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Excellence Gateway
This case study was produced by JISC RSC (Regional Support Centres) Yorkshire & Humber on behalf of the Excellence Gateway.
Sector relevance: Colleges, further education colleges
Keywords: Improving teaching and learning, improving institutional effectiveness, planning resources, Tablet PCs, New Build project
York College took advantage of a new build project to design new learning spaces that meet the needs of 21st century learners. This introduced a new approach to teaching and learning, centred on tutors being given their own Tablet PCs and classrooms installed with equipment they can 'dock' in to. The results give a flexible, mobile approach that allows tutors to teach in their own style.
York College offers a wide range of academic and vocational qualifications at all levels to some 13,000 learners. The College also works alongside local educational providers and businesses.
The challenge to York College was to use the New Build project to enhance teaching and learning by assessing what learners of the future would need, rather than simply maintaining the status quo.
York College, at £60 million and 30,000 sq metres, is one of the largest New Build further education colleges ever built in the UK. It opened in September 2007.
The building is built over five storeys with a central atrium accessible from all floors. The new college took nearly two years to build and has state-of-the-art teaching and learning facilities, including a theatre, training restaurant, hair and beauty spa and nail bar, 3G sports pitch, travel agency, engineering and construction workshops, art and design studios and a learning centre on three floors equipped with the latest technology.
In addition to these new facilities, a new approach to teaching and learning, designed with e-learning in mind, was embedded. After research and consultation on the best set-up of IT in the classroom, projectors were installed in every classroom that can connect wirelessly via the network to Tablet PCs. Each teaching room has a projector, docking station, amplifier and speakers as part of the standard set-up. 400 Tablet PCs have been provided to staff.
The new equipment means that the tutor can develop material on their Tablet PC, which they can have confidence will run in the classroom. They simply turn up to the room and ‘dock' the same Tablet PC they created the resource with, automatically making all necessary connections.
Martin Harmer, ILT Manager, says: "The design of the new building has allowed us to completely rethink the IT/ ILT provision at the College".
The technology caters for and enhances all teaching styles. Teaching from the docking station suits those who like to 'teach from the front'. Martin explains that it "also allows for greater flexibility for those who have a different style - who can forgo the docking station, connect wirelessly to the projector, and then control the display from anywhere in the room - either for themselves or by giving it to students to display the results of group work or to visually solve a problem in front of the group".
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Disclaimer: The Regional Support Centres (RSC) and the Learning and Skills Improvement Service (LSIS) support the development of educational e-learning. We may refer to specific products, processes or services. Such references are examples and are not endorsements or recommendations and should not be used for product endorsement purposes.
You can find this page and download any referenced resources from the Excellence Gateway at http://excellence.org.uk/169986.
