Students at Guildford College have helped shape the future of teaching and learning by designing their own immersive educational experiences that will be used by learners across the college.
The project began in January when Lorraine Nicholson, GCSE English Tutor, approached Activate Learning’s Digital Education team with an ambitious idea: to give STEM STRIVE students the opportunity to create immersive learning games that would make education more engaging for their peers.
Concepts for an immersive learning game
Working in teams, students developed concepts for games based around maths, English and biology. They then pitched their ideas to a panel, with the strongest concepts selected for development.
Rather than ending with the pitches, the project evolved into a unique collaboration between students and staff. The Digital Education team worked alongside learners throughout the development process, helping transform their ideas into fully interactive immersive experiences.
Working with Jack Pauley, Group Multimedia Developer, students refined every aspect of their games, including the storylines, characters, environments and scripts. Guildford College Performing Arts students also played an important role, lending their voices to bring the characters and stories to life.
Introducing Alien Attack: Maths Defenders
The first completed experience, Alien Attack: Maths Defenders, was unveiled to learners and faculty staff last week. The interactive game places learners at the centre of an immersive maths challenge, encouraging them to apply their knowledge in a fun and engaging environment.
The response has been overwhelmingly positive, with every learner who took part saying they enjoyed the experience and would like to see more learning delivered in this way.
As well as creating innovative learning resources for future students, the project enabled participants to develop valuable transferable skills including creativity, communication, pitching, storyboarding, collaboration and digital design.
Jack Pauley, Group Multimedia Developer, said: “This has been a brilliant project to be part of, and a fantastic example of what can be achieved through collaboration across different faculties and departments. Working together has been key to bringing these immersive experiences to life, and it has been so rewarding to see the learners so enthusiastic, excited about their learning, and eager to get the project up and running.
“Throughout the process, they have developed valuable skills in pitching, creativity, storyboarding and digital design, and I’m really proud that these experiences will now be enjoyed by learners in the next academic year.”
Innovation in digital learning
The project demonstrates Guildford College’s commitment to innovative teaching, digital learning and ensuring learners play an active role in shaping their own educational experiences.
The remaining immersive experiences, covering English and biology, will be completed ahead of the new academic year, giving even more learners the opportunity to benefit from educational experiences designed by students, for students.