Helping to create a better way to learn
INVENTIVE ideas on how to create a better learning environment for schoolchildren with special educational needs were pitched to judges at a national innovation competition.
Coventry College students took part in the finals of the Fujitsu Operation Innovation Competition at The National Museum of Computing at Bletchley Park, which tasked entrants with creating proposals for solving realworld problems by using digital technologies.
The students went up against college and university-level groups from across the UK before being selected to attend the finals.
A group of four students put together sophisticated plans for a device called TrackNote, which uses an interactive vital sensory unit to help teachers monitor and predict stress levels in pupils, particularly those with autism and anxiety.
Using the interactive equipment, which is based around a device that is worn on the wrist that can track blood pressure and heart rate, the programming for TrackNote would also alert staff to issues pupils have with epilepsy, allergies and attentiveness.
Shoubna Naika-Taylor, course leader for games and web design at Coventry College, said: “The judges were impressed with our students’ idea and I was very pleased with how they presented it.
“A lot of time and hard work went into this, with the team writing up a detailed project plan and carrying out their own market research.
“All of the competitors were strong this year, and even stronger than those the previous year, so for our students to be placed in the finals is a great achievement.”
Coventry College’s Innovation Hub is sponsored by Fujitsu, which has supported the training of more than 270 students since its launch and is now home to a range of digital apprenticeship courses.
The hub is kitted out with the latest digital and networking technologies, including games design PCs, tablets and interactive digital screens, which were used by the team to help form their idea for the competition.
Clare Hatton, assistant principal employer engagement at Coventry College, said: “The team representing Coventry College at the Fujitsu Innovation Competition are an example of the benefit our Innovation Hub can bring.
“Our digital apprenticeships are getting the next generation of innovators ready for a job market that is constantly changing.
“We’ve developed the Innovation Hub to feel like a work place environment and there’s no doubt that it is one of the most advanced technology education spaces in the area.”