Lewisham College, Interactive Kitchen and associated projects

Technology

Ghurbhurun describes technology as a slow burner. He explained that, with regard to technology at Lewisham, things have developed over the last 4 years. Progress has certainly been made due, in no little measure, to the right infrastructure being in place and getting the right people in and creating the appropriate content. A great strength of the College is that it treats ICT as a strategic asset.

Technology is widely used throughout the College. All rooms have computers and more than half of these are connected to audio visual facilities including smartboards.

The use of Smartboards and videos is applicable across disciplines. Performing Arts students at Lewisham, for instance, use technology in a number of ways; dance students use video of their performances to critique themselves and each other. Projecting the film on to the smartboard means that they can interact with the images - plotting dance moves, indicating what is good and what can be improved. This is an excellent illustrative example of how technology can be of value if used appropriately - irrespective of the discipline involved.

The interactive kitchen can be viewed in other rooms - including in the kitchen attached to the restaurant that students use for training purposes. There is a plasma screen and roll up keyboards in place - so that they can easily be cleared off the workspace. Visualisers are also used here so that images of work done - dishes prepared, etc - can be recorded immediately for inclusion in student portfolios.

The technology used on a reasonably large scale in the interactive kitchen has been scaled down and customised for use in other areas including the Construction and Beauty School areas.

Elsewhere in the college Active-lingua sessions using tablets have been piloted and voting button technology is about to be installed.

E-babies are another innovative use of technology. The Health and Social Care discipline area has a couple of them and students have to care for them throughout the day - feed, wind, change nappies, etc. At the end of the day the data can be downloaded. Suggestion has been made that e-babies could be used in another discipline area - for example in Beauty - as a sex education tool - giving students an insight into the responsibilities that come with early pregnancy. The College has filmed interviews with students who have said that their experiences with the e-Baby had definitely made them think again about entering into parenthood.

The learning centre will be installing a 'Big Brother' style diary room in 2007. The idea behind this is that it will provide a creative space for thinking and reflecting, sharing ideas, etc - with results being included in portfolios.

The College does not have wireless provision throughout at this stage but the Learning Centres have wireless areas providing access to 100 laptops.

Adding Value

Robin Ghurbhurun feels strongly that technology has a clear role - it's a simple solution to increase the quality of engagement and underpinning of personalisation.

On access to IT outside of the College - there had been an accepted 'myth' when Robin started at the College that very few students had access to IT however when they were surveyed 55-60% who responded had access. Students were therefore much more comfortable with technology than initially thought and are able to access it both within and outside of the College.

Providing access to video has resulted in bite size chunks of film being available to learners either via the Blackboard VLE or on CD depending on the learner's preference.

The technology also offers the potential of a conferencing option - which allows for the contribution of external experts and others to a session.

With regard to the use of the demonstration theatre format of the interactive kitchen learners are getting the opportunity to participate in the equivalent of a master class. Learners have control over the cameras - whilst the chef at the front can have an overview of all the monitors to ensure the students can see what is being demonstrated. This is via a smartboard which is networked and the data can be updated and added to. Example of the potential for the extent to which this can be developed includes the addition of preparatory material and the simultaneous generating of interactive quizzes during demonstrations.

The approach is very much a blended approach to the learning and teaching offering real-life demonstrations and interaction with teachers and peers alongside the application of Smartboard, audio visual and PC technology.

The Beauty Salon is part of a new curriculum area. Again, when it comes to demonstrating skills such as manicuring it is difficult for everyone in a session to see. A camera has been installed over the nail bar with a 180 degrees rotation capability controlled by a remote control. It is projected on a plasma screen which is poseable to maximise visibility. This was a very reasonably priced package to install and is about to be enhanced with a DVD recorder attached to the monitor to record sessions. This is an example of using technology and innovation that has proved to work well in one setting (the interactive kitchen) and scaling it to suit another setting, the cost of the equipment was a fraction of that spent in the interactive kitchen but the resulting improvements for the learner experience is just as positive.

Virtual environments are also being transformed at Lewisham. The e-learning strategy is about to be updated. The original was due to end in 2008 but most of the work has already been completed. Robin would ultimately like to see the establishment of a Lewisham Learning Gateway. This would include the use of Social Software - offering learning channels in a MySpace type context - with employers, peers, parents and others feeding in. Evolving blogs and wikis are included in the approach. Robin and his colleagues are looking at learning channel developments through Sharepoint; the introduction of this type of initiative is likely to be a 3 year journey.