In 2024, we continued our ambition to provide flexible, sustainable, and secure digital learning and working environments for students, employees, and collaborative partners. In this way, we promote agile and innovative learning through user-friendly systems and open educational resources. This better prepares students for the job market and the digital world of today.
National Leadership Role
Alfa-college has taken a leadership role in the national digitization of exams. In collaboration with around sixty exam suppliers, we are working on standardization to process results from digital exams quickly and accurately and to enable flexibility in examination.
AI
The rise of generative AI in 2023 led us to focus on its integration in 2024 to enrich learning and make operations more efficient. AI cafes and workshops were again organized at all locations. Through discussions about this and various experiments, we continue to learn about the risks and opportunities of this technology, especially regarding what we, as an educational organization, find acceptable or unacceptable.
Use of Software Robot
To enhance job satisfaction and work more efficiently, we implemented various improvements in 2024. Increasingly, a software robot was used. Our employees spend less time transferring data between different systems. An example of this is the automation of sending the statutory course fee statement. This makes students receive help earlier, and the quality of service increases.
Establishment of DNA Studios
At DNA Studios, various disciplines come together to develop and share innovative, high-quality open educational materials. DNA Studios supports teachers and teams in creating digital open educational resources, ensuring quality and copyright compliance. This guarantees consistency and enhances both the quality and quantity of our offerings.
Suitable and Logical Learning Paths
The program 'Suitable and Logical Learning Paths' offers students the opportunity to study at their own pace or based on their interests and to start at a time of their choosing. In 2024, we digitized the curricula of our programs, and the first pilot teaching teams began using the new digital setup within the systems Itslearning and Eduarte.
Secure IT Workspace
Cybersecurity remains a priority. We continue to secure and monitor our digital environment. In 2024, we also improved and secured the personal IT workspace of employees, benefiting the digital environment of Alfa-college.
Collaborations
National developments from MBO Digitaal and Npuls remain important for digitalization within Alfa college. In 2024, we received funding for the OpenUp project, which encourages the use of digital open educational resources. This reduces our dependency on publishers and promotes the reuse of quality educational materials. Additionally, a business case was delivered for collaboration between the IM&ICT departments of DCTerra, Noorderpoort, and Alfa-college, under the name DNA Digital. This demonstrated that further collaboration is beneficial. In 2025, we will explore working towards a single ICT organization by 2027 and jointly create an IT roadmap and architecture.