Leeds College of Building is giving young apprentices a Virtual Reality (VR) insight into construction at this year’s Leeds Apprenticeship Recruitment Fair, as part of the 15th annual National Apprenticeship Week (7-13 February).
Leeds College of Building is leading the way nationally in the use of VR learning platforms and over 100 students have already benefitted from using computer-generated construction environments.
Virtual scenarios can include piloting drones for building site mapping and surveying, working at height and with scaffolding, and using virtual tools to simulate spray painting or wood machining. New virtual tunnelling skills and welding skills experiences will be introduced to the curriculum soon.
Wayne Chappelow, construction crafts faculty director at Leeds College of Building, said: “Leeds College of Building is committed to be at the forefront of industry developments and adopting new technology to support and enhance our students’ learning experience.
“Our staff have embraced VR, undertaking their own training to deliver this immersive and interactive mode of learning which is especially engaging for younger students.”
The use of VR technology by students at Leeds College of Building is made possible by CONVERT (Construction Virtual Environment Resource Training), a two-year UK-wide collaborative project led by the Construction Wales Innovation Centre.
Julie Evans, CONVERT Project Manager, said: “We are pleased to have Leeds College of Building on board as a delivery partner for CONVERT. It provides both lecturers and learners with excellent teaching and learning resources to integrate with their curriculum delivery.
“We are looking forward to working with all of our delivery partners over the next 12 months to achieve the project’s goal to enhance the learning of 2,440 students UK wide.”
The project results from a £2m investment made by the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB), which offers innovative and bespoke construction learning resources available to the Further and Higher Education sector throughout the country.
Image credit: Leeds College of Building
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