This 2017 Outstanding, Teaching, Learning and Assessment (OTLA) project was delivered in partnership with Bury College. It explored how information and learning technology (ILT) could enhance personalised and contextualised learning and assessment in maths.

The project found learners liked and used this ILT and liked having their own analytics. Staff development and outcomes are mapped to the Professional Standards. They found staff actively promoted the use of the digital assistant to support learners. In addition to maths GCSE, this personalised, differentiated and adaptive learning was extended to the cross college online employability course being delivered to over 2,000 full-time learners.

Ada, the digital assistant (named after Ada Lovelace), was linked to a powerful database containing information specific to each learner and their programme of study. Learners could ask Ada questions relating to GCSE maths and received answers, instructional videos and links to external resources to help them. Teachers were able to monitor the questions learners asked and then deliver targeted workshops for learners as appropriate. 

The case study includes links to the project lead's LinkedIn account where he provides much more detail and highly interesting and readable ongoing updates as to how Bolton College is developing Ada for much more than maths.