how technology was shaping teaching, learning, and working life. The results informed investment, highlighted pain points, and gave students a stronger voice in shaping their digital environment.
The Big Wins
The blended use of Jisc tools led to transformative outcomes across the organisation:
- Merged digital and IT strategies into a single Digital Transformation Roadmap
- Shifted from a foundational to transformational stage in key areas
- Integrated AI literacy and VR-enhanced learning into the curriculum
- Embedded digital KPIs into staff performance reviews
- Strengthened collaboration between HR, curriculum teams, and support departments
Using Jisc tools has led to several other transformative initiatives across the organisation, as shown below:
Empowering Learners Through iDEA
The College’s use of the Inspiring Digital Enterprise Award (iDEA) empowers students to build digital, enterprise, and problem-solving skills through self-directed learning. Learners choose modules that align with their career goals and complete them as part of the Directed Study initiative.
Key stats:
- 4,593 learners participated
- 99,444 badges earned
- 1,777 Bronze and 539 Silver Awards achieved
- In 2024-25: 666 learners, 8,491 badges, 254 awards
Professional Development at Every Level
The Defining Future Learning (DFL) framework helps staff build digital skills relevant to their job role, whether in leadership, student support, or admin. Badges, milestone tracking, and internal celebration events support engagement and recognition.
Their ‘Tech Tuesdays’ is a popular CPD initiative that provides 3–5 minute video tips shared via Teams to help staff improve digital efficiency, creativity, and confidence on demand.
Innovation in Action with AI and VR
The College has launched an AI Portal, helping staff access trusted information and case studies on safe and innovative AI use. Their staff have used AI in innovative ways, some of which they have published as use cases on AI in Education, these include:
- AI in English & Creative Arts
- AI in Counselling & Healthcare
- AI in Automotive Studies
The College also uses VR to develop employability “Power Skills” particularly in job interviews. In their SWAP programmes, students complete VR modules that prepare them for real interviews. Employers report a noticeable improvement in confidence and performance.
Find out more
If the innovations in this case study have inspired you to use these tools to begin embedding digital skills in your environment or to enhance your existing programmes, you can speak to your Jisc relationship manager or contact us via help@jisc.ac.uk
