Twenty years ago, digital tools were an optional extra in higher education. Early adopters experimented with virtual learning environments, flipped classrooms, and e-portfolios, gathering evidence of the benefits for students. In 2005, Jisc launched research into learners' e-learning experiences, a study that expanded over two decades to cover further education, higher education, adult learning, and prison contexts. This work underscored the importance of understanding students' digital environments and the value of co-designing learning and assessment with students.
Today, student voice is elevated in national surveys like the NSS, Advance HE's student academic experience survey, and Jisc's digital experience insights surveys, and it plays a key role in the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF). Most universities have embedded students-as-partners schemes and established methods for gathering feedback on digital experiences. Yet significant gaps remain. Recent Jisc research reveals that the digital experiences of international students and those studying overseas through transnational education (TNE) are poorly understood, particularly the “digital shocks” they face when crossing digital borders to engage with UK higher education. The same themes reported two decades ago—access, equity, and partnership—still challenge us today. The future demands deeper collaboration with students to ensure digital learning is inclusive, responsive, and truly transformative.