West Suffolk College recently hosted a group of WorldSkills exchange students from Shanghai at the University and Professional Development Centre.
The exchange trip was a partnership between King Edward VI School in Bury St Edmunds and Shanghai Yangjing Juyuan Experimental School as part of WorldSkills.
The students were able to spend a day exploring numerous interactive technologies in the University’s XR Lab and discussing how the manufacturing industry and colleges differ between the UK and China.
After a tour of the XR Lab, the students were encouraged to immerse themselves in the technology; experimenting with everything from green screens to laser printing custom cards as souvenirs.
For Doris, 14, the exchange trip was her first visit to England. She said: “I like the people, cultures, and their schools. Today has been so amazing and interesting.”
When asked what she had enjoyed most about the exchange trip so far, Drama, 14, said: “Today we’ve had a lesson in the XR lab. My favourite activity was driving the virtual car.”
Josie, a physics teacher from Shanghai Yangjing Juyuan Experimental School, said: “These experiences are important for the children because they live in this time where VR, AR, and AI are coming. They will have to live with them for life; they have to know them to live alongside them, so they need these experiences.”
Jason Post, Head of Year at King Edward VI School, said: “It’s important that the students get to come and experience this as it’s good to see how we apply technologies over here to different industries and commerce. I’m excited to see how the students apply what they already know to this technology.”
Rachel Cannon, a governor at West Suffolk College and King Edward VI School, said: “It’s nice seeing all the schools come together in this partnership today. It’s an opportunity for the organisations to support each other and provide a really excellent experience for the students. They have lots of very exciting opportunities, including academic education but also vocational programmes and lots of really exciting technology-based programmes that they may not have experienced or had insight into before coming here.”
Tom Lloyd, Executive Director for Skills and Strategic Development, said: “I think the students have really enjoyed their visit. They’ve been really hands-on. They’ve got to experience a lot of the content that the XR Lab has developed and they’ve been really engaged and it’s just been lovely to see the smiles on their faces. I very much hope we will be able to do something like this again in the future.”
Other activities the students have taken part in on the exchange included a visit to London and participating in an open evening at King Edward VI School.
