Help and support
Epping Forest College creates the digital space its students need, with our guidance.
"We try to make sure that all the students have the space that they need when they need it. It’s thanks to Jisc. We were able to form our vision by visiting best practice colleges and doing the research facilitated by Jisc."
Vikki Liogier, head of digital literacy, voice and innovation, Epping Forest College
Challenge
Epping Forest College’s learning resource centre needed an overhaul for the digital age.
Vikki said,
“It was very old fashioned. We had 16,700 books and only 3,000 loans per year. It was a hard, unwelcoming space with very uncomfortable seats.”
Senior management agreed that Vikki could transform it into a digital micro environment to respond to different learning needs.
But she needed inspiration.
Solution
We put Vikki in touch with best practice colleges around the UK that had merged e-learning with learning resource centres.
Vikki visited nine of them in total, exploring how they worked and asking questions.
The centre is now full of “micro environments” such as:
- Collaborative spaces
- Smaller, silent study rooms
- A creative space
- A web conferencing room
- A learning lounge area for more informal learning
In 2014, when students were asked if they could find the learning space they needed at the college, only 27% said yes. After the change, it was 100%.
“It’s brilliant,” says student Brad Forsyth.
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