United Colleges Group (UCG) was delighted to host a visit from college ROC van Twente (RVT) to its Paddington campus for a glimpse into the future.

The fourth largest vocational college in the Netherlands — with more than 20,000 learners spread over a wide range of campuses — 25 RVT staff members were treated to a special demonstration of the college’s immersive room in operation and the benefits of technology enabled lessons for students.

Louise Reynolds, Assistant Principal, A levels & Science, introduced UCG then Misk Sharif Ali gave the guests an amazing presentation showing how technology enabled lessons has helped learners through activities by using singing, rap and poetry in the classrooms, as well as sharing her own journey through vocational education.

In what was the fourth visit of a long-standing relationship between the two education establishments, the delegation then had a tour of the Paddington campus before heading to the Bett exhibition ExCeL London, described as the biggest Education Technology exhibition in the world.

In the next academic year, UCG hopes to link up with RVT’s commerce and entrepreneurship department with its business studies team using the immersive room for a joint project culminating in a visit to London hosted by UCG students and possibly a return trip.

Louise Reynolds, Assistant Principal said: “Our students will be using the immersive room to link up with classes in the Netherlands to study international business with them, completing a project about a trip to London — it will really help them look at Europe post Brexit.”

Misk Sharif Ali, Curriculum Manager for Computing said: "With regards to the immersive room, it feels as though we are all together within the classroom with the help of technology".