Project Jericho opens window on the world of work
Automotive company’s webcam pilot scheme puts students in the driving seat when it comes to viewing apprenticeships.
20/09/2010
A pioneering pilot project which enables students to view the world of work via a webcam in their classroom is to be unveiled at the LSIS Learning Fair later this month.
The Jericho project has been launched by Bristol-based S&B Automotive Academy who are a beacon provider and who have devised the Moodle Netcam as a training tool for vocational careers.
The netcams are placed in the workplace in areas such as motor vehicle workshops, hairdressing salons, building sites, kitchens and even riding stables providing live feeds back to the classroom.
School students can watch vocational training live as it happens without having to leave their desks and can also get a real taste of what a real working environment is like.
The youngsters are actively encouraged to watch as well as communicate with apprentices, trainers and workplace staff.
Jon Winter, managing director of S&B Automotive Academy, will now unveil the project at the first regional LSIS Learning Fair for the south-west region on September 23.
He hopes his model will now go on to be taken up by other training providers as an innovative model for assessment and to engage potential apprentices.
He said: “Jericho enables school students to experience a day in the life of an apprentice and view skilled staff carrying out every-day work.
“The scheme provides sound and vision with training providers in schools or colleges and staff in the workplace communicating via blue tooth earpieces and a microphone.
“The images are beamed back through a server to a large screen in the classroom so that all of the students can really see what it is like in the workplace.”
As well as presenting the project at the learning fair, Jon is looking to apply to LSIS’s Leadership and Technology fund for the money he needs to take the project forward.
Debbie Rusbridge, LSIS’s regional development manager for the South West, said: “ This model is certainly gaining momentum in the South West and underlines the good work being done in the sector by organisations with the help of LSIS funding,”