Lewisham College, Interactive Kitchen and associated projects
| Contact Details: | Angela Hunt, e-Learning Resources Manager, angela.hunt@lewisham.ac.uk |
Type of Project: |
Refurbishment and pedagogic decision. |
| Start/End Date: | 2004 - 2007. |
| Virtual tour: | http://www.lewisham.ac.uk/uploads_old/images/virtual_tour/Lewisham_Tour.htm |
Success Factors
What Makes The Space Successful?
Key to the success of it is the teacher's confidence and the pedagogical use of the technology. The kitchen is a high profile facility. Jamie Oliver's 15 Foundation trainees attend Lewisham College. Gordon Ramsay and Angela Hartnett have participated in catering activities. A Ready Steady Cook activity has been held virtually with City College Norwich - another proud owner of an interactive kitchen.
Provision of this type of facility is both scalable and transferable. Lewisham's Deptford Campus houses construction courses. A plasma screen with two audio/video feeds to hand held DVD disk video cameras. The two feeds are in the two separate areas of teaching. The construction technician films the classes and they can then be imported to Blackboard.
There has been a slow realisation that different types of learning strategy result in different levels of learning. Research has shown that traditional didactic teaching can result in the audience only retaining 5% of the information told to them within a lecture. Lewisham is working on increasing that by using a more collaborative approach to learning - on the basis that working together increases the retention rate of information.
Feedback suggests that the teachers at Lewisham College feel supported. The success of the space and its stakeholders is also about managing expectations. There has been a lot of effort put into developing on-line resources for staff to support them in their work. There is a (e-college) portal on the intranet where staff have used tools to create guides, films of piloting, ideas, etc. Different themes and technologies are addressed regularly - e.g. wikis (wikispaces.com).
The ethos is don't do things to the teachers/students, do it with them. This is the way forward and it's important to ensure that no-one feels disenfranchised. It's about engagement. If staff don't have the ICT skills then they are encouraged to acquire them with the college's support. New staff get an hour's ICT induction on their first day in order to get their passwords - this helps to introduce and reinforce the widespread use of technology within the College.
What Is Innovative About The Design And The Use Of The Space?
The development provides interactive and collaborative flexible space. It uses technology in areas where traditionally users have been unsure or resistant to its use. The College has been able to use its current estate to test-bed innovative space design prior to the major move to new purpose-built premises in the next few years.
