Exeter College has welcomed the Microsoft Education Team for a free one-day roadshow to inspire students, teachers, senior leaders and those in education in how technology can transform the learning experience.

The full day event, held on Tuesday, February 5th 2019, hosted by Exeter College, featured a variety of talks, workshops and demonstrations. The event highlighted how embedding technology into the learning experience can help students attain new skills, give teachers more time to focus on the things that matter most and reduce costs. There were more than 100 attendees at the event, including primary school children from local schools.

John Laramy, Principal and CEO of Exeter College said: “We were delighted to be asked to host such an innovative and exciting event. Exeter College has championed innovation and technology for a number of years, and we were delighted to be named a showcase college by Microsoft last year.

“We were very excited to support this event by inviting our peers and colleagues from the local community to the college to show them the power of technology.”

Exeter College was proud to announce late last year that it had been honoured with being named as one of the first 12 Microsoft Showcase Colleges in the UK and the first in Devon.

Exeter College recently sought community views on its £70 million masterplan for the future of the college over the next 20 years. The first stage of the masterplan is a proposal for a new South West Institute of Technology building, which will help put the region at the forefront of digital technology learning across the UK, next to the current Hele building.

Exeter College has also been named by the Government as one of the first providers of new ‘T Levels’ – marking a revolution in technical education. T Levels in Construction, Digital, and Education & Childcare will be first taught from September 2020.

Chris Rothwell, Director of Education, Microsoft UK said: “We are thrilled to be able to start a conversation amongst schools and colleges in the Exeter area about the role technology can play in transforming the learning experience. When educational institutions think about the role of technology, it can seem like an insurmountable and expensive task. But the schools and colleges that are truly transforming the learning experience through technology are taking small steps that lead to great gains in learning outcomes.

“It is the teachers from these schools and colleges that were the real stars of the day and we hope their stories will help to spur other schools and colleges on to transform the learning environment for students and teachers alike.”

This was the first in an initial series of five roadshows around the United Kington including Glasgow, Liverpool, Cardiff and Weston-super-Mare.