With the new year on the horizon, our host Katherine Barnett sat down with global technology specialist and consultant Geoff Chapman for a special year-in-review edition of Revision Notes.

From concerns about the digitalisation of exams to bizarre (and false) stories about exam ceiling height, we look back at some of our favourite stories of the year. We also discuss Geoff’s predictions for 2025, as well as what he would like to see happening next in the education and assessment space.

Interested in Geoff’s work? You can read more of his thoughts at geoffchapman.co.uk, and keep up to date with him via Bluesky (@geoffchapman.bsky.social) and Twitter/X (@chappersman.)

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According to the Global Slavery Index, a shocking 50 million people are currently living in modern slavery worldwide, with 10 million of those being children. The reasons for this are numerous, with the Global Slavery Index citing complex conflicts, widespread environmental degradation and the economic and social impact of Covid 19 as just some contributing factors.

In this edition of The VICTVS Podcast, we discuss this complex and challenging issue with help from our expert guests Lucy Mann and Marija Jovanovic. As today is the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery, there’s no better time to discuss this topic and educate ourselves on what exactly modern day slavery is, how we can spot it and what should be done to prevent it.

Lucy Mann works with the British charity Unseen to help businesses monitor for and prevent modern day slavery and worker exploitation, while Marija Jovanovic is a lawyer and researcher at the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights. Marija is also a co-investigator at Modern Slavery and Human Rights Policy and Evidence Centre (PEC).

Want to join the debate or ask us a question? Let us know in the comments below. You can also follow us on Instagram at @victvsglobal and LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/company/victvs/

VICTVS Assured works to provide Ground Truth Reporting to clients around the world. We help our clients achieve ESG compliance, which includes spotting and stopping modern day slavery. Visit us here at victvsassured.co.uk to find out more.

Sources:

Walk Free, ‘Global Slavery Index: Understanding the Scale of Modern Slavery’

Splinter, ‘How Modern-Day Slavery Aids Big Businesses Like McDonald’s and Wendy’s’

International Labour Organization, ‘Global Estimates of Modern Slavery: Forced Labour and Forced Marriage’

Marija Jovanovic for The Conversation, ‘We don’t know how many victims of modern slavery are in prison – why that’s a problem’

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Welcome to our first edition of VICTVS Revision Notes, a special (and shorter) episode where we look into some of the latest developments in the Ed tech and assessment spaces. Our hosts, Xanthe Mitten and Katherine Barnett, discuss the digitalisation of exams, driving test limits in Bulgaria as well as other recent news.

Want to join the debate or ask us a question? Let us know in the comments below. You can also follow us on Instagram at @victvsglobal and LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/victvs/

Sources:
Tes, ‘My AI experiment: how many students can beat detection software’
EdScoop, ‘UCLA recruits first chief data and AI officer from JPL’
Novinite, ‘Bulgaria Faces Controversy Over New Driver's License Regulations: Protests Planned’
Independent, ‘Warning over plans to rollout digital exams across country’
UK Parliament, ‘Helen Hayes elected as Chair of Education Committee’

You can read Katherine’s piece on the digitalisation of exams on our blog: https://www.victvs.co.uk/blog/

About the VITVS Podcast

Learning goes beyond exams and qualifications—it's about expanding horizons, overcoming challenges, and building skills and knowledge. At VICTVS, we invite guests from a variety of industries and cultures to share their insights, offering lessons from their diverse experiences. If you're passionate about education and how learning can help you achieve your goals, the VICTVS podcast is for you. Enjoy our content? Subscribe, rate, and share The VICTVS Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube.

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Welcome to Episode 8 of The VICTVS Podcast! This week, our hosts Ben Clayson and Carly Culver are joined by special guest Kim Eggleton, Head of Peer Review & Research Integrity at IOP Publishing. In this episode we explore the pressing issue of research integrity in academic publishing. We examine the motivations behind submitting fraudulent papers, the intense pressures placed on academics by institutions, and the often-overlooked complicity of these institutions. Kim shares her journey in academic publishing, revealing how research integrity has become a crucial issue in the industry over the past decade. The conversation takes a deep dive into the various forms of academic misconduct that Kim encounters. From blatant plagiarism to the rise of “paper mills”—where entire research papers are fabricated for a fee—the episode exposes the dark side of academic publishing. X : @EggletonKim, @IOPPublishing Linkedin: Kim (Foster) Eggleton | LinkedIn IOP Publishing: Overview | LinkedIn

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Welcome to Episode 7 of the VICTVS on Air Podcast! This week, Ben Clayson and Carly Culver sit down to discuss the far-reaching topic of plagiarism, exploring infamous cases from politics to the art world. They examine the motivations and circumstances behind both intentional and unintentional plagiarism, its lasting ramifications, and how it affects both the plagiarist and the plagiarised.

Sign up to The Global VICTVS Exam Hack 2024 here: https://www.victvs.co.uk/2024/04/19/exam-hack/

To learn more about VICTVS and get in touch, visit www.victvs.co.uk or follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/victvs Instagram: @victvsglobal Facebook @victvs”

www.victvs.co.uk

This month we welcome a special guest all the way from Australia! Professor Phillip Dawson, a distinguished scholar in academic integrity from Deakin University joins us to discuss how AI will revolutionise education, set against the backdrop of a concerning uptick in cheating facilitated by AI.

To learn more about VICTVS and get in touch, visit www.victvs.co.uk or follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/victvs

Follow us on Instagram and Facebook @victvs

To follow Professor Phillip Dawson,

visit X: https://twitter.com/phillipdawson/

Youtube: @PhillipDawson

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philldawson/

Website: philldawson.com

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Welcome to an extraordinary journey with SAS veteran turned polar adventurer and mental health coach Paul Vicary, a true modern-day explorer.

Join us as we embark on a transformative podcast delving into the remarkable intersection of Paul's testing expedition to the North and South poles and the timeless principles of mental resilience and learning through setbacks that helped him achieve some incredible feats, both on the ice and off.

This podcast offers not only a guide for achieving our goals, but also a reflection of the determination that pushes us towards excellence. This is an inspiring conversation with Paul Vicary, a man who knows how to push the boundaries and achieve his dreams.

Get your copy of his new book, 'Plan D: A Race Against Time': https://www.paulvicary.com/book

Connect with him on LinkedIn for ongoing inspiration: https://www.linkedin.com/company/paul-vicary/

Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/victvs

You can also find a full transcript of the episode on the VICTVS website, and don’t forget to share, like or subscribe!

During the recent CES tech event, Samsung's groundbreaking anti-cheating AI software, PROBA, made a splash, attracting more than 1.6 million views on TikTok. But what does this mean for the future of assessments? Will algorithms become a new source of exam anxiety? Just what else are the tech giants cooking up in the ever-evolving EdTech and assessment sphere?

Join us on this episode of The VICTVS podcast as we embark on a journey to uncover the trailblazers, the innovators, and the forces reshaping the landscape of education and assessment. Let's unravel the fascinating developments as we also discuss the rapid ascent of remote exam Invigilation, during and post-pandemic, that has ignited keen interest from the corporate world.


Talking with our guest, EdTech industry expert, Geoff Chapman, Co-Founder of World Exam Tech, we cover the current trends of EdTech, and what is coming next.


Follow us on X at VICTVS @victvsltd, and Geoff Chapman @chappersman

You can also find a full transcript of the episode on the VICTVS website, and don’t forget to share, like or subscribe!

Did you hear the story about the thousands of Indian Army candidates who had to sit an exam in their underwear? Or the Senegalese man arrested for dressing up as his girlfriend to take exams on her behalf, and was only discovered on day three of the exams? Or what about the US Airforce Nuclear Missile Commanders who were found cheating on their monthly proficiency tests?

Welcome to the occasionally amusing, sometimes inventive and always thought provoking world of exam cheating. In this month’s episode of The VICTVS Podcast, we discuss the lengths students and exam setters go to outsmart each other, and the impact this is having on academic integrity.

Talking with our guest, Derek Newton, writer for HuffPost, Forbes and The Atlantic, and creator of The Cheat Sheet, we cover contract cheating, trust, and exactly why cheating in exams is such an important topic for everyone.

Follow us on Twitter at VICTVS @victvsltd, and Derek Newton at @derekTNG.

You can also find a full transcript of the episode on the VICTVS website, and don’t forget to share, like or subscribe!

Do smart drugs which report to enhance concentration, focus and brain power actually work? Who is using them and why? Is using a cognitive enhancer during an exam cheating? Are they safe?

This month's episode does a deep dive into the fascinating world of smart drugs, otherwise known as nootropics or cognitive enhancers. We chat with Dr Eleanor Dommett, Reader of Neuroscience at King's College London about use of these drugs within the university population and beyond, as well as exploring the ethics of using such substances to gain a competitive advantage.

We would love to hear your thoughts and experiences on this topic, so get the conversation started by leaving a comment down below.

You can also find a full transcript of the episode on the VICTVS website, and don’t forget to share, like or subscribe!