On Wednesday 2 November, employees from colleges across the region were joined by industry experts from the digital world of Extended Reality for a skills masterclass and training workshop.
The day provided staff members from Barnfield College, Northampton College, Moulton College, MK College, Central Bedfordshire College and The Bedford College Group with first-hand experiences of training and development using extended reality. With funding from the Department for Education via the Strategic Development Fund (SDF), all the colleges are set to receive the technology that will enable them to develop new skills solutions for students and employers using some of the most advanced virtual reality techniques.
The funding is intended to enable colleges to develop new skills training solutions for local people and businesses in response to the skills priorities identified in Local Skills Improvement Plans, which are being developed by employers with the support of Chambers of Commerce.
During the training day employees watched demonstrations of the technology in action developing a broad range of hard and soft skills needed across numerous employment sectors. They also tried it out themselves, learning how to create digital twin environments and so much more.
Amanda Washbrook, Deputy Principal, outlines how the technology will be utilised across the colleges and looks forward to the next phase of the project designed to evolve teaching and learning.
Metaverse Learning, who specialise in creating immersive virtual learning environments, took the colleges through how they provide opportunities for students which are otherwise difficult to replicate in the classroom. The virtual environments are aligned to those in industry, students could find themselves walking the halls of care homes to provide check-ups on residents, scaling rooftops to repair and maintain solar panels or even working on new building developments to install heat pumps.
BodySwaps, whose programme provides opportunities for professional development, gave attendees the chance to enter a virtual interview room designed to test the participants soft skills and provide specific feedback on body language, eye contact and diction.
Lastly the colleges were given an overview of the WarpVR software, this tool enables each college to create ‘digital twins’ of real working environments. These digital twins will help students transition to a real place of work, as the software captures 360-degree video to mimic settings and situations.
Amanda Washbrook, Director of Curriculum and Business Development, said: “These new technologies will help our students to develop their technical ability, soft skills and confidence to better prepare them for what they can expect in real life.”
This is just the first stage of investment that will enhance teaching and learning for students with more kit and equipment to come including, Haptic feedback suits, Pico VR Headsets, VR Omni-directional treadmills and more leading-edge technology that will develop skills that students need for future success.